As I sit here in a Haitian church not being able to understand the Creole language that is being spoken, I survey the scene and take in what is going on around me. People are singing and crying out to a God I can't "see," raising their hands and getting down on their knees, praying and proclaiming with all their heart to a supernatural being. There's an amp blaring music, an amp that is way to loud for the small building we're in, people are holding hands and lowering their heads, and all I can decipher is the word "Papa"- their calling him Father and shouting "Amen" and "Hallelujah"- words that are not used in the secular world. They are reading out of and holding up a book, their Bible, that fits this environment, their "culture." I look around, eyes wide open, taking it in and thinking, "This must be what it's like for a non-believer in church." Man, no wonder someone would be weirded out by this scene.
Now, to me, a Christian, this is a beautiful scene of worship and prayer and faith of the one true God, but to the non-believer who exists outside this culture, I can see where they would question, "What in the world are these people doing, believing in, praying to?"
We, Christians- believers in Christ, the Messiah, Son of God- do look like foreigners, like aliens to the secular world… especially when we are passionate about God. Heck, sometimes we look weird even to our own church when we are zealous about our God. So what makes the connection? Where's the breakthrough???
Then I look over to my left and see a familiar Haitian face. The face of a young man, tall and thin from past sickness- a cancer he once had; notice I said HAD, oh yeah, God healed him! He's sitting on a pew by himself, and I walk over and say hello. Our eyes meeting, hands reached out to offer a warm greeting touch, exchanging smiles, and I FEEL love. The love of Christ for a brother, the love of God for one of His children, the love that CONNECTS no matter sex, age, race, size, color, or nationality. That love that breaks through language barriers and breaks down walls, and for the first time during the service, I feel connected. Connected.
We shake hands and exchange greetings, and the smile on his face radiates hope, radiates joy. And in that moment, feeling foreign is worth it! The verse comes to mind: "If you have not love, you have nothing."
CHURCH, we must love!!!!
Love draws the unbeliever to want to know more, the unsure into knowing, and the believer into deeper relations. Love connects us to something bigger than ourselves; something that says this is right, this is home. The unconditional love of Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter how convincing our prayers are, how powerful our sermons are, how lovely the choir sings, how loud our music is, or how beautiful our buildings are- if we do not love, we have nothing and Heaven does not grow.
~m
