Most church services across America take place in beautiful buildings. They begin when worship leaders walk on stage and start strumming their guitars. Last Friday evening, Eugene and I attended church on the sidewalk outside of a mall. It began when he asked to borrow my cell phone.
After letting him make a quick call, I asked for his name and story.
“I’m going to be honest” was the beginning of his story. He went on to share openly about the fact that he had committed a sexual crime and spent many years in prison. Recently released, he was living with his mother, picking up work whenever he could.
“Have you forgiven yourself Eugene?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think God has forgiven you?”
“Yes.”
God has spent the past few weeks unpacking new depths of what it means to be His child, highlighting strains of orphan thinking that have entangled themselves in my heart. His children know that they have access to a love source that never abandons them or runs dry. They can extend forgiveness to themselves and others because they know they can always run back to their Father for a fresh supply. Eugene, like myself, has lived a life requiring much forgiveness. Eugene, like myself, knows that someone died so that he could be forgiven.
We spent the next few minutes swapping stories of God’s faithfulness and praying together. “God is in control. He is alive.” He reminded me. We thanked God for the stories He was writing in each of our lives, for the fact that He was sovereign and big enough to bring the two of us together to encourage each other in the exact ways each of us needed encouragement.
Hebrews 10:25 says, “Let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another.” Many people limit this verse to include services held in official church buildings, facilitated by official church representatives. However, I think God is much bigger than that. Don’t neglect your opportunities to meet and encourage. Don’t neglect church.
