Our family went to Hershey Park for a weekend getaway a few years ago. If you’ve gone before, you know that they have Hershey characters that also act as tools to determine a child’s height so they know what kind of ride they can go on. As we approached the Hershey characters, Chloe was too short to ride on the big rollercoasters. She was pretty disappointed but undaunted. She said, “I’m going to pray and ask God to help me grow tall enough to ride the big rollercoasters!”
The following day, we got up and ate our breakfast. We went to the ticket counter to get our wristbands, which would confirm our size and what coasters we could ride. Wouldn’t you know it? Chloe just made the official measurement for riding the big coasters! She was so excited to ride the big rides that God answered her prayer. There are few things better than having the faith of a child when it comes to praying to God!
Does God answer prayer? Yes! God does. Is God’s answer always what we want? No, it is not. There are four basic answers to our prayer requests. They are “Yes,” “No,” “Not Yet,” and “What are you doing to do about it?”
When we pray, there are times when God answers the prayer as we hoped. In those cases, our prayer conformed to God’s will and desire. There are also times when God says, “No.” This is a valid answer to prayer (especially if God is more than a cosmic vending machine). We may hear the answer “no” for various reasons, which we will begin discussing this Sunday. God also says, “not yet,” because God’s timing is perfect. We may want something now, but God knows that we need it more in the future. Finally, when we pray, God often asks, “What are you doing to do about it?” We are the body of Christ and have been gifted and tasked to participate in God’s Kingdom here on earth. There are many times when we pray for a miracle when God has called us to be the miracle that someone needs.
Does God answer prayer? Yes! Those answers to prayer come in more forms than a ‘yes.’ Let us trust God through our prayers because we know that God cares for us.
Do you remember “The War on Christmas?” I think that author and radio personality Bill O’Reilly was one of the first to discuss this. He (and plenty of others) would cite the use of “Happy Holidays” and Starbucks red coffee cups as examples of our culture’s attempt to erase Christ from Christmas. About this time, bumper stickers and magnets began to appear, saying things like “Keep Christ in Christmas.”
There is certainly the temptation to take Christ out of Christmas. We can get so wrapped up in the traditions and nostalgia of Christmas that we miss Christ. We can give into consumerism, Christmas parties, and the “spirit” of the holiday and never give a second thought to Jesus. There is also that pesky jolly man in a red suit that moves the attention away from Jesus.
How should Christians keep Christ in Christmas? We must be sure to keep Christ in Christians!
It is more important for us to reflect and communicate the love of God to our neighbors than to say “Merry Christmas.” Caring for the poor and feeding the hungry keep Christ in Christmas more than any war against red cups. Forgiving our family members (because Jesus forgives us) may be the best Christmas gift we can ever give. Asking for forgiveness shows Christlike humility. Keeping Christ in Christmas starts when Christians start living like Christ.
We are 10 days away from Christmas (my four kids keep reminding me). May we reflect and embody the message of Christmas to those around us: God loved us so much that God became like us so that we might be with God. May God’s love and grace overflow from our relationship with Jesus and into the lives of the ones we love.
Chloe and I spend a lot of time in the car going to and from practice and tournaments. She uses the time to commandeer my Spotify account and play DJ while we drive. At this point in 2022, I know her taste and what she is going to choose. One of her favorite songs is Car Radio by Twenty-One Pilots.
In the song, the singer’s car radio has been stolen from his vehicle. This has left him unable to listen to music which means that he is forced to listen to the thoughts and feelings in his head rather than drowning them out with music. The song goes:
I hate this car that I’m driving There’s no hiding for me I’m forced to deal with what I feel There is no distraction to mask what is real I could pull the steering wheel
I have these thoughts, so often I ought To replace that slot with what I once bought ‘Cause somebody stole my car radio And now I just sit in silence
Twenty-One Pilots (Car Radio)
Silence. Boredom. Stuck with our own thoughts. If we were in this situation in 2022, we would be on our phones scrolling through Social Media. Why? Because we don’t like to be left with our thoughts.
Earlier this year, I read Jay Y. Kim’s excellent book, Analog Christian: Cultivating Contentment, Resilience, and Wisdom in the Digital Age.The book is a warning about our addiction to technology that seeks to keep us scrolling and swiping. The pleasures that our technology brings is temporary and fleeting compared to the contentment, resilience, and wisdom that comes through a life that lives in the Spirit. Kim writes,
“But in the age of the smartphone, at even the slightest hint of discomfort, awkwardness, or boredom, we shift our focus downward and inward, away from the world and toward the screen. A few years ago, Apple revealed that the average iPhone user unlocks their phone eighty times a day. Why? Because much of life in the real world is uncomfortable, awkward, or boring, so we opt for digital escape. We increasingly prefer and default to worlds of our own making.”
Jay Y. Kim (Analog Christian, p.17)
In our smartphone-centric culture, we are quick to escape to worlds “of our own making” when we are bored or uncomfortable. We prefer digital over analog, that is we’d rather escape to a digital world than be confronted by our own emotions, thoughts, or even face-to-face relationships with other people.
Here is where Twenty One Pilots surprised me as I listened with Chloe. The song goes on to say that there are two things we can do: We can have faith or we can sleep. I think sleep in the song is what we do when things get overwhelming. We go to sleep, pull the blanket over our heads, and hope that things will be better when we wake up. Though experience tells me that this is not true.
The other option, according to the song is faith. Here are the lyrics:
Faith is to be awake And to be awake is for us to think And for us to think is to be alive And I will try with every rhyme To come across like I am dying To let you know you need to try to think
Twenty-One Pilots (Car Radio)
We cannot live in faith if we are asleep. Faith means waking up to the world around us. Faith means choosing the analog (our thoughts, emotions, friendships, and listening for God’s voice) rather than scrolling through our phone every time we get the slightest bit bored or are in an awkward moment. We need to live in faith, awake to what God is doing in the world around us. By the end of the song, the listener realizes that the singer has not replaced his car radio because he has made a choice- a step of faith- to live awake and not asleep.
As Christians, let us choose to live a life of faith that is fully awake to God, to others, and to ourselves no matter how awkward the silence may be.
This is the sermon I preached on 10/2/22 as part of our series, The Deeply Formed Life. I’m grateful for Rich Villodas’ book of the same name (of the series). You can listen to the sermon here.
Fall of the Berlin Wall PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
On November 9, 1989, Gunter Schabowski, the top spokesperson for Communist East Germany, received a note during a press conference that declared that the restrictions for travel through the Berlin Wall were no longer in effect. This meant that East German could travel outside their nation to West Germany and other locales for the first time in decades. It was another crack in the Iron Curtain of communism in Europe.
As the news got out to people living on either side of the wall, they gathered to go through the gates, see family and friends, and start tearing down the wall with sledgehammers. Tom Brokaw, who was in Berlin that night, ended his live report by saying, “They are crushing the wall east to west and from the west to the east. They are being joined as one…and no wall will stand in their way.”
Throughout the Bible, the reader becomes aware of a wall between Jews and Gentiles. This wall is made clear in the OT through many laws and commands for Jewish people to be separate and distinct from Gentiles. A non-Jew could not worship in the Temple the same way a Jewish person could. By the time the New Testament comes around, we see Paul primarily ministering to Gentiles. In his letter to the believers in Ephesus, he writes,
“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barriers, the dividing walls of hostility.”[1]
Paul acknowledges that a wall or a fence has separated Jews and Gentiles because of the distinctions made in the Torah, resulting in ethnic and racial differences. Paul says that Jesus came and destroyed the barriers between the two people groups. Through the Cross, Jesus reconciles us to God and one another, and the result of the Gospel is the creation of a new family, a kingdom people.
The Good News of Jesus Christ is not just about our final destination after death but our life here and now. There is good news now when we receive the Gospel. It transforms our life with God AND our life with those around us. We pray, “your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” We pray and ask that our life on earth reflect God’s Kingdom and reign.
George Eldon Ladd writes,
“The Gospel must not only offer a personal salvation in the future life to those who believe; it must transform all the relationships of life here and now and thus cause the Kingdom of God to prevail in all the world.”
The Gospel of Jesus not only transforms our hearts and souls, but it also transforms families, churches, and communities as we are reconciled to one another through Jesus. The Big “C” Church is a new family comprised of brothers and sisters of different skin tones, experiences, socio-economic realities, and opinions who have made Jesus their peace because Jesus has destroyed the walls that divide.
Here is the challenge- when we as Christians put up walls or allow walls existing between ourselves and others, we are living antithetically to the Gospel. We are living in opposition to the Good News of Jesus Christ. This is why Christians must constantly look to remove walls of division in our lives and communities.
A life deeply formed in Jesus Christ will actively work towards racial reconciliation in our personal lives and communities.
We live in a time of deep division. The division in our country that may be the deepest is our racial division. While I was taught that America is a melting pot of cultures, ethnicities, and beliefs, we have also been a country with deep separation based on the color of our skin. I’ve encountered reluctance, within the white church especially, to have open and honest times of listening and learning about the issue of race in our communities. When the conversations start, we are quick to put up walls and get defensive. The Gospel of Jesus has to be big enough to engage in the racial divide in our communities (for all the reasons we just studied in Ephesians). The Gospel of Jesus is more than “being saved”. It is about “making things right” here and now.
“Making things right” is a basic definition of reconciliation. Regarding race, individuals and churches are called to “Make things right” in our relationships with others. In the Ephesian passage, Paul uses the word “peace” four times. Peace has the connotation of wholeness and well-being. In the passage from Ephesians, Jesus doesn’t come to bring peace- Jesus is our peace. When we put our faith in Jesus, Jesus calls us to break down the dividing walls between ourselves and anyone we are at odds with. This includes people of other races. Because of Jesus, we are concerned about the well-being of our brothers and sisters who have different skin tones than us.
Being concerned about our neighbors is more than a mental exercise- it is a commitment to work for their peace and well-being. Just as prayer is not passive, concern for our brothers and sisters is not passive. Christians must actively work for justice where ever injustice exists because we have been called to a ministry of reconciliation. We must work to right what is wrong in our world. Dr. Cornell West writes, “Justice is what love looks like in public.”
I need to be aware of my prejudices and biases in my relationships with other people, especially those who look different from me. I can think through my life and remember times when I acted insensitive or bigoted toward others. As a Christian, I have sought to repent of the actions that build a wall between myself and others.
I have also had a growing awareness over the last decade of the systems that are in place in our society that favor some people over and above others. We can think of policies like “red-lining” that segregated communities. 1.2 million African-Americans serving in WWII were denied the benefits of the GI Bill.[2] America has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with racial minorities making up a disproportionate number of the incarcerated.
Throughout the Bible, God has always been concerned for immigrants, the oppressed, orphans, and widows. In Isaiah 10, God speaks through the prophet:
“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people…”[3]
God was concerned about rulers and lawmakers creating unjust laws that would oppress the poor in Israel. If Jesus has destroyed the dividing wall to make a new family, I believe God is equally concerned about unjust laws that oppress the poor, the vulnerable, and those who look different than us. God isn’t just worried about unjust relationships; God is concerned about unjust systems.
A Life Deeply Formed in Jesus Will Actively Work Towards Racial Reconciliation
Malachi- kids at school asked him if he had Corona Virus b/c he is Chinese- Kids heard it from their parents, who heard the president at the time call it the China Flu. From the first use of that phrase, hate crimes against Asians in America dramatically increased in our country.
If Jesus has torn down dividing walls between Jews and Gentiles through the Cross- we are called to break down dividing barriers of race. Paul says in 2 Corinthians that we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. If our lives have been transformed, that should be reflected in how we love one another.
Where do we start?
Rich Villodas, in his book The Deeply Formed Life, offers a few practices to help us move towards a reconciled world.
The Practice of Incarnational Listening
Christians must be deeply committed to listening to others even when it hurts and is complex. We have to listen without getting offended. Villodas writes that a sign of our spiritual maturity is our ability to listen without getting offended.[4] Our ability to listen “knee-to-knee” will give us the relationship and understanding to be able to stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” as we work together for reconciliation in our world.
The Practice of Reconciling Prayer
Prayer is more than something we do to give thanks for our food. It is the very tool that God uses to move in our lives. We spend so little time in prayer. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells his disciples that they cannot cast a demon out because they do not know how to pray. How can we cast out the demonic power of racism without being committed to prayer? In our prayers, we must cry out to God for reconciliation. We pray, believing that relationships between races can be transformed. We pray, considering that we can be changed.
The Practice of Confession, Repentance, and Forgiveness
We are a broken people. We are sinners. We are going to break the peace of our relationship with others. We must confess and repent of our sins.
Today is World Communion Sunday. A Day where believers of every color, tribe, and tongue gather for Holy Communion. Part of our liturgy is a confession of sin. We need this Confession:
As I grow deeper with Jesus, I recognize that I need that Confession in my life. As I grow deeper with Jesus, I know there is deep work that the Holy Spirit desires to do in my life so that my faith would have depth and power. The Church in America lacks power because we are content to remain on the surface instead of going deep where the Spirit leads us.
As we prepare to come to the Communion table today, our skin color is not erased. The Kingdom of God is not a colorblind kingdom. Revelation 7:9 says:
“…there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”[5]
Around the throne of God will be people of every color and race. The dividing walls have been broken down through Jesus, who is our peace. Let us break down the dividing walls in our community as we are called into a new family through Jesus Christ.
Famed psychologist John Gottman has been writing and teaching about marriage and relationships for years. His research over four decades has led him to predict whether a couple will get divorced with a high degree of accuracy. Gottman has written about The Four Horsemen of Negative Interaction, which are criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling. Gottman writes that contempt is the most dangerous for couples. In relationships, contempt looks like eye-rolling, hostile humor, mimicking, and name-calling. Contempt makes the other person feel demeaned and worthless. While Gottman writes about contempt in marriage, it is a virus spreading throughout our society.
Over the last month, we have been working our way through the story of Jonah. In the book, we find a prophet of God who resists God’s call and is angry when God shows the pagan Assyrians living in Nineveh grace. The Assyrians are enemies of Israel. Jonah believes God should punish Nineveh for their violence and sin. Jonah is angry and filled with contempt toward Nineveh. When God chooses to forgive Nineveh, Jonah says he would rather die than see the Ninevites saved by God’s grace.
Last summer Dan Nelson preached a short series on the book of Habakkuk called Modern Problems, Ancient Answers. The series’ premise was that the heart issues we have today are nothing new. We see this in Jonah as well. Contempt has become acceptable in politics, the news media, and social media. Contempt for others has also infiltrated the Church. We might talk about being loving and accepting of all people, yet we eye-roll and dismiss those with different beliefs and opinions than we do. We see our tribe as being superior to other tribes.
What might be the answer to contempt?
The answer is to work towards peace. Peace is more than the absence of conflict. It is to seek wholeness in our relationships and pursue flourishing in our own lives and those around us. As Christians, we are to desire (and work towards) God’s best for our neighbors and enemies. Through Jeremiah, God tells Israel to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.” Israel wasn’t to cause problems as exiles in Babylon. They were to seek the peace, the flourishing, of the city. Our posture as Christians is one of peace and not contempt.
Paul writes in Ephesians that we are to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Contempt comes easy. It is a wide broad road that is easily traveled. Being a peacemaker requires more effort, but the outcome is a flourishing community. When we seek a life of peace, enemies lay down their weapons and embrace one another. Anger dissipates and is replaced with love. We begin to see “others” as being created in the image of God.
Brothers and Sisters, I pray that we would be people of peace who God uses to bring healing into our community here in Milford and beyond. I pray that we would be known by the way we love one another and that we would extend that love to those different from us. I hope that we will be a community that rejoices when we see others experience the grace of God because we are also recipients of that grace. Let us seek the peace of our community.
The Supreme Court building in Washington DC. in black and white.
The divide in our nation was highlighted this past month as the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. For some, this decision has brought celebration in the protection of an unborn baby. For others, it is cause for lament at the loss of choice and protection for women. We have seen outrage online, demonstrations in our communities, and great anger towards the people who think and believe differently than we may on the Supreme Court’s decision.
We have been saying for weeks that the story of Jonah is much more than just a fish tale. Many of us have grown up knowing nothing more than Jonah spending three days in the stomach of great fish. The story of Jonah centers around a ‘prophet of God’ who would rather die than see the people of Ninevah experience God’s mercy. Jonah gets angry with God when God chooses to spare Ninevah from destruction. Because they look differently, speak differently, worship differently, and live differently, Jonah thinks they are fit for destruction. God, on the other hand, sees that they are created in his image and loved.
We can be tempted to think like Jonah.
We see “the other” and believe that since they look, speak, worship, and live differently from us that they are somehow “less than.” We see this on a global scale in how nations look at other nations, but we also see it in the ways with which we speak and treat those who are different from us. We may believe the worst about immigrants. We may fail to stand with the oppressed because we believe that they have done something to deserve the way they are being treated. In the case of the Supreme Court’s decision, I’ve seen many Christians name-calling and ending friendships because they do not agree. Whether we realize it or not, we are treating brothers and sisters like “the other” rather than part of our Christian family.
Christians are not monolithic in our beliefs. While we likely agree on more than we disagree on, we also have a wide range of beliefs and understandings. This is why we have many denominations. As Christians, we are all part of the family of God. Our unity is not found in our political or social beliefs, it is found around the Gospel of Jesus. We are called to love those we disagree with. The twelve disciples that spent three years with Jesus did not agree on everything. Levi, the tax collector, and Simon the Zealot likely had a lot of interesting conversations. Levi worked for Rome and would have been seen as a traitor. Simon the Zealot was part of a nationalistic group seeking to overthrow Rome (and probably seen as a terrorist in our vernacular). Jesus brought them together to show that our differences must be set aside to fulfill the mission of the Gospel.
As we live in an ever-increasingly polarized world, let us not forget the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 13.
If I speak in the tongues n of men or of angels but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, u but do not have love, I gain nothing.
If we cannot love one another, then our faith and our good works will be meaningless. In all that we do, let us humbly seek to show the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ to both our friends and those who might be described as our enemies. Let us rejoice in God’s mercy for all who receive it. Let us find our unity in Jesus and the mission that Jesus has given us in the world.
I was listening to The Holy Post Podcast last week when one of the hosts, Skye Jethani, told of a book, The Gift of Pain, written by Phillip Yancy and Paul Brand. Dr. Brand is a world-renowned surgeon who grew up as the son of medical missionaries in India and received his medical training in London during The Blitz in World War II. Much of his work was with leprosy patients in the United States and India.
Leprosy, or Hansen’s Disease (HD), is a medical condition that leads to damage to the nerves. This nerve damage can lead to the inability to feel pain, especially in the patient’s extremities. The loss of feeling is dangerous because HD patients can seriously hurt their feet, legs, arms, and hands and have no idea about the injury without the sensation of pain. Without proper treatment, these injuries can get infected and grow worse. By not feeling pain, HD patients often don’t know about more significant threats to their health.
No one likes it, but pain has a purpose—pain functions as a warning system in our lives. Pain tells us to be physically cautious when our back, ankle, or knees hurt. Chest pain alerts us to an on-coming heart attack. Stomach pains tell us that we ate something that doesn’t agree with us. We feel emotional and mental pain when someone abuses, hurts, or takes advantage of us. Pain tells us that something is wrong.
Pain is part of our lives. In recent weeks, there has been much pain in the world.
A white shooter travels 200 miles to stake out a Buffalo grocery store, returning to target and killing ten black people the next day.
Last week, an 18-year-old entered a Texas Elementary School and began shooting, killing 19 elementary-age students and two teachers.
Over 1 million lives have been lost in America due to the Corona Virus outbreak.
In Africa, multiple nations face political upheaval, severe drought conditions, and the effects of the pandemic.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to lead to loss of life and an increased amount of displaced people.
Pain tells us that something is wrong. Pain lets us know that something needs to change. If we ignore or accept pain, it will increase with more significant consequences.
How much pain are we willing to endure when it comes to racial violence in our nation before we act? How much pain will we continue to tolerate before we are ready to discuss reasonable gun laws to protect our schools and communities?
We are quick to God during these tragedies. We need to pray for the families of the school shooting in Uvalde, TX, and the war ravaging Ukraine. Prayer is not passive. It is not something we do at our dinner table or at the foot of our bed alone. To pray is to engage. To pray is to open ourselves to be used by God to be the hands and feet of Christ in our world. To pray is to ask God to use us in the world to bring God’s healing where there is so much pain.
Sisters and Brothers, how much pain are we willing to watch and endure? What will it take for us to “seek the peace of the city” (Jerimiah 29:7)? As we seek to live a life shaped by the life of Christ, let us allow our thoughts and prayers to lead to ministry and action as we allow the Spirit to use as a healing presence in the world.
There are two types of people in the world when your gas gauge is just above “E.” The first is the person who will immediately go to the nearest gas station to fill up. The other is the person who will get in their car and begin their journey believing they have enough gas to get to their destination. Which person are you? What fuels you?
Last week, Pastor Neyda began our new sermon series, “Called,” where we will take a quick run through the book of Acts and see how the Holy Spirit called ordinary people to live as witnesses to their faith. Through the series, our prayer is that each of us might realize our calling and be fueled by the Holy Spirit to pursue it.
In Acts 9, Luke introduces us to Ananias. He is a Jewish disciple of Jesus living in Damascus (present-day Damascus in Syria). Ananias may have been part of the diaspora out of Jerusalem following the stoning of Stephen in Acts 8. Ananias has a vision at night where he is told to go to a particular house to seek out a man named Saul. If you know the story, you know that Saul is the one persecuting the believers. He is a dangerous man. Fueled by the Holy Spirit, Ananias goes to Saul and prays for him that he might be filled with the Holy Spirit. That moment led to a transformation as the great persecutor of the believers became the Great Proclaimer of the Gospel- the Apostle Paul.
A life fueled by the Holy Spirit leads to transformation in our own lives and in the lives of those to who we boldly minister. My prayer for Avenue Church is that we would boldly follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. I pray that the Holy Spirit will empower our ministries to see real-life change. I pray that Jesus would be glorified in all that we do.
What is fueling your faith today? Who is your power source?
There is a scene in the Gospel of John that has me reeling this week. In John 11, Jesus raises his friend Lazarus from the dead. John tells us that many people put their faith in Jesus because of this miracle. When we move to John 12 we read this:
“Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.”
John 12:1-2
Lazarus, freshly raised from the dead, is casually reclining at a dinner party! In verse 9, John tells us that when people heard Jesus was nearby, many came to see Jesus and to see Lazarus “who had been raised from the dead.” What a wild scene that had to be for those involved. Many would have known Lazarus died, attended his funeral, and saw him placed in the grave. Now, Lazarus was throwing a party for Jesus. Lazarus is not the main focus of the story. The focus of the story is on Jesus, who raised Lazarus from the dead.
We live in a bit of an ADHD world, always looking for the shiny object in life. We want to be entertained at Church. We look for the next big spectacle. Even our news cycles so quickly to try and keep our attention (or to divert our attention). In the story, the spectacle is the presence of Lazarus. People are coming from far and wide to see Lazarus. I mean, who wouldn’t want to see someone who was dead that is now alive? In the midst of everything is Jesus.
How many times do we get caught up in the details, the spectacle, and the busyness of life and miss Jesus? How often do we pursue what we think God wants for our future that we miss out on what God has for us right now?
I believe that the passage encourages Christians to be wary of chasing after experiences, methods, or causes that promise to transform, and instead, we are called to fall at the feet of Jesus and offer him our lives. There is no substitute for knowing Jesus.
We are just a few weeks from our Easter celebration. There will be beautiful flowers, inspiring music, and a message of the hope of Resurrection. In the excitement of the season, let us not miss out on the opportunity to fall and worship at the feet of Jesus. As we come to worship, let us invite others to experience God’s love and salvation through Jesus Christ.
I hear stories pretty frequently about people who try to go to a church for the first time. It can be an intimidating experience to walk into a space where you do not know the people, the culture of the church, or the layout. When you are a guest, you will have many questions. Where do I park? What door do I enter through? Do we stand? Kneel? Cross ourselves? Raise our hands in worship? Shout, “Amen!”? Heaven forbid if you sit in “someone else’s seat!”
One of the worst things for a guest is to walk into a worship space and not have anyone speak to them. While guests do not want to be smothered (like a young family in an elderly church) or offered leadership positions immediately (we need people like you!), when we speak to new guests we recognize their value and communicate that they are welcome. To this end, many churches go to great lengths to describe themselves as “friendly” churches. Many of the “friendly churches” are, indeed, friendly. Sadly, some churches believe they are friendly when they are not. The problem with settling to be a “friendly church” is that the friendliness stops when the service ends.
We need to stop seeking to be a friendly church and instead be a church where friendships lead to transformation.
Let me be honest; we need to be friendly on Sunday morning. Anything less will turn guests away from the church in a heartbeat. However, our friendliness must evolve into friendship. People are looking for connections. People are looking for relationships. Even in our age of hyper-connectivity, we are more lonely and disconnected than ever. If people do not find meaningful relationships at church, they will find them at the bar, the bowling alley, or the gym. The church must resist the urge to ‘circle the wagons’ of our relationships to withstand the battering of the world. Instead, we are to open our circle of friends as a way to bring people to Jesus.
As Christians, we are called to build relationships with others. We are called to care for the people around us and to walk with them through whatever life brings their way (and ours!). Let us not settle to be a friendly church, but a church where friendships lead to transformation because people encounter Christ in us.
Exiled Community 