From the Pastor’s Heart
“If your gospel isn’t touching others, it hasn’t touched you.”
The following is a true account:
What I saw years ago still breaks my heart. I was preaching for a small church. The volunteer receptionist told me bluntly, “Young man, you’d better do a good job preaching, because we have a visitor coming to church.” Evidently that was unusual. She explained how a lady had just called and asked for directions to the church. “Our church has been declining for several years,” the receptionist said sadly, “and we need members to help pay the bills.”
Before the service started, I stood outside with a church elder greeting people. That’s when I saw the visitor. The reason I knew this lady wasn’t a member of the church was…well, because she didn’t look like anyone else there. All the members were dressed in nice suits and pretty dresses. This young lady looked like she’d slept in what she was wearing. It wasn’t that she didn’t care for herself; it was just obvious that she’d had a tough life. As she slowly approached the church, her eyes and body language communicated that she was nervous and intimidated. I admired her courage to visit a new church all by herself. What had triggered her to come? Had she been abused? Was she at the end of her rope and in desperate need of Christ and his people?
The elder stepped in front of the young lady and blocked her path into the sanctuary. “Miss,” the man said in an intimidating tone, “at our church, we wear our best for God.”
My jaw dropped in shock. No! You didn’t just say that to her. Unfortunately, he had. This young woman’s eyes filled with tears as she dashed to her car to make her getaway.
Heartbreaking. I’d argue that people today aren’t rejecting Christ so much as they’re rejecting the church. Once, I asked a guy why he didn’t go to church. He responded without hesitation, “Because I’ve already been.”
…Churches that appear to be unfriendly to outsiders can be full of the friendliest people in the world. If you’re an insider….Jesus came for outsiders. He came for those who were lost. Broken. Hurting. Disenfranchised. Alone. Overlooked. Poor. Jesus came for those who religion rejected. Many churches unwittingly focus inward and forget those who are the very purpose for Jesus’ coming, the very purpose for our being here on earth. These churches are like a hospital which no longer accepts patients. Or a soup kitchen which no longer feeds hungry people…
Across the board, almost every with-it church I’ve observed is virtually obsessed with reaching those who don’t know Christ. A passion to share Christ consumes them in a beautiful way. Without-it ministries can be filled with very sincere Bible believing Christians; unfortunately, they’re simply more concerned about themselves than the lost.
(Adapted with permission from the book “It: How churches and leaders can get it and keep it” by Craig Croeschel. If you like to read during the summer, this is a fun, inspiring read. You’ll be blessed!)
See you at “the Sunday morning place to be”…touching others for Christ’s sake!
Pastor John