You know the cute little Sunday school lesson we teach children with the hand gestures: “Here is the church, here is the steeple, open it up, and there’s all the people”? It displays the hands where all the people, or fingers, are “inside” the church. It is super precious and adorable to watch little ones say it along with you, but I started to realize how harmful it can be if we teach that all the people who matter are “inside” the church building.
I have thought most of my life that it was very important to go to church. I grew up going to church, playing music in churches, and volunteering in churches. It was always an integral part of my life, something my family did for many years. It wasn't until I was in my teens that we really didn't enjoy going to churches much. There were so many different choices, denominations, styles of services. It got pretty overwhelming, and our family didn't seem to find a place in any of them. This was a theme in my life for years. To visit churches, and just feel like I didn't belong. I thought it was me. I was different. I didn't fit in easily. I often felt unwelcome. They already had their cliques, and groups, and I didn't go to their schools or have lives like them. It just didn't always feel right.
Church can be viewed as a place of entertainment, gossip, and hypocrisy and I ask myself why? How did we get here? Why do people who call themselves Christians drive so many people away from the church and themselves? Am I myself a hypocrite who may not show people Christ's love and drive them away as well?
Paul directs the church leaders in Acts 20.28 to, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God”. All the way back in Bible times the church was commanded to shepherd the people. We as Christians have always been held to a higher standard by God, but a higher standard should be a positive thing to others, not to ourselves. We aren’t Christians to make ourselves look good. Being a Christian means to make Christ look good through your walk and actions towards others. Many people claim to be Christians, but then act the opposite from Christ.
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
1 John 4.8
To be honest though, it has been happening in church for thousands of years. The Pharisees in the Bible were constantly trying to follow the law, but not loving the people. Jesus calls them out for neglecting the justice and love of God (Luke 11.42). They were always looking over the unclean, sick, immoral, divorcees, people of different races and religions to them. These are the exact people that Jesus sought out. He traveled far and wide to heal the diseased, demon possessed, sexually impure, and people who didn’t initially believe in Him or His power. These are the people we are called to reach inside AND outside of the church building.
I ask myself, “Why do people view Christians so negatively inside and outside of church?”. Well, if enough people come in contact with the type of Christian who talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk, then people will obviously have a negative outlook on Christians as a whole. Eventually they will have been burned by people and churches too many times. We are given so many chances to show how we can be like Christ, and how often do we waste opportunities and wave as they pass us by? Believing in Jesus, without serving his people is not enough. James talks about our faith without deeds. We as Christians claim to have faith in Christ, but then do nothing to help our neighbors or lend an ear to the hurting people of the world.
“Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you
says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does
nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith
by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2. 14-17.
Now do good deeds, and actions, get you into Heaven? I believe no. You can do all the nice things, volunteer for all the church events, give money, and try to follow all of the “rules” the Bible has, but just like the Pharisees, you would be living a self righteous life that looked good on the outside without a relationship in Jesus Christ or a heart for His people. Jesus warned about showboating for our appearance and glory instead of God’s.
Matthew 6.1-4, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other
people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward
from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy,
sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and
in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you,
they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not
let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your
giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward
you.”
Do good, just because it is the right thing, not because someone is going to pat you on the back or give you a high five for it.
Now I am not saying everyone who calls themselves a Christian is bad, but we can get caught up in judging others without first examining ourselves. We make ourselves the judge, instead of letting God do it:
“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else,
for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself,
because you who pass judgement do the same things” Romans 2.1
I am proud to call myself a Christian, but self examination is constantly needed on a daily basis to grow and mature in my spiritual life. I am not a perfect person and I will not always get it right, therefore I have to be careful when speaking to others about their faults and imperfections.
I am also not saying every church is bad because it’s not a perfect place ran by perfect people. The church body should examine itself often so that we can make sure our building on the inside reflects our message on the outside.
Lamentations 3.40 says, "Let us examine our ways and test them, and let
us return to the Lord."
If you constantly read the word or attend church, but do not follow what it says or put it into practice, this is not God’s purpose for us.
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it
says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like
someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself,
goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." James 1:22-24
Being a Christian is not just a title, but a way of life. It is a call to action outside of the church, not a call to sit exclusively in the church.
I read a quote this week that said, "Don't just invite people to church. Invite them to lunch. Invite them to your home. Invite them into your heart. Tell them you love them. Tell them you'll be there for them. YOU are the church. Not a building." When you leave those four walls, you become an ambassador for Christ. You are called to love people without a “but”.
“I would love them, but the time they need doesn’t meet my schedule”.
“I would love them, but I don’t understand where they’re coming from.”
“I would love them, but I don’t agree with their lifestyle choices.”
“I would love them, but they don’t look like me.”
“I would love them, but I don’t participate in their “extracurricular” activities.”
“I would love them, but they’ve hurt me before.”
“I would love them, but they’re not in my bible study group.”
“I would love them, but they don’t believe the same way I do.”
“I would love them, but I don’t agree with their political views.”
“I would love them, but they don’t go to my church.”
You get the opportunity to go out into the world, and show people Christ’s love. We are called to love because he first loved us (1 John 4.19), without a “but”. Regardless of religion, gender, race, ethnicity, economic background, age, love them all without any conditions. The two greatest commands Jesus gives us (Matthew 22.37-38) “love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”, and “love your neighbor as yourself”. When we act the way Christ would outside of the church and love his people, we get a chance to bridge all those gaps that we may have otherwise missed if they never enter into the church. Open up those folded hands, let all all those “people” out, and go serve God’s kingdom like we were meant to do.
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