Who’s the Church For?
Sep 11th, 2008 by ljkim
Shouldn’t church be for “everyone?” Everyone should be able to come in and feel right at home, no? Yes. I think so too. But it doesn’t usually work out that way, and I think I know why. G.K. Chesterton said somewhere that ‘the only thought that should be stopped is the kind that stops thought.’ In the same way we notice that Jesus wasn’t exactly welcoming to EVERYONE; and by doing this it better enabled anyone to join him. If you really let everyone in, then your church will only be habitable for certain people. So Jesus set the precedent when he rejected the self proclaimed “righteous” (religious people) and welcomed the “sinful.” In a move that scandalized everyone who saw him, Jesus was only interested in sinners…
So here it is: IF you feel the need to act as though (and try to prove to people) that you’re better than other people, THEN church (any church) is not for you right now right now. You’ve fallen into the trap of self-righteousness, and unless you’re willing to put that aside there’s nothing God can teach you (other than the message that you’re not “all that”, and you don’t need church to learn that). So I won’t say the church isn’t for you, but maybe perhaps you haven’t met the prerequisite to get in just yet.
But… if you do NOT fall into that category, even if you’ve never stepped foot into a church meeting before, then every church exists for people just like you…that someone like you would walk in and enjoy and debate and ask questions… that’s what church is here for. So when you walk into a church meeting you can walk in with the full confidence of being an honored guest and welcomed friend…no matter who you are, or where you’ve been.
[About the photo: did I use this one before? I can't remember.]
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