Today's Thoughts

I came across the first message I preached at Life Church after returning to Illinois after 8 years in Louisiana, and one part of the message struck me again. It was an excerpt from Rob Bell's book "The Velvet Elvis" where he plainly put it that the church really needs to change its thinking about the unchurched.

“The most powerful things happen when the church surrenders its desire to convert people and convince people to join them. It is when the church gives itself away in radical acts of service and compassion, expecting nothing in return, that the way of Jesus is radically and openly displayed to people. And the only way to do this, is the church has to stop thinking about people in categories of in or out, or being good or bad, believer or non-believer, saved or unsaved. Those terms and that thought process completely go against what Jesus taught us about how to treat each other. Placing people in categories is offensive.” Rob Bell.

The early church in the Book of Acts chapter 2 had it right.  They shared food (Acts 2:46), they shared their stuff or sold it to help others in need when they needed it (Acts 2:45), they were all on the same page (Acts 2:44), and they had gladness and simplicity of heart (Acts 2:46).  

Their lives were a testimony of goodness, grace, and love.  In Acts 2:47, it states that they had favor with all the people.  ALL the people.  Why?  They lived a life of servanthood and love.  When you love someone, you look past how they dress, how they talk, who they hang with, and if they are rich or poor.  You don't care about those things which are really insignificant when you come to it, because what is significant is the heart.   What condition is their heart in?  When a heart is healed, transformation takes place.  

The early church went through a transformation.  They did not live by strict rules anymore.  They lived by grace.  They were free.  They were freed by the death and resurrection of a Savior, Jesus Christ.  The church today has re-created rules again.  You must look like them, talk like them, and act like them.  If you don't you are not part of them, and to be part of them, you must change and be exactly like them because they are right and you are wrong.  You wonder why the unchurched portion of our society is getting larger, and why those unchurched individuals despise Christianity and the people involved in it.

Jesus was The Model for reaching the unchurched.  He hung out with them.  Ate with them.  Treated them like they were just like anyone else.  He understood it was a heart issue.  How do you get someone to open up their heart?  By building a relationship with them.  To have a relationship with someone, you have to hang with them.  To hang with them, you have to meet them where they are at.  Jesus met them where they were at.  He did not hang in the temple and expect people to come to him.  They wouldn't come then because of "religion" and "hypocrisy", and they won't do it now for the same reasons.  

When we quit trying to "convert" people, as Rob Bell states, and just love people by building relationships and serving those in need. By going out.  Out of the "sanctuary" of a building to hurting people. Maybe, just maybe, we'll find favor with those that really need love, a kind word, or a hug, maybe a coat, or food, and then, Jesus.