Not My Church

                The Jones family was new to the small town.  Bill’s company had moved him there to run their factory.  Bill, his wife Ann and their three kids, April, Jason, and Mary, enjoyed the small town.  They loved the slower pace and were settling into their new lives.  Bill and Ann knew they needed to find a new church home for the family.  They started visiting some of the churches in town.  It didn’t take very long for almost everyone in town to hear that the family was searching for a church and one of the pastors decided to make a visit to the family’s home. 

                The pastor reached out to the family and they invited the pastor over for dinner.  The pastor and his wife arrived at the Jones’ house very excited to meet the family and tell them about their church.  As they sat down for dinner, Bill introduced the pastor to his kids.  Jason met the pastor first.  Jason is a handsome, athletic young man that has a very bright future.  The pastor knew he would make a great addition to the youth group at the church.  Next Bill introduced his oldest daughter, April.  April is a sophomore in college.  The pastor looked twice at April when she walked into the room.  Her hair was multiple colors and she had many piercings and tattoos visible.  Finally, Bill introduced his youngest daughter, Mary.  Mary seemed a lot like Jason when she was introduced to the pastor.  She was a beautiful young woman that loved basketball and volleyball.  All three children were very well mannered and polite.  The pastor enjoyed meeting all three kids.

                Dinner was going great for the family and the pastor.  They were all getting to know each other and the family was starting to like what the church had to offer.  The church had something for every member of the family.  There were several different adult classes, they had a college class and the youth group was the largest in town.  Everyone started getting excited about the possibility of finding a church that met the needs of the entire family.   As dinner finished up, Mary excused herself from the table and ran to the bathroom.  The pastor’s wife started to get concerned for the girl and asked Ann if there was anything she could do because she was a nurse.  Ann explained that Mary would be fine and that she hasn’t been feeling good for the last couple months.  The sickness was just part of the process Mary had to live with and it would pass with time.

                The evening started getting late and the pastor knew it was time for them to head home.  As they gathered their things, Mary returned to see the pastor off and apologize for leaving the table.  The pastor’s wife gave her a hug and told her that she would be praying for her condition.  Mary told the pastor’s wife that she and the baby greatly appreciated the prayers.  The pastor was astonished that he just heard that Bill’s sixteen year old daughter was pregnant. 

           

     Bill and Ann walked the pastor and his wife to the door.  As they were leaving, Bill told the pastor they looked forward to seeing them Sunday morning for services.  The pastor turned back around to Bill and said that they may need to keep looking for a church to call home.  He explained that his congregation was very traditional and the family would probably not be as welcomed in the church as they would like.  Jason would be welcomed with open arms and April would win the members over with her charm.  It would take some time for the members to look past the piercings and tattoos but they would eventually come around.  But the congregation would not accept a pregnant, teenager that was living in sin.  The pastor didn’t want to hurt the family anymore and encouraged them to try the more contemporary church in the next town over. 

                This story is an exaggerated rendition of things that happen, but there are congregations and churches that make families feel unwelcome because of their situation.  They think that people who are different from them or have made mistakes should not be welcomed.  Some people put degrees on sin and refuse to allow the sin to enter their sacred church.  They become very judgmental when they see others hurting.  Churches loose the thought that they are a hospital for the hurting and start believing they are a museum for saints.  These churches have lost the focus of why Jesus came to Earth in the first place. 

                When churches decide that they have the right to judge or even turn people away because they don’t fit their image, then they have become just as bad as the sinners they are trying to keep out.  They have forgotten the words Jesus spoke in Mark 2.  He replied to the Pharisees, when they questioned why he was eating the tax collectors or “scum”, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor- sick people do.  I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”(Verse 17)  These churches that don’t want sinners to ruin their image are no different from the Pharisees.  Jesus is still calling all the sick and hurting to Himself.  He is still eager to have dinner with the “scum” that are in world.  Those are the people that need God in their lives. 

                Just like the three kids in the story, there are different kinds of people in the world.  They are all uniquely different but are all the same.  Jesus came to save everyone, not just the people that fit the image of a church.  It doesn’t matter what your sin is, sin is sin.  Jesus wants everyone to get to know Him and turn away from their sinful past.  But just because you turn away from your past does not mean that you will not have the reminders of that past.  Just as a sixteen year old, single mother will have the reminder of her sin, we all have the memories of our past.  The church should be the last place to turn those memories into condemnation.  And every time they judge someone for their past, they are condemning them for it.  When they turn their past over to Jesus and He washes it white as snow, the church should follow suite and welcome them into the fold.

                Lord I ask for forgiveness for ever making anyone feel unwelcome for their past sins.  I pray for any church that has lost the desire to be a hospital for the sick and hurting or have become judgmental towards people that are different than their image.  Lord we all have sinned and fallen short of Your glory and it’s only through You that we will ever have a chance in this world.  Lord I pray for all the churches that have lost their purpose of serving the lost.  Only You can change the hearts of the members of those churches.  In Your Holy Name I pray, Amen