As we continue this series about church again I want to share what church was never intended to be that sometimes we make the mistake of making it. Church is not escape from the world. This idea is different from church being a sanctuary. The Sunday assembly should be a place where people who have been engaged in the world during the week can come together to have some respite and be recharged for another week to come. That's not all it should be though!
However, the idea that the church should be disengaged from the world does not line up with Christ. It may line up with the proverb about bad company corrupting good morals, but not with Jesus' story. Jesus sat and ate with tax collectors and sinners. He touched lepers, talked to women, Samaritan women, touched the dead, a bleeding woman, and defended an adulterous woman. In fact as far as scripture goes, the people he hung out with the least were "church people."
So as a church what do we do? Do we spend time with only our Christian, safe friends? Do we spend time only with those that are "like" us? Unlike Jesus we are sinners just the same as anyone else we could interact with in this world. Are we using church to guard ourselves against murderers, thieves, liars, cheats, prostitutes, homosexuals, wiccans, muslims, buddhists, and atheists. If so, maybe we have missed part of what church should be today.
Church is not an escape from the world. This is what the Pharisees were all about. They held tightly to the rules and regulations and kept those who didn't fit the mold out of the temple. They rebuked Jesus, the Christ, for mingling with the wrong people, breaking the sabbath, and forgiving the unforgivable. Jesus healed people on the Sabbath. He touched the eyes of the blind. He commanded the lame to walk. He forgave the immoral. He convicted Zacchaeus to stop cheating people and give his money away to those in need. There is no way that Jesus could have taught his disciples "the way" without mingling with the destitute of society. Remember it is not the well who need the physician, but the sick.
Church would be more of what is should be if we did become a silo for the worldly behavior of others, but rather a place of refuge for the worst of sinners, a place of healing for the rejected, and a place of hospitality for the least of these.
We can be a refuge from the world and be the church of the Pharisees or we can be a welcome mat for all and be the Church of Christ!
However, the idea that the church should be disengaged from the world does not line up with Christ. It may line up with the proverb about bad company corrupting good morals, but not with Jesus' story. Jesus sat and ate with tax collectors and sinners. He touched lepers, talked to women, Samaritan women, touched the dead, a bleeding woman, and defended an adulterous woman. In fact as far as scripture goes, the people he hung out with the least were "church people."
So as a church what do we do? Do we spend time with only our Christian, safe friends? Do we spend time only with those that are "like" us? Unlike Jesus we are sinners just the same as anyone else we could interact with in this world. Are we using church to guard ourselves against murderers, thieves, liars, cheats, prostitutes, homosexuals, wiccans, muslims, buddhists, and atheists. If so, maybe we have missed part of what church should be today.
Church is not an escape from the world. This is what the Pharisees were all about. They held tightly to the rules and regulations and kept those who didn't fit the mold out of the temple. They rebuked Jesus, the Christ, for mingling with the wrong people, breaking the sabbath, and forgiving the unforgivable. Jesus healed people on the Sabbath. He touched the eyes of the blind. He commanded the lame to walk. He forgave the immoral. He convicted Zacchaeus to stop cheating people and give his money away to those in need. There is no way that Jesus could have taught his disciples "the way" without mingling with the destitute of society. Remember it is not the well who need the physician, but the sick.
Church would be more of what is should be if we did become a silo for the worldly behavior of others, but rather a place of refuge for the worst of sinners, a place of healing for the rejected, and a place of hospitality for the least of these.
We can be a refuge from the world and be the church of the Pharisees or we can be a welcome mat for all and be the Church of Christ!
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