I
always laugh and give one of my stock replies:
“If we were all supposed to be perfect, none of us would need church,”
or “Well, I go every week, and it hasn’t burned down yet.” In my inept way, I want these people to know
that none of us can do anything to deserve walking through that door into
church. I want them to understand that
it’s not anything we have done; it’s not how good or religious we are that
warrants us a sacred invitation to attend church.
I
want them to know that they are always welcome in church, even if they don’t
believe.
In
my life, I have experienced that same feeling: I don’t even think I believe in
God; how can I go to church? I would
feel like such a hypocrite. I’ve also
felt about church on the other end of the spectrum: I don’t want to go to church; the only people
who go to church are hypocrites. And I’ve
been in the middle, where I neither thought about going to church nor thought
about not going to church; it simply wasn’t on my radar.
In
my life, I’ve been a church-goer and a non church-goer. I have attended church when I believed and
when I wasn’t sure that I believed. I
have attended church, fully believing that God is with me, and not felt anything
holy. I have attended church, too
distracted by my own small life to feel the whoosh of the Holy Spirit. Yet God has never shouted at me from the
heavens to exit his house because I wasn’t good enough. God has never struck me with lightning if I
dared to enter his house after sinning. No
church that I attended ever burned down when I entered it.
Although
when the fire alarm goes off during service, I wonder if anyone has thought
that there is a real fire, and that they are the reason for the alarm. If God worked like that, the building would
be up in flames about half the time I showed up.
I
am a sinner, and I go to church. Almost
every week. I believe that the body of
believers, God’s church, is meant to grow in ranks of sinners. Most of us will never become saints, but we
can all praise God together for the wonderful gift of salvation he gave us in
Jesus Christ. None of us are good enough
to receive this gift. Yet God gave Jesus
to us for the sole purpose of saving us from our own sins, so we can live with
him forever in heaven. I don’t know why
he did this. But I believe that he did
it because he loves us.
For
years I have prayed for my loved ones to know Jesus as I do. I don’t know specifically who I’m praying for;
I don’t quiz them about their beliefs. I
cannot know the hearts of those who don’t say much about what they
believe. So I pray.
And
I attend church, and hope that my loved ones will be there right next to me
someday, feeling fully welcomed.
When we were utterly
helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now,
most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone
might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great
love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made
right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from
God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his
Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the
life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God
because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. Romans 5:6-11 (NLT)
If there was a "like" button...I'd click it. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThank you!! :)
DeleteSomeone we asked to come to church with us turned down the invite fearing lightning would strike. My hubby told them being struck by lightning could happen anytime and wouldn't it be better to be in God's house when it does happen :-) They agreed to come with us.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great answer! Maybe I will add it to my repertoire.
Delete