Why Not the Church?

 

There is a new movement in Christianity today, it is the movement of people who are Christians to check no preference when it come to religion. It doesn’t mean that they don’t believe in Jesus or even that they don’t have traditional belief in Christianity. It means that many people who identify as Christians don’t identify with the church.

 

Now, as a pastor I have to ask myself why. What about the church turns people who are Christians off? What about the church doesn’t appeal even to people who believe in Jesus as the Savior?

 

Now, please understand that I am part of the church. I have been part of the church since I was a baby. I went to Sunday School, Training Union (yeah, I am old), RA’s (they wouldn’t let me go to GA’s) and VBS. I have served a local church since 1975. So, I am not speaking as an outsider; I am speaking from the viewpoint of an insider.

 

In Luke 19:10 Jesus said that He came to seek and save the lost.

 

Jesus came to bring salvation to those who were lost. He came that by His life, death, and resurrection to bring spiritual life to people who are spiritually dead.

 

In Romans 3:23 Paul tells us that we are all sinners. We are either recovering or saved sinners or we are still sinners living in that sin.

 

In Romans 3:24 Paul tells us that we are justified by God’s grace as a gift through the redemption that comes through Jesus.

 

I believe that many of us in the church have forgotten where we came from and what the means of our salvation is. We have forgotten that before Jesus, we were lost sinners without any desire for God and no hope. We also have forgotten what our means of salvation is – Jesus. It was not because we’re good or could ever be good enough or ever do anything to deserve it. That is totally by the gift of God’s grace.

 

We then tend to see our mission as the church to go out and by our own effort and our own goodness make the Kingdom of God happen and make people do what we think they should do. Jesus says His mission was to take the truth of God to people and by His grace and love enable people to want to come to follow and serve God.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Roof is following Jesus and yielding our lives to fulfill Jesus’ mission of lovingly seeking the lost.

 

In Matthew 9:13 Jesus says to the religious leaders, when they questioned why He ate with tax collectors and sinners, that He didn’t come to call the righteous (those that thought that by their own effort they were righteous), but the sinners (those that knew they were not naturally righteous).

 

Many of us in the church are not where Jesus was in the world with people who need Jesus. We want to stay away from the unrighteous, whereas Jesus was out and among the unrighteous daily. The church is to be a group of people who are broken, wounded, hurting, messy people coming to receive acceptance and finding healing. We are not to be a group of people who make people feel judged and condemned.

 

We see how Jesus dealt with the unrighteous, the woman at the well and the woman brought to Him who had been caught in adultery and Zacchaeus.

 

He was honest with them.

He loved them.

He accepted them.

 

The result was that these people were transformed and received the gift of salvation.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being honest, loving, and accepting to all people.

 

In Galatians 5:22-23 Paul lists the nine flavors of the Fruit of the Spirit. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

 

These are the characteristics that are to define our lives as being Holy Spirit filled followers of Jesus.

 

I have heard many in the church be critical of restrictions on the church.

 

Restrictions like:

Not being able to pray in schools

Not being able to refer to God in public events

Being critical of public figure mentioning God

Not treating the church with special respect or not giving the church special treatment

 

I agree that we are seeing growing restrictions on what the church can do and where the church can do it.

 

But let me ask a question. Are there any laws or any restrictions on being loving or being a joyful person or being a person of peace or being patient or being kind or treating others with goodness or being faithful in what you say or the promises you make or being gentle or exercising self-control?

 

No, there is no law against any of these things. Paul says against such there is no law. Even in the countries where the most severe restriction against the Christian church exists there are no laws against who we are to be in Jesus.

 

If we, the church, would just live out the reality of Jesus in our lives as the Holy Spirit enables us, then others would see Jesus and be drawn to Him and His family, the church.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is showing Jesus to the world through how we live daily.

 

Maybe people are not wanting to be part of the church because the church does want to be a part of their lives.

 

With Jesus, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                         Joe