Let's face facts here folks, the reason thousands of people stay away from church is because of us. Those of us who call ourselves Christians. We mean well, we really do! We read what the Bible says about mankind. How all of us are helpless to save ourselves from this disease we were born with. We read that and we have compassion on the world. So we set out to bring this world to Christ. What's wrong with that, you ask? The answer is nothing. In fact, there is no nobler pursuit a man or woman can undertake. The problem is in our attitudes.
If you are a born-again believer, take a second to look at yourself. You, like the rest of us, have a story to tell. You once led an old life. It wasn't necessarily all that bad. You may not have been a drug addict or alcoholic, but you were lost. You were looking for the answers to all of the questions mankind was made to ask. And then, there He was. You encountered for the first time the One who had been calling to you your whole life. And this time you answered.
Fast-forward ten years. You are an established believer who is in a place of importance in your local church. Every week you perform some good work in the community, feeding the hungry or canvassing the neighborhood inviting people to church, but you never make any real connections with the people you meet. When those people you invite do not come, you assume they are lost. In your mind, you put them in a category and you don't like to admit it, but you feel good knowing that you are not like them. And you wonder why your message, God's message, isn't inspiring them in the same way it once inspired you.
The problem is that when we stand at our pulpits and shout the word of God down to the world, it loses its context. Instead, we must come down from our platforms, kneel beside those in need and whisper it in their ears as we help them to stand. Jesus did not come as a religious scholar, but as carpenter from Nazareth (pretty much "the bad part of town") whom no one knew. He spent his time not always in the churches and the temples, but in the streets. In the homes of those who would have Him. He ate his dinner with prostitutes, thieves, and murderers. He considered them his brothers and sisters. And they listened to Him. Not just because he claimed to be God's Son, but because being God's Son, he stepped down from Heaven and gave up everything he was entitled to. He knelt down beside them, beside us, and whispered his love for us in our ears and helped us to stand.
The religious people of the day hated Jesus. He was outspoken against their hypocrisy and selfishness. He condemned their practices. Accused them of exchanging the commands of God for the traditions made up by man. I wonder, if Jesus walked into our churches today, what would he have to say? Would he appreciate the religious speeches we give so that we look religious? When we sing songs about love on Sunday mornings and yet we judge our neighbors and reject them, would Jesus sing along? Would we even let Him in the building, dressed in rags with dirt and blood on His feet? Or would we be concerned about the carpet getting dirty...
