I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent. [Luke 5:32 (NLT)]
Let’s go back to the sixties—a time of “turn on, tune in, drop out”—a counter-culture of “flower power,” anti-war sentiment, and discontented disillusioned youth. When Chuck Smith saw these “hippies” on the California beaches, he said they needed a bath but, when his wife Kay saw them, she said they needed the Lord! Moving their message onto the streets and beach, they opened the doors of their church to those kids and anyone else who wanted to come in. Regardless of faith, background, attire, length of hair, addictions, political views, cleanliness, or finances, the church unconditionally welcomed everyone. While still preaching the uncompromising truth of the Gospel, what began as a congregation of 25, within eight years had to conduct three Sunday services in a 2,200-seat auditorium!
Although we’re not looking for growth like that, my church recently embarked on an outreach campaign to better establish our presence in the community. One of the phrases used in our mailings, flyers, and Facebook ads is, “You don’t have to believe to belong.” Some local pastors berated our pastor for the campaign and even accused him of heresy. Perhaps their complaints stemmed from fear that we were trying to poach their congregations but the message implied just the opposite—we were looking for people who didn’t belong! After all, there are more than enough unbelievers to fill every churches’ pews.
Apparently, the “heresy” part of the accusation was because our ads said belief was not a requirement for belonging. Just to clarify—we clearly identified ourselves as a non-denominational Christian church and never said that people didn’t have to believe to be baptized or didn’t need faith in Jesus Christ to be saved. Nothing implied a universality of beliefs, the lack of a Christian creed, or that what one believes doesn’t matter to God. In fact, a quick view of our website clearly outlines our fundamental Christian beliefs! Adding that we love God, love others, and follow Jesus, the advertisements simply said that people didn’t need to believe to belong. Nevertheless, some pastors disagreed and said that belief should be a prerequisite for belonging! While Scripture does warn of unbelievers in the church, it also calls us to share the gospel and to let our lights shine before men.
Saying you have to be saved before you can belong to a church family seems like saying you have to be physically fit before you can join a gym. When most out-of-shape people join a gym, they’re not too sure about the whole exercise thing. Granted, after trying out the elliptical, free weights, leg press, or spinning classes, some will quit because they don’t like it there. On the other hand, some people may realize how much better their health is because of the gym and enthusiastically embrace fitness, invite others to join, or become trainers themselves! But, if they couldn’t come to the gym because they weren’t fit enough to join, that can’t happen!
How can unbelievers or seekers become believers if we don’t welcome them into our churches? How can people be transformed by God’s word if they don’t hear it? How can they call on His name without knowing who Jesus is? How can they know Him if they haven’t met His followers? How can we preach God’s love if we don’t practice it? Granted, not everyone who comes will stay or choose to believe—but unless we welcome them into our church family, they may never become part of the body of Christ! What we must never do, however, is preach a modified, revised, or tweaked version of the Gospel to accommodate unbelievers. They must understand that, eventually, a decision has to be made—there is only one way into the Kingdom!
Our churches shouldn’t be private clubs where only believers know the secret handshake or password to get in the door! Jesus didn’t divide people into the washed and unwashed when He taught, prayed, healed, or ate—neither should we. When our Lord said He came for sinners, not those who thought themselves righteous, Jesus defined the mission of the church.
A local gym here claims to have a “non-judgmental” philosophy when it comes to joining—perhaps some churches around here need to adopt it, as well!
The church is not a select circle of the immaculate, but a home where the outcast may come in. It is not a palace with gate attendants and challenging sentinels along the entrance-ways holding off at arm’s-length the stranger, but rather a hospital where the broken-hearted may be healed, and where all the weary and troubled may find rest and take counsel together. [James H. Aughey]
For a Christian, being hospitable should be second nature but, for many, the thought of entertaining is terrifying. Entertaining, however, has nothing to do with hospitality. One has to do with cuisine, attire, atmosphere, and possessions, and says “Look what I have,” while the other has to do with love, respect, sharing, refreshment, and comfort and says, “What I have is yours!” One is meant to impress and the other is meant to bless.
Today, when someone is called the “salt of the earth,” the speaker probably means he or she is a dependable, unpretentious and honest person—someone of moral integrity. That is well and good as far as it goes, but Jesus meant more than that when He called us to be “the salt of the earth.”
Eighteen years after the kingdom divided and Jeroboam became king of the northern kingdom of Israel, Rehoboam’s son Abijah became king of Judah, the southern kingdom. As Solomon’s grandson and David’s great-grandson, Abijah was part of David’s dynasty; Jeroboam was not. Although 1 Kings called Abijah a sinner, 2 Chronicles recorded the one highpoint of his short reign. War broke out between Israel and Judah and Judah’s warriors were outnumbered two to one. As the two kings squared off, Abijah shouted out to Jeroboam and his army. Referring to the “covenant of salt” between God and David, Abijah called Jeroboam a traitor, his men scoundrels, and charged Israel with rebellion against the Lord’s chosen Davidic dynasty of kings. Their rebellion hadn’t been against Solomon or Rehoboam; they’d rebelled against the kingdom of the Lord! Continuing with his tirade, Abijah charged the northern kingdom with apostasy because of their idolatry and illegitimate priests. After pointing to Judah’s faithful worship, he warned Israel they would not succeed because God was with Judah. Indeed, in spite of overwhelming odds, Scripture tells us “God routed Jeroboam and all Israel” and the Judeans were victorious because they “relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.”
When talking with my husband about the story of Jonah, he said that the fish story was a “little too hard to swallow”— too incredible to believe. Miracles! The Bible is full of them and, since they are supernatural events, they’re all hard to accept as true. Improbability is the nature of miracles. Along with the fish saving Jonah, the story is filled with other miracles: the immediate calming of the storm once Jonah was thrown in the sea, the deliverance of the prophet from the fish safely onto the beach, Nineveh’s immediate repentance, the appointment of the plant, worm and scorching east wind as teaching tools, and even God’s revelation of Himself directly to Jonah! Yet, if we believe the Bible is God-breathed and without error, we don’t have the privilege of picking and choosing which miracles we will believe and which ones we won’t. We have only one choice to make—all or none!
When I came across this revised version of the 23rd Psalm, I was sure it was written by a cynic as a way of mocking God, Christianity, and many of today’s popular evangelists. Imagine my surprise when I learned that it was written in all seriousness by Charles Fillmore, the founder of Unity, a church within the New Thought movement. The “revised” psalm was published in Fillmore’s book Prosperity in 1938. Although we may associate the beginnings of prosperity or “health and wealth” theology with televangelists like Jimmy Swaggart and Jim and Tammy Bakker in the 1970s, the movement began in the late 19th century. Sadly, in one form or another, it still is preached today.
Devotions of the Heart 