The Church

The Church

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 
Matthew 11:28-30
One question I get asked when I teach bible studies is, can in their words “a homosexual get to heaven” I always answer a resounding yes.
Mark Hughes founding pastor of Church of the Rock in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada, writing in the Promise keepers magazine Seven, November-December 2014 tells of meeting an old friend who had been living in Winnipeg’s homosexual community for years the friend made the statement, “I guess your church would never welcome someone like me?” he replied “Of course we would, your homosexual sin is no worse than my heterosexual sin. The day you are not welcome, is the day no one is welcome.”
Sadly all to many people be they from the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trangendered, community) don’t feel comfortable going, especially to an Evangelical church. How sad.
Our churches should be open to everyone. They should be welcoming places.
My first pastor way back in the 1970's once put a sign outside our church it read,
“This church for sinners only. All welcome” 
Several members of the church were upset but he preached a sermon based on Roman’s 3:23. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
        He made it clear in his sermon that all meant all no exceptions.
This was a man that used all kinds of things to witness to people, at a time when the evangelical church in North America at least was ultra conservative.
So conservative that I went to church in blue jeans once and was told not to do it again as a youth leader I needed to show up in dress pants at least. Thankfully the church today is a come as you are church. The way it was meant to be.
The primary job of the church has always been go and make disciples. Jesus saying,
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 
                                                                                 Matthew 28:18-20.
We are called to love God our neighbour and enemy alike (Matthew22, Matthew 5). It is something we cannot do if we are spewing fire, brimstone and damnation on people. Our job is not to judge.
Like I mentioned in a previous blog post, the apostle Paul calls us to police ourselves and leave the judging of people to God. Paul writing,
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  
God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” 
                                                                                        1 Corinthians 5:12,13.
We are to welcome people into our church congregations.
We as Christians have been given the most important task in the history of mankind. That of pointing people to heaven.
A mighty light is shining on us and the eternal resting place of those we come in contact with is at stake. We cannot afford to judge anyone.
We must love all whom we come in contact with the apostle Paul defining love as,
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 
Love never fails....
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  
                                                                                               1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13
There is a very appropriate story from the Talmud about Abraham it goes like this,
“An aged man, whom Abraham hospitality invited to his tent, refused to join him in prayer to the one spiritual God.  Learning that he was a fire-worshipper.   Abraham drove him from his door.  That night God appeared to Abraham in a vision and said: ‘I have borne with that ignorant man for seventy years: could you not have patiently suffered him one night?”
                                                                                                                  The Talmud.
Think about it