If we are the body…

Casting Crowns wrote a song titled “If We Are the Body” several years ago and this morning driving to work this was on the radio. I have always liked the song and the meaning especially. There was a specific verse that for some reason stood out to me this morning…

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances
Tells him that his chances are better out on the road

As I heard these words I wondered how many travelers in life have felt like this man? How many times have we felt like this man? It is sad when any person feels like this in the confounds of a Church building, the one place where any one should welcomed and a part of. How many times have you been made to feel you don’t fit because of the way your dressed or the vehicle you drove up in or perhaps you even had to walk to Church because you do not own a car?

My best friend since the fifth grade at Mark Twain Elementary in Tulsa told me of the time that as an adult he walked into a Church in blue jeans and a blue jean jacket and never felt so unwelcome as he did that day. Now I know people will make any excuse for not going to Church but, I am sure there are some out there that have really felt this way. I used to pastor a Church and was told then that there were certain folks that “There might be some folks that may not feel welcomed in “our” church.” Guess who I always invited and made them feel welcomed every time they came.

How many times on a Sunday morning have you looked around and just shook your head when you saw a certain type of person in the service? Hey I’ll raise my hand, I am guilty of spotting people and wondered, “Who let you in and why?” As I listened to these words this morning my heart felt convicted at some of my reactions. Folks Christ died for you and I and every other person, who made us a part of the selection committee? We are the welcoming committee folks. We are called to the highways and by ways to bring people to the body of Christ, not to select them. The next time you start searching the Church to inspect, think about the words of this song. It is my prayer that as those words spoke conviction into my heart, you too would God tugging at you heart to have compassion, no matter how they may look.

I want to share the story of a pastor friend and those who know me have heard the story too and will know who the story teller is. This man pastored a Church in Tulsa and had a thriving bus ministry. Every weekend they would visit and invite the neighborhood kids to Church. Now this Church was not in a really great part of town and in fact it was populated with a lot poor families that lived around the Church. One Sunday morning they stopped at this particular house and the kids coming out were running late and causing the bus to be late to Church. That morning when the bus arrived Sunday School had already started and now the classes were being disrupted by the late comers. After things settled down and during a break the little girl that was running late came up to the teacher and began talking to her. She said, “I am sorry I made the bus late, I am sorry my dress is ripped right here, I didn’t have time to comb my hair but, can I have a hug anyways?”

Church, all they want is a hug. Someone to meet them where they are and how they are. If we are the body…