With Arms Wide Open

Today, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and we were talking about different churches in our area.

During our conversation, we chatted about people we know who have been turned off from going to church because of the people in that particular church.

This breaks my heart. I just wanna get this off my chest. I get very VERY upset when I hear of someone having a horrible experience in a church because someone was ugly to them or what have you. It's OUR job as followers of Christ to point people to the Lord. To some people in this world, we might be the only Jesus they ever come into contact with. Would Jesus be ugly to a person because they aren't wearing a tie to church? Would Jesus treat that person differently because they didn't grow up in a church and go to Sunday School their whole childhood? Would Jesus love someone less if they didn't know all the Bible stories? OF COURSE NOT!

It's our responsibility as followers of Christ to welcome everyone with open arms. Sacrifice for them to show them the true meaning of God's love for us. Remember, we are called to love people "as Christ loved the Church." And don't forget, Christ's love for the church was shown in death on a cross.

People shouldn't be turned off from going to ANY church because of the people in it. The point of the Church is to share the Gospel with everyone...to the ends of the earth. Why would we turn anyone away? Or treat anyone badly? He who has ears, let him hear! Remember?!

So on that note, if anyone wants to come to church with me, I don't care what your background is. I don't care how you grew up, I don't care what you wear, what your hair looks like, what kind of shoes you are wearing. If ANYONE wants to come to church with me, call me, send me an email, facebook message, anything, and you're more than welcome to come.

Let's remember why we're here folks, to share the love of Christ with PEOPLE. Not to scare them away from a chance to hear His message.

And if you've been burned by a church before or someone in a church, remember this. We are all HUMAN. We screw up. People mess up. That's why we need a Savior. No one is perfect, but Jesus is! So don't get turned off from going to church because one person was a hypocrite, or one person treated you badly...because Jesus died for that person too. In the end, it's all about Him and His grace and love!