...and they'll know we are

Christians by our ...

“I love Jesus, but I’m not so sure about the church.” My young friend went on to talk about the many failings of the church and why he is soured to it. He continued,“It’s self-serving, and full of some of the meanest, judgmental people I’ve ever met. Do they really think that their religious routines will cancel out the hatred and judgment in their hearts?” Ouch. It’s hard to hear things like that, but my friend raises an important question that God himself answers with a resounding “No” (Isa 58).

 You can see that my friend has not had a positive church experience. He is among the masses of people his age who are, in their own words, leaving the church to find God. They are self-professed “Jesus followers” who make a distinction between themselves and churchgoers. The assumption is that God cannot be found in the church. I explained to my friend that God sees the church as the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:24-25; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:1-2) and that Jesus loves her enough to lay down his life for her and, for whatever reason, God chose this as one way of manifesting his love among people. “Well I don’t see the love,” he insisted. I had to confess that there were times when I didn’t see it either.But the fact remains, we don’t get to say “I love Jesus, but not the church.”In effect, that would be saying, “I love you Jesus, but I think yourwife is a dog.”

 It breaks God’s heart when the bride of Christ, the church, prostitutes herself to the world and copies its behavior. The word “church” in the New Testament literally means, “Called out ones” – a distinctly different people who run counter to the culture they live in. In this case it’s loving and serving in the name of Jesus. When the bride lives this way there is no greater testimony before an unbelieving world. When she doesn’t, there is no greater hypocrisy.

 Are we really interested in completing the mission Jesus gave us (Mt 28:18-20)? The logic driving the exodus from “church” goes something like this: “God is love, I don’t see love, therefor God must not be in this place. Move on.” We have theopportunity to change that perception by being unified in love. God did not win us through law, but through a loving relationship (Jn 3:16). And we get to do the same. It’s what Jesus prayed about (Jn 17:20-23). I’m hearing a song we used to sing: “… and they’ll know we are Christians by our…”

"You’ve taken such good care of us, now what can we pray for you?” She seemed a little surprised because a waitress is supposed to do something for others, not have others do something for her. She opened up and told us about how she had recently lost her mother. She and her son had been mom’s caregiver for the last few years and it was hard losing her. She also had health issues of her own that made each day a struggle. On top of that, she was taking care of extended family members living in her home. She was hoping to get a full-time job for which she had recently applied so that she could make ends meet. Being a waitress barely helped her get by. From where I sat, it looked like this woman was carrying a pretty hefty load. She had every reason to be distressed, yet she was at peace.

After making her rounds with other customers, she returned to our table and we prayed. When we finished, she thanked us and explained that she woke up that morning and asked God to do something to help her get through another day. She had seen some difficult days and needed his help a lot. She believed that we were his answer to that prayer. I believed that she was his way of inspiring me to trust him more. You see, I have far fewer difficulties but not nearly the peace that she has. We finished up and said good-bye.

As we rode along in the car, my family talked about those few simple words, “What can I pray for you?” We agreed that it’s not always easy to put yourself out there and ask people that question. Fear sometimes gets the best of us. Let’s face it, our waitress turned out to be a believer and she was easy. What if it had been someone who was rude and seemingly unapproachable? Take courage and ask anyway. I’ve had plenty of people spew their pain and suffering on me, but I’ve never had anyone mock me for asking that question. Remember, we don’t have to fix everyone’s problems, we just have to bring them to the one who can. He is faithful, and you never know what he is going to do with your small step of faith.