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yesterday was another sunday. we came. we prayed. we sang. we hugged. we laughed. we learned. i preached. you listened and applied. we caught up a little. we made decisions. we gave. we remembered. some of us left and ate together…others went home. we all went our own way. a new week was begun.
i guess i’m going to sum up what i feel about yesterday by giving you some different kinds of observations.
if what happened yesterday between 10:00 and 12:30 defines your life as a follower of christ, you’ve got a problem.
if you were not inspired to go and spend your next six days surrendered to kingdom-living, you missed the point.
or we didn’t do our job.
if you think you can miss on a sunday morning and i’m not affected by it, you’re fooling yourself.
if you think you can miss on a sunday morning and you not be affected by it, you’re fooling yourself.
if you think you can come on sunday mornings and be absolved of guilt, you’ve missed the point.
we have to learn the balance between the value of coming and the freedom to not come.
we also have to learn another balance…
as i reflect on yesterday, i recognize that we are really good at one thing…and we really struggle at another. and both of them are crucial to a healthy church family. we like our friends. we enjoy their company and find that interacting with them is comfortable and usually pretty natural.
i love watching us interact with each other on sunday mornings. good friends catching up with each other after being apart for a few days, or even a week…or more. that’s the way a family is supposed to act. telling stories. reacquainting. catching up. drawing friends deeper into life journies and cementing friendships before going their own way. it’s good. it’s healthy. it’s godly. it’s essential.
on the other hand, our friendship and familiarity with each other can actually be one of our biggest obstacles to growth and our ability to extend the kingdom.
frankly, when we are focused on those we know and are comfortable with, we are missing amazing opportunities to draw others in…into our circles…into our stories…into our family life…into north point. our friendliness to ourselves actually becomes the way we push others away.
can i give you a challenge? i know that some are actually gifted at interacting with others, especially people who you don’t know. you are natural extroverts. some have the gift of hospitality…the extraordinary ability to welcome strangers. others are not so gifted. no matter.
it’s time we got on with the business of living our lives the way jesus would…if he were at north point on a sunday morning. jesus would be obsessed with finding those that were alone or those that were hurting. he would be the friend to the friendless. he would welcome the new and challenge the regulars.
he would never allow someone to be left out or forgotten. he would be comfortable with the uncomfortable and would extend grace and friendship to those that the religious people overlooked. his life was always inclusive. strangers counted him a friend.
what do you think north point would look like if we treated people, especially those we know little about, the way jesus would?
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