Our Mission

The other day my son and nephew where doing science experiments in the kitchen (to my wife’s chagrin) and they put milk in a plate and dropped food coloring in randomly. The fun part came when they dropped liquid soap in the plate. The colors scattered all around like a color wheel instantly. (Do try this at home it was so cool)

It’s funny how I have noticed this same scatter reaction in church, when believers are mixed with unbelievers. When the sacred meets the sinful, the reaction is often sadly priceless. The typical reaction is that they first need to be like us in order to sense they are welcome among us. Sure we might tolerate them for some time, but we personally feel they need to be “saved” in order to “stay”. There is often an unwritten code that governs the way people treat unbelievers in most churches across America. I call it the “B” code, here it is in order:

Behave (standards a placed from men’s ideas of holiness, we try to make them like us)

Believe (sin is mis-defined and a person often accepts religion not really Jesus)

Belong (staying in the group is based on how well you can believe and behave)

In order truly belong you first need to clean up your act. We place such a high commodity on the external that we often miss the mark. (1 Samuel 16:7 “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”) We want people to behave according to our traditional standards of human Christian existence and place that as the entrance exam to knowing Jesus.

Now once we get them to clean the outside of their lives, we offer the chance to become a believer. Jesus had a few words on how people of religion treat those that seek to belong this way. (Matthew 23:24-26) “You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. “Woe to you, Christians of America and religious folk, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Believer! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”

Then finally a properly behaved person that believes can then truly belong on our group (or so we think). What we don’t realize is that we messed the whole process up and it’s often because we ourselves are not really connecting with Jesus. See our problem is that we actually don’t enter the kingdom of heaven and gain the heart of the Father. (Matthew 23:13) “Woe to you, Christians of America and religious folk, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

Let me just say that this is messed up! First off it’s obvious that is not how Jesus wants us to embark on His mission to share His love with the world. As a matter of fact we need to flip those three “B’s” to get it right. It should be like this:

Belong (accepted no matter what a person has done or looks like or acts like)

Believe (able to see the true love of Jesus, accepts Him for who He really is)

Behave (actions are adjusted in moments of instant miracles as well as day by day)

Let us commit to share and open our arms to those that are like us and not like us. Let’s commit to letting people sense the heart of the Father through the atmosphere of belonging even though they don’t behave the way we would want.

Given enough time any person will soften to Jesus if they are accepted by men. Rejected by men the chances are they will never come to see who Jesus really is. Believing occurs when a person knows they have a place to belong. And of course if you truly become a believer then a person’s behavior will change as the Kingdom of God comes in greater measure into their lives. When spiritual, emotional and physical needs are met first, then the Kingdom of God will land deep in a person’s heart.

(Luke 10:8-9) ““When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

(PS I changed a few words in the Matthew texts and bolded them to update it for us so we won’t think it’s spoken to someone else, thanks for the liberty)