It’s All About Perspective

This was my Granddaddy’s sheriff’s badge.

In a recent sermon, my pastor shared a story about him and his wife being in a serious car accident. It was dark and raining. He was barely conscious himself and couldn’t tell whether or not his wife was seriously injured. As he began to panic, he heard sirens in the distance. He said he knew immediately that everything was going to be okay because help was on the way.

I have always had the same feelings towards law enforcement. My Granddaddy was the sheriff of our little Georgia county for much of my childhood. I have ridden in the back of quite a few patrol cars. The fact that the doors had no handles on the inside, never bothered me in the least. It never occurred to me that I couldn’t get out. Why would I want to?

But, for many people, sirens are a frightening sound. They do not symbolize hope or help. The represent fear. Some people have raised their children to fear the police. Some people come from countries where the police are corrupt and can’t be trusted. For some, the fear may be justified.

As I was turning this over in my mind, it came to me that there are people out there who may feel the same way about church. I was raised going to church. I find it to be a place of peace and worship, a place to lay my troubles down, a place of repentance, where I can walk away cleansed and refreshed.

But, there are people out there who see church as a place of condemnation, a place of impossible rules, a place where they will never fit in or be accepted. There are those who feel they could never possibly be good enough to sit in a church pew.

Some people who feel this way have been treated badly by church going folks in the past. Most churches have some Pharisees mixed in with the rest. You know the ones I’m talking about, the people who like to look down on others because of their social status or because they are divorced or because they have had a child out of wedlock. These are simply a few examples. The reasons why we choose to judge one another as unworthy of forgiveness is endless and wrong, whatever our motivation may be.

As Christians, perhaps we need to do a better job at welcoming in those who may be seeking something better for their lives or people who may be searching, period. We can introduce them to Jesus and the freedom that following him gives us, without judging them or hitting them over the head with a Bible.

Obedience comes through faith. When we really know Jesus, we want to read the Bible. We want to pray and follow the commandments, but we have to start somewhere. Maybe that start should be love. Isn’t that what our faith stems from? Maybe we should be more welcoming to those people who may be afraid or even angry at the church. Maybe we should demonstrate what Christian love is all about with our actions first.

Maybe we should make it our goal for others to see church as help, as safety, as a sanctuary. If we do that, perhaps the Holy Spirit will take care of the rest. What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂