Monday, February 11, 2008

sunday morning

I thought I was fine until I walked into church yesterday morning.

or had it together anyway.

since we've been in the new building, there is a period of time before the morning service when we have open worship & prayer time. the songs are a little softer, and if you want to talk you can step out into the cafe area and find a table. well, as soon as I walked into the sanctuary the waterworks started. but that's the thing about our church - it isn't the place where you have to try to save face by pulling it all together or acting the part, it's the place where we all come and love each other when we're a mess and life hurts. it didn't used to be so much. then years ago this pastor came in and God gave him a vision of what we wanted from that church. he got a lot of grief for that. people got mad, people left. why? because people who looked different started showing up and getting their lives changed. some guy with dreads would be sitting next to some guy in a business suit. Chinese students who barely spoke English would fill rows and anyone could walk in wearing jeans and a t-shirt. interracial families came in and joined the church. I sometimes forget that this still isn't normal.

when contact shakes you out of your supposed composure and lets you work through your hurt into healing, that's love and friendship, and most of all that's God showing us just a little of how much He loves us.

1 comment:

Debbie C. said...

This is such an excellent post and I so appreciate your sincerity and the way you have explained it. That is exactly what it is and I wish more people would see it that way. Church should be a place where we can come and be "real" instead of feeling as if we have to come "all dressed up" to impress someone. Thanks so much for this insight.