Do
You Welcome Others?
I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
– 1 Corinthians 9:22b-23
We are quick
to criticize, ostracize, and exclude others because they are different. The
teen who isn’t into sports doesn’t have a place in a youth group filled with
sports enthusiasts. The young mom with a special needs child doesn’t find inclusion
amongst the moms with children who have no challenges. The single woman, or
man, doesn’t fit into a congregation filled with couples. The newcomer gets a
small smile and a back as others catch up with friends. Does any of this sound
familiar?
It happens
in churches everywhere every Sunday. It happens in your church. It happens in
my church. We are so focused on ourselves, our friends, on those “like” us that
we miss opportunity after opportunity to join with others who walk a different
path with Jesus.
It’s easier
to stay with those we know. It’s more comfortable to surround ourselves with
the familiar. But that isn’t what Jesus called us to do. We are to love
everyone. We are to love those who are unlovable. We are to sit with the
hurting, the lost, those who have made mistakes and those who are alone.
A dear
family once left our church because their teen didn’t feel comfortable in youth
group. His great sin? He was more interested in drama than sports. Or the
single person who wasn’t greeted at all.
Or the family who unknowingly sat in “someone else’s seat.” And let’s
not forget the mom with two young girls who skipped Easter services because she
couldn’t afford new dresses for her children and didn’t want them ridiculed for
that sad fact. I could go on and on.
Paul became
like those around him so that he could share Jesus with them. He wasn’t a
hypocrite. He merely understood that people who are loved and accepted as they
are become far more likely to open their hearts to Jesus. When we close
ourselves off, when we fail to reach out and love people as they are, we let
them know that our words of faith have no place in our hearts.
