How Do You Church?

"At his funeral, listening to this church song.  His family yellin' and screamin', I hurt for 'em."
                                                                                          - Common, Kingdom 2014

You wanna know what disrespectful is?  A preacher presiding over the funeral of a just-met young, African-American male who was affiliated with a street lifestyle (possibly dying violently) and saying something to the effect of "I pray that he knew Jesus."  Uhhh....you think it's a little too late for that now?  I mean, you've got his family clearly distraught, his friends and/or associates thinking whatever, and then a statement about a prayer you know is ineffective gets thrown out there.  It's like, "let's shove the possibility of our loved one going to Hell down their throat one more time.  And maybe, just maybe, some of those hoodlums out there will come up here for prayer."  How about saying something more close to "this was a young man in my community that I had an opportunity to touch with the message of Jesus Christ; and I didn't...and I'm sorry."  But that would be too much like honesty and humility.

Something can be said about the perspective of dignity for the minister who operates like that.  And what could be said is this; there is no real perspective, only a shallow, a one-directional type.  In that situation (a recent real one might I add) the assumed passion to bring others to be Saved has been misused and is now seen as an insult.  And in the end, you've got an arrogant Believer and a hurt person who's been dissuaded from believing.  I guess favor really ain't fair just like the saying goes; because although God favored your sinful self to accept Christ, you didn't see the fairness in sharing that same grace with someone else.

Somehow we Christians got away from building relationships with people.  We've isolated ourselves on the hot-button social issues and with our ridiculous traditions that are both killing people.  We've gotten so intrigued with selfish social and financial growth that we've discarded the command to help grow others.  And while we celebrate the fact of being Saved, I believe The Lord God is asking us "but what about them?"

Why do you think that Jesus asked his disciples and seventy others to stay at peoples homes during their missionary treks (Luke 9:1-6; Luke 10:1-7)?  Why do you think the Christian layman Philip hung out for an extended period of time with the Ethiopian official, explaining from the Book of Isaiah all the way up to Jesus' Resurrection to him, before he offered him Salvation.  I think it has something to do with mirroring Jesus, I think it goes back to service, and I think it's the sincere way to offer eternal life.  The intent of God is for human beings to be helped, supported, and encouraged by other human beings; yet we've developed a callous attitude towards the sake of mankind.  So much so, we don't even pray for time to help develop a non-Believer to life or a Believer to a more fruitful life.  But we're always commissioned for service and display of the Kingdom.  And I think we must consider that this sales principle works in winning souls, because people don't buy your product, they buy you.

Are you really loving your neighbors?  No, I'm not talking about the person that sits beside you at church; I'm talking about the person that lives next door to you.  Are...you...loving...them?  Do you greet them, do you gift them, do you show your concern for their well-being, their children's well-being, do you show them Christ?  Or are you just an insensitive preacher, listening to yourself talk.  Well, maybe it's time to talk better or even less.  But at any rate, church is actually a verb.  And the question is...how do you church?

Peace