Craig Groeschel posted the following earlier this week. It hit me somewhere between "gut punch" and "wake-up call."I was talking to a guy on a plane about God. When I asked him if he went to church, he explained politely that he wasn’t interested. I asked him why he wasn’t and he said matter of factly, “Because I’ve already been and nothing happened.”
Maybe he went to a “safe” church. In a safe church:
* The message makes you feel better.
* You’re never confronted about your sin.
* No one rocks the boat.
* You don’t have to change.
* You may never truly encounter our Holy and Life-giving God.
When I read about the New Testament church, it was filled with people with a dangerous faith. While we certainly should make our environments welcoming, our message should remain dangerous.
* We’re called to leave everything to follow Christ.
* We’re invited to believe God for the impossible.
* We’re told to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
* We’re told that to find our life we have to lose it first.
There is nothing safe about that message. May our churches become a safe place to encounter a dangerous message.
What are some of the ways you offer a welcoming environment while presenting a dangerous message?
