At our last Leadership Council meeting I spoke to the Council about our activity as an inviting church. Since becoming the pastor here at Crooked Creek I have been involved in several local community theater productions around the city. Aside from absorbing a lot of my free evenings it has presented an opportunity to minister to a community of people who I believe are being overlooked by too many faith communities. Listening to my fellow cast-mates I have been overwhelmed as the stories they have shared of neglect, abuse, racism, intolerance, and out right dismissal. They have been treated harshly, ridiculed, threatened, and ignored.
And they have been very wary of local churches. Afraid of being judged, condemned, or rejected most of these people would never consider that part of the answer to their life struggles could be found in a loving relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I have been amazed at how quickly they have responded to a simple showing of love, care, or affection and believe that these simple offerings have led to positive changes and adjustments in their life.
It is truly a humbling experience to attempt to share this Love of God for another person to discover how quickly and thoroughly some can cling to this small hope of grace and acceptance. I am excited to see how this acceptance is leading these same people to take great strides in their own personal lives and in their relationship with Christ.
And it leads me to wonder what others are doing to help establish God's Kingdom...what are doing to share this love and acceptance. To whom are we reaching out? And are we reaching out with the desire to communicate God's love or with a desire to fill the pews at our church?
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