I often am giving thought to the “whys” of life. I look for God’s purpose in each situation. I want to hear from Him. I was the kid who never stopped asking questions.  One of those thoughts often has to do with how we “make things better.” I am concerned about the folks who are not plugged into God. Perhaps they never heard. Perhaps what they heard was false and ingenuous.  That bothers me. We are the church. And with that…

I think a lot about those who “walked” away from the Lord. The reason for my quotes in the previous sentence is that for the believer who has accepted Christ, how do you walk away? Does the circumcision by God (In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, Colossians 2:11) done in you get restored? Is He going to put it back on?I think about the rules that church has given to be saved AND stay saved. If you think you can “lose” it you are probably not going to agree with how you are able to get save in the first place.

The problem I have is two-fold.

First, we have people who are frightened with Christianity because they have heard all the rules. (Some of the rules include that they carry guns, only vote Republican, wear suit and tie, etc..) Jesus saw a lot of them as well. They were not going to “church” but frequenting lifestyles in opposition to faith, but He still looked for them. He still had their number. We often convinced them they are the devil’s spawn and short of being delivered in a parlor, they had not a shot. Perhaps you have seen the bumper sticker that says “I don’t mind Jesus…it’s His followers I am frightened of.”

(Now on the other hand while I do not believe you have to “go to church” every time the door is open, experience tells me maturity happens in the seedbed of grace and community.)

What is the likelihood of them showing up on Sunday? Or even “darkening the doors of church”? How many have told me “the building will fall down” to let me know what they have been taught? I have had them tell me to my face; “you can’t wear shorts,” you ride a motorcycle and I cannot come to your church” and “God loves His sheep shorn short-get a haircut!”

And then we have the other side of the coin. The believer who has come to salvation by grace, expressing their belief in Him and His finished work, only to run up against something, perhaps a divorce, or an affair or a bad circumstance. The church too often brings down the hammer of condemnation. (Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.) At a time when they need the comfort of the body most, has often been the time when they have been pushed the furthest away.

His ministry was love and not condemnation.

My heart and my desire is that we reach those that need Him most. The more I see Him as the person of grace and all that accompanies that thinking, the easier it is for me to have the conversations with the pre-Christian and the Christian who has “walked away.”

In the eyes of the Father, the unknowing is encountered with the newness of being born again. The refreshing of His goodness. That should not be taken away by a myriad of well-intentioned but wrongful rules and conditions. Neither should the Christian who makes a mistake be sent to the corner of the church for timeout.

In 1994 I had an encounter with God that left me breathless. I was not looking for it. As a matter of fact the 8 hour trip concerned me. “What if God really showed up” and He was not pleased with my life. (I was in a body brace as the result of an accident and life in my home was anything but gracious.) The very first night, a young man who led an area work said, “I have ash trays in my church because it is not my job to clean them up.” It had been bad enough that he had not suit and tie and wore a leather jacket but WHAT??? That was a very rough night for me. I sat in front of a hotel mirror talking to God about the heretical words I had just heard. I wanted to go home. Get out of there. I agreed to go to one more meeting. As I shuffled down the aisle the power and presence of God overtook me. I fell apart. That night while in a large restaurant, I “lost” it coming unglued with laughter. The following morning I went to the service and the short notes are God brought me to the floor and myself and 2 others lay there for 4 hours.

I never was the same. God spoke to me multiple times about “this is me” not the trappings of religiosity or the condemning words of others.

I will be honest. I did not totally get it. I tried to return to some of my old thinking. (Proverbs 26:11) The regurgitation of words I had heard. Thoughts I had carried. But things changed.

And I like many have heard words that tell us of many “coming out of the hills of New England, from the highways and the byways.”  I believe that. But what I don’t see is anything like that happening without the simplicity of the gospel being carried by a multi-membered body (1 Corinthians 12:14-18) in the love of the Father.

I want a new bumper sticker to appear. “I love Jesus and I love His body!” (John 13:35)

I believe we are on the cusp or the tipping point of a great outpouring from His body through His body. I believe it will start with some of these “sign posts.”

• The message of grace will undermine the work of the enemy and set people free.
• People will not see giants in the land but the fruit of the land in abundance
• Men will step up to the plate and be who God has called them to be.
• There will be an understanding of God and His grace that will overturn families bring a return of family members who have walked away or never been there.

I am convinced for me it is one step at a time. One person at a time. For others it may be different. But it is clear to me that God is bringing a newness to His body.