“So warmly welcome each other into the church, just as Christ has warmly welcomed you; then God will be glorified” Romans 15:7 TLB
Introduction:
Being a welcoming church is more than an abstract principle. It’s more than words on paper. And so, what does it mean for us to be a people or a church who are truly welcoming of others? I transferred from one large Texas city which was my birthplace to another large Texas city almost 12 years ago, but every now and then I love to go back home and re-explore the city I love so dearly.
I was an associate minister of a great church family in that city, in fact this church is where I announced my calling to preach the gospel some twenty-five years. The church was pastored by my uncle who was a very old fashion saintly man, he passed way almost twenty years ago but he was a great pastor and one of his pet pees was to make all visitors feel welcome.
Recently I returned to my hometown in order to visit an ill relative and I was also invited by a very good friend who pastors a small church in the city. I thought to myself about how wonderful it would be to visit my old church who had an early morning service prior to going to friend’s church. I called and informed the pastor that I wanted to worship with he and his church.
Well when Sunday morning arrived, I attended my old church, met and hugged some of the older members who were still there. However, as the church began, I was not treated as a guest, I was treated as if I was trying to invade their church by most of the clergy there that morning. I couldn’t understand just why I was being snubbed and ostracized, I left this church in good faith and by letter almost 12 years ago with little to no contact with these men of God and yet all throughout the service I was pretty much given the cold shoulder and yes it did hurt.
Although it hurt me a little bit it helped me a lot. Why? Because it caused me to consult the Word of God and read what Paul wrote to the Roman church one day, “…warmly welcome each other into the church, just as Christ has warmly welcomed you; then God will be glorified.” If God is ‘glorified’ when we welcome one another, how does God feel when we treat our brothers and sisters as if they are not welcome in His house?
I have visited my share of congregations over the years and all of them claim to be the friendliest church. Yet, what I observe and what I am sure others experience is that people in these churches are friendly — but they are friendly to each other.
Often, during congregational greeting time, parishioners greet one another warmly, but guests are left feeling like outsiders. It is not that people are not speaking to them, but that people are brushing past them quickly, so they can connect with those they know in the congregation. When this happens repeatedly, it makes a visitor feel like an intruder and not a guest.
1. Accept One Another
I can’t help but wonder occasionally, what is so difficult about accepting one another? Especially when you consider the fact that God accepts us, despite our messy lives, impure motives, and irritating attitudes. One of the ways we reflect God’s love and bring him glory is to accept one another just as He accepts us. This means we accept others’ quirks and look past their faults in order to see individuals created in the image of God. Also, when you consider that fact, God designed us to mature spiritually with the help of others. For instance, we can’t learn to love others on our own. We need to learn how to accept one another unconditionally.
Something that helps me is knowing that whether I am safe among friends, I am safe with the Lord...and this is what the text points up to us in no uncertain terms. When we come to church on Sunday morning or throughout the week, we should feel comfortable, we should feel secure and safe in our home church or another church we happen to visit, we shouldn’t be made to feel uncomfortable. Not in what is supposed to be God’s house, in God’s house, there should never be any big I’s and little u’s. My father in the ministry and uncle, the late Rev. Robert Miller, Jr. used to remind us that, “We are all in this leaky boat together.” 1 Corinthians 12: 21, says, The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" We are all tied together by a single thread, and we are all headed for the same destination. When I see finally see Jesus, I don’t want to have to explain to Him as to why I snubbed and/or overlooked my brother or my sister.
2. Just as Christ has welcomed you
When I visited that church a few months back, I was first and foremost looking to praise, fellowship, and worship God. However, I was also looking for a little hospitality. Now, I know that hospitality takes effort, because it disturbs the routine. I want to think that I am a hospitable person, I know it’s the right way to be – but making room for others is not normal mode for a lot of us. I like the idea of hospitality, but too often I lack the follow-through.
Christian hospitality is not for one group to do for another – it’s mutual. We are not possessors of a home that we can choose to share or not to share – we are only home when we are together in Christ. We belong, not at the invitation of an in-group, but by God’s grace. We have been included so thoroughly that our “we” and “us” implies no “they” and “them.” I belong. You belong. Whoever you are. To Christ. Through Christ. If I visit a Christian church in Timbuktu—I ought to be welcome and I ought to feel welcome.
I remember a photo in the San Antonio Express News of a large church in the downtown area who was celebrating some sort festive occasion. They were having a banquet, and everyone was dressed to the nines, but also in the photo was a group of homeless people looking in as the church members inside were eating, drinking, and being merry.
The article made it a point to expose just how some churches are when comes to who’s welcome and who’s not. But the text says, “…warmly welcome each other into the church, just as Christ has warmly welcomed you;” How can we say that we represent Jesus Christ and still refuse to be like Jesus Christ? What I really want to know is would Jesus be welcome in your church? Would He be welcome in your church if He came walking in your church wearing sandals, dressed in a sackcloth, and curly nappy uncombed hair? Would He be welcomed even if He wasn’t the pastor of a church with a large membership and a dues paying member of the Baptist Ministers Union? Would He be welcome if His annual income was less than $25,000.00 a year? All through the New Testament we find that He welcomes you. He welcomes the homeless, the prostitute, the drug addict, the beggar, the thief, the homosexual, and He welcomes you.
And so, can you welcome others as He has welcomed you? Jesus has welcomed you into the family of God, He has unconditionally welcomed you into His mercy and grace. It is through Christ, God has called every one of us to welcome other believers, whether through the doors of the church, in the pew, or while “doing life” during the week. When we welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us, we bless the church, show Christ to the world, and in doing so, we bring glory to God.
3. God will be glorified
If welcoming others glorifies God, then snubbing and ostracizing others does the exact opposite. It would be hard to find many believers who would admit that the major reason why there is so much division in today’s institutional “church” is because there is so much Christian snobbery. Nevertheless, the harsh truth is that, in the institutional “church,” the Lord’s true followers are divided primarily because of these three forms of Christian snobbery: (1) Intellectual snobbery 2) Partial snobbery, and (3) Spiritual snobbery.
Intellectual snobs don’t want to fellowship with believers who do not have advanced degrees, because these snobby churchgoers think that the less-educated believers cannot comprehend their highbrowed thoughts, words, and deeds. As a result, they miss the mark in glorifying God. Partial snobs are those Christians who love to play favorites, based on preconceived biases, prejudices, rumors and gossip. They also miss the mark in glorifying God. Spiritual snobs foolishly think that everyone should automatically start out at the same spiritual level.
They will inadvertently look down on fellow church members or visitors. Why? Perhaps it is because they think that if believers are spiritually immature it is either because they don’t have enough faith or because they don’t read their Holy Bible enough; or because they don’t come to “church” enough; or because they don’t listen to the “right” kind of music; or because they don’t watch the “right” kind of movies; or because they are not members of the “right” denomination; or because they don’t believe in the “right” doctrines; or belong to the right group inside or outside of the church.
How can God be glorified when we snub our brother and our sister? My brother and I as children used to get into fights over things children in fights over, and my mother would tell us how much it hurt her when we did. She’d say I love both of you the exact same and don’t want to see you fighting and possibly hurting each other. This I believe, is how God feels. I believe it grieves Him to watch one of His children being treated differently by the rest of His children when they are under the same roof of HIS house. Not the pastor’s house, not the deacon’s house, and not the trustee’s house but His house!
Whenever someone visits your place of worship, please don’t treat them as if they are invading your church. It does glorify God when you do that, you don’t glorify God by acting as if you are somehow better than that person. The truth is “…we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” we have absolutely no business looking down on our brothers and our sisters because it does not glorify God. Tell your neighbor, you’re welcome in this house. Amen.
