Are You in the World?

Go back to the 11/13 blog entry and re-read the paragraph from "The Prodigal God". I continue to think about why the American church tends to attract one kind of individual over another. I read a good blog entry from Mark Driscoll today which can be read in its entirety here:

http://theresurgence.com/2010/12/07/why-christians-go-postal-over-facebook-jay-z-yoga-avatar-and-culture-in-general

It brings up another possible answer to the question of why we tend to get moralistic people in our churches rather than the broken and marginalized. The simple answer is we go after the first group more willingly than the latter. Most of us find discomfort in connecting with those who have been discarded by society due to crime, addiction, poverty, bad circumstances or have committed a sin that we have chosen to view as worse than others. But it's a lot easier to seek out and invite those with whom we have much in common. The cycle simply feeds on itself as individuals of similar backgrounds and worldviews tend to congregate together leaving little room for those on the outside - both literally and figuratively. Christianity wasn't meant to be comfortable yet we have layered our desire for comfort on top of the Gospel leaving us with a watered down version that does little to transform lives.

Jesus actually had more in common with those who were ostracized and ridiculed because He was as well. Those who were readily accepted and deemed important because of who they were or what they did didn't really need Jesus. They had themselves. Jesus went after those who had come to the end of themselves.

Do we do the same?

This is one reason I so appreciate my parents. They engage in ministries to those in prison, ESL outreach to Bosnian and Chinese immigrants, the homeless and single moms who are struggling. I see Jesus in both of them. It's good. I need to follow their example more.

5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God.
6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
he remains faithful forever.
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free,
8 the LORD gives sight to the blind,
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,
the LORD loves the righteous.
9 The LORD watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. - Psalm 146:5-9