People are Lost and Dying - but the important thing is to be in church on Sunday

Oh people, what are we doing? We are getting it so wrong - so very wrong. Not everyone. But most of us. My greatest fear is that when I get to the Judgment, I'm going to hear the words, "I know you not." And, I'll say, "but Lord, I did this for you, and I did this in your name." And, He'll tell me, "depart from me, I know you not." The parable of Matthew 25:31-46 haunts me.

Very recently I saw two documentaries that reinforces to me that many of us in church today and the Church is doing it wrong. We're missing the point, we're missing the mark - and not just by a little bit, but by huge margins. And many of us who call ourselves Christians are going to be pretty surprised when we meet Jesus.

The first documentary I saw involved the growth of the Satanic Temple. You may have heard of them. They were responsible for the removal of the Ten Commandments from the state capital of Oklahoma. The State had two options: remove the Ten Commandments or allow the Satanic Temple to display their own statue. They've also made news by putting up their own artwork form of nativity alongside the traditional Christian Nativity during Christmas time.

The Satanic Temple has a list of tenets that when you read them, you would never think that it would be something a Satan follower would ascribe to. In fact, you might think it would be at home in your local Rotary Club or Lion's Club meeting. Wikipedia has the following from their article on The Satanic Temple:

"The Satanic Temple follows seven tenets, quoted below:

"One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason."
"The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions."
"One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone."
"The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo your own."
"Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world. We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs."
"People are fallible. If we make a mistake, we should do our best to rectify it and resolve any harm that may have been caused."
"Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word."

In many ways, their statement is more Christian than what many Christians actually put into practice. It's very sad. Also, full disclosure, this group claims they don't actually worship Satan, but as a figurehead of who gave Adam and Eve "knowledge" in the garden of good and evil. In any event, worshipping anything/anyone other than Jesus - is wrong.

This group is a fast growing group in our country. Why? Because they offer what the church does not. They offer acceptance to anyone. As I watched the documentary, I saw so many stories of men and women (mostly millennials) who were shunned and rejected by the church today. Some were gay and were kicked out of their home, but accepted by this group. One lady told the story of her son who turned to the church and was rejected. He committed suicide and she was shunned as well. They come to this place because of the love they have been shown, and the fact that there is a social message within the seven tenets of this "church".

Then the Christian church was shown with their reaction to the Temple of Satan - and it was awful. They threatened these people with bodily harm, death, and degradation - while the members of the Temple of Satan maintained their composure, and came across as the more sensible of the two groups. Yes, I realize it could be in the way it was edited, but it still saddened me nonetheless.

The second documentary was about human (child) trafficking. Young women being sold into slavery. Their youth and innocence being sold to the highest bidder. As shocking as this is, the reality is that it is happening in the US, in our towns and cities. I watched as they showed many groups and churches trying to get involved and rescue these women and children. I also watched in horror as many church members turned their noses up and wanted no part in helping rescue or put their finances behind those who do want to help.

Church, we are doing it wrong. WAKE UP!!! We are not only losing the battle - we are currently losing the war. And even though Christ will win in the end - how many souls are we going to let slip through the cracks because we are stuck behind the facade of the church building? We pat ourselves on the back each Sunday and most Wednesdays as we leave our church knowing we have pleased God because we worshipped by singing, "Jesus, Friend of Sinners". Yet, we do nothing to show Jesus how He is the friend of those sinners. To us, those sinners only mean those who are like us - who may have a storied past but we are beyond that past, and clean up nice to look like those sitting next to us in the pews. Those who are upstanding and living in victory everyday. Meanwhile, outside the four walls of the church, less than a mile down the road - a girl of 12 years old is being used and abused. Yet, when we see her or others like her we avoid them like the plague.

Likewise, the millennial who is searching for depth and meaning. Or who struggle with their gender identity and sexuality - we ignore them. Christian homes kick their kids out, reject them. We send the message that Jesus only loves those who think, look, and act like we think, look, and act. We might say otherwise, but our actions convey the truth.

Recently, Dave and I left a church we absolutely loved. We loved the Pastor. We loved his wife. They are the kind of people who give of themselves to the people of the church. He truly is the meaning of a pastor. He is a people's pastor. They pour themselves into the lives of their congregation. When we first started attending, we had them over for dinner. It was like four kindred spirits meeting. It was awesome. Dave and I poured out the calling that God had put on our lives for children, youth, and outreach. Getting out into the community, serving the community, reaching the lost, loving the lost, and bringing them to Jesus. The church didn't currently have outreach because for so long it had just been the pastor and his wife who would do anything, and they were tired. A vision was born.

Let me say that the majority of the congregation are elderly, and were very supportive, but were past their prime. The young families in the church were very consistent or very deep in their walk. The hope was that by providing a consistent children's ministry that it would attract these families and bring them into serving and outreaching.

For two years Dave and I dug in and got involved. I was put on staff. We did outreach activities with little to no involvement from the congregation. It was frustrating, but we could see progress. Then the honeymoon period was over.

Since there wasn't a lot of community service or outreach, Dave and I needed that outlet as it was so important to us. We firmly believe God wants us to serve those in need. To be the hands and feet of Jesus to the fringes of society - not just those who are easy to love or those necessarily in the church. So, we stepped out and joined with another church simultaneously as we served in our church. This was no big surprise. We told others and our pastor what we were doing. Sometimes it would involve us being gone on a Sunday. Since we only served in children's church two Sundays a month, there didn't seem to be a problem.

Only it was. And, it was in a big way. A few weeks before we were going to venture out to take part in a homeless ministry, we let key people at the church know where we would be. In fact, it was joked about how dare us go do ministry instead of be sitting warming a pew in church. Only, it wasn't a joke. Fast forward a week or two from that event, and my phone was blowing up with people asking why we were being asked to leave the church, or why we didn't support our pastor. I had one lady tell me that I had no business handing out care kits to the homeless on a Sunday morning when I needed to be in church supporting my pastor and the children of the church. This woman was the missionary president.

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm trying not to be self-righteous. I'm no better than anyone. But, I realized - when checking off boxes and taking attendance in church is more important than serving the needs of others - I'm just playing a game. That's not Christianity - that's a social club.

There are real hurts and real problems beyond the four walls of the church - and if we - who have the real answers - aren't doing our part in accurately reflecting who Christ is - then we are leaving the job to people that belong to the Temple of Satan. People are out searching for love and acceptance - and when they can't get it from the church - they'll get from anyone that will give it - including human traffickers who bring them empty promises.

There's nothing wrong with corporate worship or church attendance, but that's not the main point of being a follower of Jesus. Many Christian churches today have become the modern day Pharisees - where salvation is to be earned; where appearances are everything; where what people think and perceive is more important than reaching out and showing Jesus to someone else.

It all came to a head when I was given a verbatim report of the number of Sundays/Wednesdays that Dave and I were in church, were late, or were absent. I was then told that by missing to church to minister to the homeless - I was setting a bad example for the children/youth of the church Dave and I were leading - and that we probably didn't need to be leading the children or the youth.

To be fair - this was not said by the pastor; however, it was a person in leadership - and that leadership was the excuse to not move out into the community. It had become the crutch to say, "well, we want to do this, but the leadership won't let us."

We need to be the actual hands and feet of Jesus. Instead we've become these hypocritical Pharisees where salvation needs to be attained in the ways we've deemed acceptable. We've picked fights in the political arena and by disagreeing with homosexuality - we've forgotten that behind the sin is a person who looks to be loved and accepted. We've forgotten who the real enemy is - and it's not the person who is struggling with who they are. We've demonized them into being an us v. them mentality. As long as the church today continues to do that - we are going to continue to lose the battle.

The only thing Jesus calls us to do is to love and serve. To be His hands and feet. We don't need to demonize or make another person the enemy. The enemy is Satan not our child, our coworker, our neighbor, or the guy on the corner that we've never met. It's not the homosexual, the transgendered, the Muslim, or the women in Planned Parenthood. The church can't be all things to all people. Most certainly, there are churches called to help drug addicts or the homeless or families of divorce. The point is church is more than just the four walls where we go on Sunday to sing a few songs off key, pass the plate, and listen to a message about going out to serve but not actually doing it.

We've become a bunch of rule followers and watchers of others to make sure if they break any rule - we're there to call them on it - to caste stones. We've forgotten that we need to serve the Jesus found in John 8:1-11. None of us is righteous - not one. None of us is without sin. The foot of the cross is a level playing field, and because my sin is different than yours or someone else's I'm still in need of a Savior just like everyone else is - and it's up to those who know our Savior to be Jesus to someone else.