Church or Country Club?

As I play more tennis these days and my wife, Linda, and Nathan, my youngest son, express an interest in playing, I have found myself considering the possibility of joining a tennis club or country club for the very purpose of having a pool of players from which to draw - as well as professionals to help us all improve & advance in our skill-level abilities.

As I perused one country club’s web site, I was struck by a few phrases:

1. Membership in this country club, a private club, is by referral. 


2. Proper tennis attire is required, "T" shirts and running shoes are not permitted.


3. We do not accept cash or credit transactions, all charges are billed to members' accounts.


4. While visiting this country club, we ask that you adhere to appropriate country club attire.  Jeans and other denim are not allowed anywhere on club property.  Collared and mock shirts are requested for gentleman and collared or sleeved shirts for ladies. 

Now, while I don’t have a problem with these rules for a country club, I wonder if we haven’t adopted them for our churches and, thereby, created an exclusivity that was not meant for the church.

What are the Biblical principles & truths regarding the church - especially regarding new people, non-believers?

1. Does our church welcome the new person with open arms or are there some behaviors, lifestyles, dress codes, hairstyles, speech patterns & lingo that are not allowed in “the church”?


2. Are we more concerned with how the newcomer presents himself/herself than we are about his/her eternal destiny?


3. Do we require newcomers to sign on the dotted line BEFORE they can avail themselves of the wonderful benefits of the local church (Bible teaching, counseling, friendships, financial aid, assistance, etc.)?


4. Does our church present itself in a way that communicates that it is a refuge FROM the world? That it is a place where the dirty, the homeless, the hurting, the sinful, the broken are not welcome to display their flaws in any way?

I fear that the average, white, middle-class or upper-class church is more about what WE want than what JESUS wants. That the call from Jesus to those who need healing, help & cleansing is directed to other churches - maybe those downtown churches - but not ours. We want a refuge from the world in our little church building. We want separation from the pain, suffering, dirt and sin that goes on in the world.

I have only one thing to say: Our refuge is in Jesus Christ - not a building or a group of people. Together, as we find refuge IN HIM, we realize this one truth: It doesn’t matter WHERE we are (i.e. in the most despicable of surroundings) or WITH WHOM we are (sinners of the most vile kind), we ALWAYS have a refuge IN JESUS CHRIST.

Church or country club? What’s yours?

Cosmic déjà vu?

I don’t know what else to call this thing that I’ve experienced 3 or 4 times in my life. It’s very difficult to explain, let alone describe - but I’ll try.

Last week, Sunday to be exact, I parked my car in the church’s parking lot, exited and began walking to the auditorium to participate in the worship service.

As I crossed the parking lot and stepped onto the sidewalk, everything took on a surreal kind of flavor - sounds faded away, but at the same time were intensively heightened in my brain. Colors became dull & gray, but also took on a sharper, more defined kind of HD quality at the same moment. The young people hanging out in front of the youth building became a few of the billions on our planet, yet their faces, mannerisms, demeanor and appearance were strikingly etched in my memory.

My thoughts bounced from an earthly perspective to another perspective - beyond earth.

At that moment, I felt suspended between heaven & earth. I felt torn between this home and my heavenly home.

I felt strangely removed from “today” and warmly connected to “timelessness.”

I know. It sounds like I was tripping on some kind of hallucinogenic.

I remember the first time I had this kind of experience. I was a new believer in Christ and I was in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The same surreal sense came over me and I remember thinking - as I passed hundreds, maybe thousands, of people on the street that day - “Why is it that we -- all of us human beings who have been put on this single, solitary planet with the same basic needs & wants -- cannot find a way to co-exist in a humane manner?” We pass each other on the street and don’t even acknowledge one another with a look, let alone a greeting. We act as though we - ourselves - are all that matters; that no one else matters or is of importance or value.

These moments, though few, are memorable as they put a new spin, a new perspective on day-to-day living and how easily we forget that there are others around us who would welcome a simple head nod of acknowledgement, a small smile of recognition, a word of greeting.

Maybe we can’t “change the world,” but we can change the world around us, don’t you think?