1 Corinthians 4:15 (The Message)
“There are a lot of people around who can't wait to tell you what you've done wrong, but there aren't many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up…”
For years I would approach leading a church from a CEO mentality where I was the leader and people existed to fulfill my vision, my way and with my approval. I know, tragic isn’t it? What I ended up with was a church full of people coming out of obligation and never owning the heartbeat of what a church is. It was becoming obvious that this approach was not working and something had to change.
For a long time our approach to religion and church has been exclusive. What I mean is that we have put in place silent expectations that dictate how we treat anyone that comes in. For example, “You must look like us, speak like us, dress like us and behave like us and then, and only then, will we accept you into our special little group. Don’t have an opinion, rock the boat or step out line and if you behave yourself we will get along fine”. We created sub-cultures that started looking more like cults rather than places where people could meet God and find meaning.
Thankfully this has changed and from what I see and hear there is a revived sense that we are not a business building our own empires, but rather a family that is on this journey called life together. We’re called brothers and sisters for a reason and our Heavenly Father is lovingly leading His precious children as a family and not a group of employees or slaves. I can confidently say that I am son and not a slave, a friend and not foe, a partner and not a puppet.
There is such amazing freedom to know that God sees me, sees you, as someone He knows and loves and wants to spend time with. As a Father He connects with you with grace, mercy and unending love and will never abandon you or push you away because you didn’t fulfill certain criteria. His embrace is without condition and He always looks at you with eyes of pure love wanting the best for you. That is what church family is all about and what countless churches have to offer today. Sure this can get messy, as with any family, but isn’t it great to know that perfection is not a prerequisite and God loves you and accepts you right now, as you are. If you have been away from church for awhile or never been before, I encourage you to check it out, open yourself up to belonging to a spiritual family where you are loved,
covered in grace and genuinely welcomed without having to be someone you’re not. There are spiritual fathers and mothers who can stand by you through thick and thin and not stand in judgment or condemn you. Yes, we are changing and as we grow in this you will find the churches around you to be people just like you who have discovered the Father’s love and simply want others to experience it too. My prayer is that everyone in our town will know the joy of belonging to God’s family and really experience what it’s like to be known, loved, valued and accepted.
Don’t give up, God has more!
Pastor Mark Jurisic
CityWest Church