My Bible Study was in Mark 9 this week, and our discussion landed on verses 36-37: "Taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, 'Whoever receives (welcomes) one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.'"
First of all, "welcome" in the Greek here means to care for, finding out their story and meeting their needs-- not just greeting them and moving on with life. And we're supposed to welcome them in Christ's name-- love them in the way He loves. One girl in my small group put it like this: Christ valued each of us enough to lay down His life for us. If we love in that kind of way, we should treat others as if we owe them our lives.
That means sacrificial giving. That means seeking out peoples' needs and meeting them-- the hungry, the poor, the sick, even the overtly self-righteous and ungrateful. Treating everyone with the kind of honor and respect that Christ Himself deserves.
Who does this?? Not me.
Can you imagine what the church would look like if we all did this? Christianity wouldn't have such a bad rap, and people would want to be a part of this kind of community. More importantly, we would ACTUALLY be reflecting the love of Christ, which is the way it SHOULD be!
ALSO, while I'm on my interwebs soapbox, someone brought up the point that corporate worship (i.e. Sunday morning) is not meant to be social time. Churches tend to be so clique-y! So get to know people, welcome those who are new, encourage and minister to your congregation. Have social hour some other time during the week, and include people!
What this means for Megan:
-getting over my fear of people; introducing myself to strangers at church-- I went to The Summit for months and had no one to sit with. I knew no one. It sucks, and I know there must be lots of visitors who feel that way right now. I need to be that person that I needed, if that makes sense.
-Honor people, and seek to meet their needs, not mine. Serve, dangit!
-Go above and beyond in taking people in/caring for them. Make sure people know they are loved and accepted. Pour out myself.
Sigh. I feel like God intends for the Church to be so much different than it actually is. So much more of a community. I adore my church, and I think it does a fantastic job of outreach. But I feel like, as God's people as a whole, we're so far from being a serious community of true servants.
Take care of widows and orphans.
Love love love love love.
With love and too many thoughts at too late at night,
Megan
All week I've been thinking about this verse- James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.