As a Christian, I’m so excited when someone is interested in checking out church for the first time. It’s hard for me to put myself in their shoes, having been raised in the church and an “insider” to the culture. In trying to think through their experience, I wished there was a way to communicate some of the truths about church and the people there that may not be immediately obvious or be contrary to common misconceptions. This is my attempt to communicate some of those things and how they relate to the truth of the Gospel.
We’re all messed up.
One of the core truths of the Gospel message is that we’re all messed up. We’re all damaged, whether from past trauma, addiction, personal sin, blind-spots, or other negative influences. Being in church doesn’t change that. No one in the building is perfect, or even close! Regardless of whether you were raised in the church or you’re walking in the doors for the first time, we’re all where we are. Church doesn’t “fix” us (only a relationship with Jesus does that), and anyone that believes it does may not have a good understanding of the Good News of Jesus. Folks in the church are happy, not because they’re successful or flawless, but because they’re known and loved.
Church is for messed up people.
Church is not supposed to be like a country club, where put-together people get together with other put-together people to congratulate each other on how well they’re doing. It’s intended to be a trauma ward, taking hurting and damaged people in and applying the healing salve of the Gospel on deep wounds. None of us deserves anything from Jesus, yet He freely gives all good things to us. As beggars invited into His house and called to eat at His table, we bring along other hurting and hungry people to feast alongside of us.
What’s everyone talking about?
Walking into church and listening to a sermon is like starting to read the middle of Lord of the Rings. There’s this big story going on, with conflict, villains, and heroes, but at the surface it all sounds like weird names and foreign languages. There’s little hope to get into the story, not knowing the story arc, the characters, or where the story is going. The Bible is no different. Here’s a sort of Cliff Notes overview of the Bible that might be helpful to give some context.