Scripture
So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.†Acts 15:10-11
Observation
In some churches two conversions are needed. First is a conversion to Christ. The second is a conversion to the culture of that local church. There are sometimes written rules and always unwritten ones that define who is and who is not part of that church.
God has designed a way to offend churches to discover if their heart is his heart. The Lord offends churches by bringing the “Gentiles” in. It was a struggle 2000 years ago and it is a problem now. Since the church at Jerusalem, those in the church want to create church designed for their comfort. So behind our smiles and handshakes we give subtle messages about our hidden agenda and pile new Christians with extra club rules. How we process outsiders reveals our heart. If we sift them with the screen of our expectations we don’t have the heart of Jesus. But if we call them to follow Christ he will never leave them the same again.
Peter made it clear that there should only be on conversion necessary to come into a church–the call to follow Christ. That conversion is challenging enough. Some metro transport systems city buses that hydraulically lower themselves to curb level so passengers can climb on board without any step up. The local church should design its culture at the curb level of the society so people can easily get on board and then be taken where they have never gone before. This isn’t compromise, it is simply requiring no more of new Christians than what God does.
Application
The early church struggled with integrating the “Gentiles”. The problem persists to this day. A local church must constantly self-examine to see what extra turnstiles it has erected on the road to salvation that were not designated by the Lord. Let it start first in my own heart.
Prayer
Father, it’s surprising you let me into church, so let me never make it difficult for others. Keep the expectations of my own heart simple. For I know if I accept others Jesus will do the changing. Amen.
