Becoming a "Home Depot" Church

Words...phrases...campaigns...mission statements...they look great on paper don't they? Words meant to inspire us with a common goal. Phrases and campaigns to rally us around a unifying theme. Mission statements to make clear the belief we have in our purpose. Words are important, but what good are they if they stay words on a page?

I have been preaching a sermon series from the book of James in which he implores his readers to be more than hearers of the word but instead to be doers of the word. When it comes to Scripture, those words are mean to come alive into activity. This past Sunday, Bishop Larry Goodpaster delivered a sermon to the newly formed Yadkin Valley District of the Western North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church. He used words from Luke - who used words from Jesus - who used words from Isaiah...

Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 

Bishop G went on to explain that Jesus took apart this old scripture and put it back together again in a new way - creating a new kind of mission and mandate for those that would become His followers. Our mandate is to Follow Jesus - Love God - and Love our neighbors in the way that Isaiah describes. Do we see who those neighbors are? The Poor - The Captives - The Blind - The Oppressed. We could spend all day unpacking who those folks are in our neighborhoods: the working, single parent that cannot earn a decent wage that will put enough food on the table for the family; the young adult captivated by a world of addiction; the person who cannot yet see that their actions are creating terrible consequences and hurting themselves and others; the one who is not allowed a chance to become more and earn more because they live in a society that says they are not worth our effort.

Words matter - Jesus' words matter - Isaiah's words matter - so do those of us who hear those words and those for which those words were meant to inspire love and assistance. We must notice, however, that Isaiah's words were action words - bring...proclaim...release...recover...go. Isaiah's plea is not an idealogical one - it is mean to be lived out, not simply thought out.

Bishop G compelled us to remember the words of scripture are meant to be lived out in action but they are also meant to be proclaimed. As we do the good in the world we are called to do, we must SPEAK the good news of Jesus Christ to those we encounter. Our help of the poor, the captive, the blind, the oppressed is material and temporary if we do not take the step to introduce them to our Jesus who is the only lasting solution to their real need: salvation. With that, he invited us all to become "Home Depot" churches.

At first I thought he meant offering a wide variety of tools to fix a wide variety of problems - but then he pointed us toward Home Depot's advertising catch phrase, "More Saving - More Doing." (I wonder if James is in heaven saying, "Why didn't I think of that?"). Bishop G went on to say the church doesn't have a mission, it IS a mission. Our mission lies in DOING the words of our faith - and in SAVING the souls of the lost by inviting them to hear about Jesus.

Words matter...not just speaking them but doing them. In Luke's Gospel Jesus tells the story of The Good Samaritan - a story inspired by the question "Who is my neighbor?" In the story an injured man is passed by two people who most would expect to offer aid, but they had not. Instead, it was someone from outside the social barriers of the day - a Samaritan. It was the Samaritan that acted in mercy and treated a complete stranger, and potential enemy, as a neighbor. "Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." 

Go and do....More Saving - More Doing. Let's get started shall we?

That's Just Who I Am

Oh how I have grown to hate those words..."That's Just Who I Am"  It would be one thing if they were words uttered by kind and generous souls who gave of themselves and spoke works of encouragement and strength to those around them...but they are never the kind of people who respond with "That's just who I am."

I hear that phrase from folks who have mastered the weapon of the tongue. Folks who in one flash of this strongest of muscles can bring even the best of us to our knees - praying for mercy and escape. No matter how hurtful and abusive they are, if called on it and told of their infliction of pain will simply say "That's just who I am...I speak my mind, I say what I feel, if you can't deal with it you can leave."  And the thing that gets me is they say this with pride and self-assurance...as if their ability to draw blood with words is an art form to be coveted.

I have marveled at this since coming back to the church as an adult and seeing first hand the damage inflicted within churches by members who feel entitled to be rude and harsh by speaking just what is on their mind at all times. "That's just who I am so you have to take it and accept me because your a Christian." That is what amazes me about this whole attitude - those of us on the abused end of their tongue must respond with Christian understanding and love...while those on the abusive end of the tongue are allowed to say things that are hurtful, divisive, damaging and contrary to Christian behavior but feel they shouldn't be held accountable because - you guess it - that's just who they are.

We all, on occasion, fail to heed James' warning to put a bridle bit on our tongue and let our words be guided and directed by a power greater than ourselves (James 3). All Christians should feel a sense of shame in those moments, seeking forgiveness from God and from the person we have hurt. I also believe all Christians are to hold one another accountable to a more mature way to speaking with one another. We need to take care to remind one another often that the words we speak are a reflection of Christ in us. If Christ is in us our words should be filled with grace and mercy, love and peace.

If we proclaim to be a follower of Christ and yet our words are hurtful, judgmental, mean, and wound inflicting...then perhaps our defense is true - "That's just who I am" indeed proves who you are not - for you are not a person in which Christ is fully dwelling.

The words we speak to others do indeed reflect who we are...and whose we are. We will all do well to remember that.