What is the message the church sends and does it look like the message it should be sending?
Everything anyone does sends a message to whoever is observing. If one person holds open a door for another, someone else looking on might see kindness or respect in action. If one person says they care about another person but then talks badly about them behind their back, someone looking on will see hypocrisy and cruelty.
What we want to get at is that it’s actions that drive a message home, not what a person says. Now, let’s look at the church.
Most churches say they welcome all and that their doors are open. But is this what we see? Judging by the rapid decline in church membership in recent years, we think most people see something else.
Perhaps the church is sending a message it didn’t mean to send. Perhaps it sends a message of hypocrisy when it says it welcomes all but demonizes the LGBTQ community. Perhaps it shows it cares about structure and rules more than people when it refuses to speak up for black lives and other oppressed people groups.
People see this message and don’t want anything to do with it. And we don’t blame them.
The message the church should be sending
Hope.
The church is to be a community of hopeful people who give hope to others. Hope that the world can be a better place, and hope that God has a plan for our good for eternity. It is not our job to judge and to decide who gets in or out or to dictate what people need to believe before they can belong to our little club.
We are to bring hope to others.
Jesus makes this easy for us. When mockingly asked about what the greatest command in God’s Law is, Jesus responds:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”
Matthew 22:37-40 (MSG)
That’s it. Love God and love others. If we can do that, Jesus wants us to trust that everything else in God’s Law and the prophets hangs off them. There are many laws and many ways of trying to understand them. We need to stop picking at them and bickering over them to declare ourselves righteous. Instead, we need to put these two greatest commands in action and let righteousness flow from them.
Centerpoint Church is ready to walk with you on your faith journey
At Centerpoint, our community believes in purpose and passion, and we would love to walk with you on your journey in finding yours. We are currently going through a new sermon series titled “What Would Jesus Undo?” It’s all about what we imagine Jesus would want to undo in today’s church to rebuild it to better fit His image and His teachings.
Do you feel like the church has lost its way and could use some restructuring? You’re not alone. We encourage you to listen to our series online and welcome you to come to one of our Sunday morning services in Valrico, Florida.