Inviting

Last week we were collecting food at the Meijer Store. There was an employee whose job was collecting shopping carts. He would work the carts at one set of doors, and then work at the other set of doors. Some kids made his job more difficult by grabbing lava rocks out of the planters and throwing them all over the sidewalk where the carts were being returned. You can imagine the frustration of pushing a long line of carts across the sidewalk, only to have the wheels of the cart skid to a stop wherever a tiny lava rock lay.

Needless to say, this worker was having a bad day. Lola Garrison and I tried to make small talk with him, but he wasn’t very interested. At the other sets of doors, Leon and Patti Quandt tried the same. During a lull we picked up all the lava rocks and threw them back into the planters. As the day went on we didn’t really think that much about it.

But on the following Monday we got a phone call here at the church. It was the man who had been pushing the carts. He and his wife wanted to talk to someone. He really admired that our church was doing the food drive. He identified that Patti Quandt went out of her way to speak to him that Saturday. He said, "You can really trust people who look you in the eye when they talk to you. You can tell that they are honest, and don’t think they're better than you."

He explained that he and his wife had been living in Springfield only a short time after falling on hard times. He’d lost his job in Texas and they were trying to get back on their feet. They came to Springfield because her mother lives here in a retirement village in a one bedroom apartment. Unable to stay with her mother, they rented a room over at the Motel 6. The motel has been generous, but they quickly depleted their savings and could no longer stay. So, they sought shelter around town, but no one would take them in. They tried to talk to a few churches, but no one would listen to their story. At one church a lady even yelled at them to leave. So they had no choice but to begin living in their car.

Now keep in mind that he is working two minimum wage jobs. She also is working. They showed me where they had been sleeping in their car, along with their four cats. The cats' litter box was on the floorboard in the back seat. They didn’t have access to showers, and relied on getting food from their respective workplaces. Fortunately we were able to help them find shelter at the Inner City Mission. The mission was out of beds, but they were willing to throw a mattress on the floor. This couple was so grateful to have a place to sleep, get a warm meal, and shower.

Beyond mere benevolence.

There isn’t any question that this couple has made some poor choices. Their choices caused them to be in this difficult spot they are in. But that is not the point. The point is, how can they begin making better choices? Where can they go to get a second chance? A third chance? A seventh chance? Where can they go to find wise counsel, support and encouragement? They couldn’t help themselves. Their workplaces couldn’t help them. Local agencies refused to help them or had limited resources. Churches shunned them.

I think it is really cool that through prayer God opens up doors. There isn’t any question in my mind that God caused our paths to cross this week. I also think it is cool how acts of love and kindness such as listening, making eye contact, picking up lava rocks, or helping a person find shelter, can interest people in finding Christ-centered solutions for their problems. Praying and loving are the substance of being an influence for Christ! They can open doors in a Meijer Store parking lot. They can open doors anywhere we find ourselves.

But after we have been praying for someone and after we have spent time showing the love of Christ to someone, what comes next? What do we do with a spiritually receptive person? What do we do with a person whose heart has been made more tender by Christ’s love? What comes next is, in my estimation, the most difficult thing of all. This person, no matter who she is or what she has been through, must be connected into redemptive, Christ-filled relationships. They must be invited "into" our fellowship and be accepted as a friend among friends.

Being an influence.

Now before we launch into this third aspect of being an influence for Christ, let’s review. A few weeks ago we began talking about the four needs of an unbeliever. First, every unbeliever needs to respond to the stirring and conviction of God’s Holy Spirit in his life. In prayer, we remember that God causes all things to grow. We first invite God to work in the unbeliever’s life, to open his heart and mind, and to open a door for the good news of Christ to spread rapidly. Our great failure in being an influence is a failure to pray regularly, specifically, and faithfully.

Second, every unbeliever needs to see the power of God at work in her world. Showing Christ’s love (loving) is one of the clearest ways we can demonstrate God’s power. In John 13:35 (NIV) Jesus says, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Love is powerful. We cannot build God’s kingdom without it. The absence of love is what keeps many from seeking Christ-centered answers.

Third, every unbeliever needs to connect into redemptive, Christ-filled relationships. Ashe contemplates a relationship with Christ, he needs to belong with other Christians who will support his growth. Quite simply, he must be "invited" deep into our fellowship.

Last, every unbeliever needs to know Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. She needs someone who will "tell" her the gospel. Repeatedly, in several ways. Whenever I can, I try to share what the scriptures say about Christ to an unbeliever. But some times, they're not ready to jump into the Bible, so I give them a book like Mere Christianity or The Case for Christ. This week, I gave one of these books to a salesperson I had met at Best Buy.

The power of inviting.

But let's key into inviting. To invite is to include, welcome, and accept. In my estimation, this is where a lot of our evangelistic efforts begin to break down. We can pray for people by name. We can even show Christ’s love to the seeker with assorted acts of kindness. But inviting them and including them is an altogether different matter. One that takes a tremendous amount of intentionality.

Let's go back to this couple we helped earlier in the week. There is no question that through prayer, God opened a door. There is no question that several acts of kindness perked their interest in Christ. But what’s next? What typically happens is that they get passed off to the Inner City Mission or to some other agency that we assume will better meet their needs. The Inner City Mission provides them a place to stay, warm meals, shelter, times for worship and Bible Study, counseling, job placement, and even furniture, should they find a place to move. We all agree that the Inner City Mission can play a critical role in such situations. And our church plays a critical role in supporting the mission year-round. But should that be the end of our involvement and concern? How can we continue building a bridge to them, relationally and socially?

Stray cats.

A while back, Lara and I were out after dark walking our dogs. There are several vacant houses in our neighbhorhood, and as we walked by one we heard a very distinct meowing sound. Always looking for trouble I called out and whistled, "Here kitty kitty..." As we continued along, a black cat started following us closely. The cat would follow along a few steps behind us, and then dart past us as fast as it could.

At first it was kind of funny. Our dogs go crazy around cats. They were yipping and howling and carrying on. The cat was virtually taunting them! But after several minutes it became clear the cat had been abandoned, was malnourished, and wanted our affection. It was evident that the cat wasn’t going anywhere. The whole way home Lara kept asking, "Why did you call for that cat?" And then we had one of those "what next" moments of, "Do we feed it or ignore it? Do we give it water or send it away? Do we let it into our house? Will it get along with our dogs? Does it need shots? How do we get rid of it?" That night the cat stayed on our cold concrete patio, shivering and meowing. My parents always warned me against calling, petting, and feeding stray animals. The rule in our house was, "Don’t do it!"

When it comes to people in need, many of us follow the stray cat philosophy. We are all for praying and showing love, but not for letting the cat become part of our family! Give it some food and water, but get it out of here! We’re a dog family! How does a cat become a part of a dog family? How does a stray find a home? How does a person of need become a part of a satisfied church family? How does a person who needs healing make Lakeside his home, and all of us his friends? You see, praying and loving is one thing, but inviting someone into our circle is entirely different. Invitation requires involvement, commitment, inconvenience, sacrifice, and change. We can pray for and love people outside of our fellowship on our own terms, according to our schedules. But when we invite them inside and into our fellowship, it's not so convenient!

A lot of times it’s just easier to look the other way, away from a need. It’s easier not to call out in the night and risk being followed by some black cat. But God calls us to something different. He calls us praying, loving, and inviting.

Matthew, the tax collector, was called to a relationship by Jesus.

One of the missing dynamics in our evangelism is a sustained relationship, or connection. In Matthew 9:9-13 (NIV) Jesus calls one of his first disciples, Matthew the tax collector. The Bible says, "As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. 'Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and 'sinners' came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?' On hearing this, Jesus said, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.' "

There are a number of things that strike me about this account. First, before anything else Jesus invited his disciples into a relationship. "Follow me." Don’t over-spiritualize the words follow me. Jesus was inviting Matthew into a relationship. He was inviting a person of corrupt character, a tax collector or a black cat, to be with him and to follow him. Wherever Jesus was going, he didn’t mind that Matthew would come along. Matthew’s character defects, his spiritual and emotional needs, and his social needs didn't bother Jesus. Jesus wanted a relationship with a tax collector who was a sinner. Relationships always provide the context in which people begin following Jesus. Before calling his disciples to anything else, Jesus first called them to a relationship.

Second, notice that Matthew got up and followed Jesus. It is not too trivial to point out that people are hungry for relationships. People appreciate our prayers and they appreciate our acts of love and kindness. But they most want a personal relationship. You give a person a relationship and you accept him, and he will listen for hours to anything you want to say about Jesus Christ. Matthew got up and followed Jesus because Jesus showed interest! We’ve got to show interest. We've got to open up our closed circles of friendship.

Third, notice that Matthew reciprocated and invited Jesus into his home. He invited all of Jesus’ disciples into his home. Matthew also gathered all his friends together. These were people who were deemed unacceptable to the religious establishment for one reason or the other. Talk about an opportunity! Jesus didn’t just connect with Matthew, he connected into a whole network of friends, associates, and family who did not yet know him. Here’s a thought. When you go out of your way to connect with a person, you are never just connecting with one person. You are connecting with a new network of people that number in the dozens, sometimes hundreds. You can’t have influence without connection.

Last, the invitation put Jesus at odds with the religious establishment. For most people, the Church is an exclusive gathering for spiritually healed people. The sick are sent off while the healthy continue holding their meetings and gatherings. It isn’t popular to treat the Church as emergency room. There are children here, you know! Yet to the religious establishment and to all of us Jesus says, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

We are not supposed to be a closed group of spiritually healthy worshippers. God wants us to move beyond our sacrifices and religion to consider the weightier acts of mercy. We are not here just to be healthy or to find fellowship with healthy Christians! We are here to call people into a life-saving relationship with Jesus Christ. We are here to invite the sick and needy inside, where they can find healing and relief. Who cares what people will think or say? We are to call out to those in darkness so that they might follow us home to our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

To the best of our ability, we took that stray cat in. That night, instead of sending it away we found it a caring home. The cat was so happy and its health was restored. But not every story has such a great ending. People get turned away by Christians every single day. And it's not always people of such dire circumstance either. It's people who live in our neighborhoods. It is people we have worked alongside for years but never built a relationship with. It is people who worship among us anonymously, week after week. It is people we don’t include for one reason or another. These aren’t just individuals we often say "no" to, they are entire networks of people, hundreds of people who could eventually be led to Christ.

How can we be more inviting as a church to all people? How can we become more open and less closed? How can we become more of an emergency room, extending healing to the broken? Instead of coming to church and "doing our thing", can we build better bridges to guests? Instead of sending people away, can we walk with them for the long haul?