Sunday Best is Not Enough
A perfectly pleated skirt matched with a wrinkle-free blouse and shiny black shoes. That’s how my mother dressed me for church as a young girl. I would bounce through the doors to my Sunday school class with my blonde pigtails set to almost mathematical perfection, and then we would play in the gym without a care in the world.
As I grew into adulthood, church frequently felt different. Like Adam and Eve when they recognized their nakedness in the garden, I recognized my uncleanliness. Outwardly, I tried to maintain a nice appearance and often hid my fears and doubts behind my “Sunday best.” But it was actually through the church that I learned an important lesson: no one is perfect except Jesus.
When I finally landed in a church where real people who were broken like me reintroduced me to Jesus Christ, I found out that He loves me, even with the holes in my stockings and the holes in my heart. I discovered that there is a God who created me to know Him. That there is no dog and pony show that appeases some magical genie in the sky. Instead, I learned that there is a God who created me to know Him. And as a child of God, I am loved so much that He sent His son to save me just the way I am.
A Community Safe in Christ
It can be easy for church auditoriums to turn into courtrooms rather than places of worship. Sideways glances and huddled conversations can easily exclude a newcomer curious about Christ. Performance can replace praise, and somehow the universal good news that Christ died for sinners can feel more like Christ died for those who earn it. Our sins and insecurities cause this brokenness, and that’s precisely why we need the gospel and one another. We must constantly remind each other: “you’re safe here because you’re safe in Christ.”
A community of Christians, a church, helped me love Jesus. Similar to how Paul cared for the Athenians in Acts 17:22-31, the church welcomed me and pointed me to Christ. They cut through the pomp and circumstance of religiosity to tell me the gritty, messy, and beautiful story of real salvation in a real God who really loves me. Through each sermon and Bible study, I encountered real people from history who were adulterers, prostitutes, murderers, thieves, doubters, outcasts, idolaters, and insignificant. And these were the men and women God chose to use in great ways to advance His kingdom. I experience the same things today at The Trails. The Word of God reminds me that God truly redeems needy, broken people and uses them for His glory.
I love Jesus Christ because I got to know him. And I came to know Him through His people sharing His Word with me. As a church, let us continue this mission: to declare the gospel of hope to hopeless people so they might come to the one who is Hope. May we help the lost love Jesus through the love we show them and one another.