Why Church?

Why Church?  Why, in particular, do you attend the church you have chosen?

Barbara Brown Taylor, in the book Always a Guest, says this about her church:

Like you, I keep coming back here because it is the place I feel most sane, most accompanied, most drawn out of myself to be with people whose lives may be different from mine as they can be, but whose hearts I trust beyond all reason.

I like this reason for choosing a particular church, and it resonates with me. I don't mean that my church is always this place, but when it is at its best, this is what it is. 

I've been thinking about the people we do not reach. We struggle with idea that what we are offering as a church doesn't meet their needs.  I don't think it is all a "they haven't heard about us" struggle.  I think some of it is a "they've tried us, and they don't need what we offer" situation. For me, when my church doesn't meet my spiritual needs, I come anyway. I have a home there.  I belong. For those who are not a part of us, they don't have that draw.

So what do we do? I think God calls us to be the church for all. How do we do that?

Maybe it starts with being the church. Be family for them before they are a part of who we are. When you have a family, you want to serve the other members - you want their needs to be met. So you talk to them. "How can I help you?"  You listen. You serve.

It may be that we have to stop offering what pleases us, and start listening for what would meet the needs of those who do not know us.