When the Church is the Church

Yesterday I saw a prime example of what it means to be the church.  Not attend the church.  Not have a name on a roll at the church.  Not drive by the church on the way to the golf course and yell at the crazy guys in orange vests who are trying to get you to pull into the church.  I saw the Church in action.

If you were a part of our services this weekend, you know that Pastor J.D. continued in our “This is What the Heart Looks Like” series.  Yesterday was commandment #7, “Thou Shalt Have Great Sex.”  Or “Thou Shalt Not Wear Ankle Length Panties.” Or “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery.” (really, any of the above could apply)  You can catch that message here if you missed it.

It was a message that called for immediate application, and after the service I spoke with and prayed for a young lady who told me, “It’s time.  I’ve been living with my boyfriend, this relationship is going nowhere, and it’s not what God wants for me.  What do I do?”

There are plenty of next steps: Pray for her.  Encourage her to have the conversation with him.  Get in a small group so people can walk with her through this.  Meet with one of our staff counselors.

But the practical reality of the conversation was, This girl has gotta have someplace to go.

And so I turned to my favorite social media outlet, The Twitter.  Now normally, The Twitter is relatively quiet on Sunday afternoon.  Many of our pastoral staff is in a coma on the couch.  Most of you are doing something redeeming with your time, like eating lunch with friends or playing in the back yard with your kids or screaming at cars that are going really fast in circles around a track.  And so Sunday afternoon is generally not the best time to put out a request like this on The Twitter:

After svc 2day, met girl who wants to move out from b’friend & do life God’s way. NEED: free/temp housing. Got ideas, church?

And oh boy, did you have ideas.  By this morning, I’ve had a half-dozen offers of a free room, a free apartment, or an available couch.  I have people who want to meet with this girl, befriend her, and help her get through this emotionally wrecking time.  And as the week goes on, I have no doubt that the action of the church will strengthen the direction of the Spirit in this young lady’s life.

As a church, we must understand that it’s one thing to talk about life change.  It’s quite a different change to provide environments and resources to help people make life change happen.  I’m thankful for my church.  I’m thankful for generous people that I’ve seen spring to action.  And most of all, I’m thankful that Jesus changed one more life yesterday, and I got to watch it happen.

By the way, there will be more conversations like this one.  If you can host or house someone else as situations like this come up, email me.  I’m keepin’ a list!