The following story is true, but names have been omitted to protect the privacy of those involved.
Church often seems like a place for smiling people. For people who dress well. For people who close their eyes during prayer or singing. For people who have friends. For people who are happy. For people whose biggest problem might be that they’re too cold because the air conditioning at church is turned up way too high. For people and families who look like this:
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But that's a myth.
Church isn’t just for smiling people. Of course, it welcomes
smiling people who are happy and basking in the glow of good things. BUT. It’s
not just for them. It’s also and especially for the
hurting
confused
abandoned
abused
grieving
lost
unemployed
hardened
sick
downcast
poor
rebellious
and
weary.
Which means, church
is for every single one of us.
On a recent December Sunday, a single mom walked into Oak Mountain Church for the church service. From the outside, she was a lot like everyone else, but
what those people shaking her hand and walking past her probably didn’t know
was that she was working multiple jobs in order to pay her bills, needed food, and
had a past that haunted her through no fault of her own.
It was no accident that this particular Sunday was a Sunday
where OMC took up a Mercy Offering. Rather than
seeking out church deacons to meet her financial needs, she sought them out to
tell of God’s grace in bringing her daughter and her to OMC, a place of faith,
community, and worship. After hearing the woman’s story, the deacons asked how
they could help, and were thrilled to be able to allocate some of the Mercy
Offering funds to meet her immediate needs like food and paying a few bills
during the holiday season.
In the midst of unspeakable hardships, this woman saw Jesus
and was thankful. And isn’t that the message of the gospel? That all of us as
the walking wounded have hope in a Story bigger than the one we see? A story in
which God weaves details like a woman coming to a particular church on a
particular Sunday to speak with particular people so that God can use money
that other particular people gave in order to meet a need. The truth is, church
isn’t for people who have it all together; it’s for people who need Jesus, the
Savior who said, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will
give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Church is for every single one of us.
