Marlene's question

Alan Chambers, Exodus International

Yesterday in our discussion of World's "Daniel of the Year," Alan Chambers of Exodus International, Marlene directed our attention to this paragraph:

"Friends in church met with Chambers regularly, prayed with him, and even retrieved him from a gay bar on Easter Sunday evening when they saw his car in the parking lot. When change didn't happen overnight, they didn't give up."

Marlene's question for us was whether we, either as individuals or as a church, could or would do the same if there were a person stuggling to overcome homosexuality in our midst. I'm not sure any of the discussion which followed adequately dealt with Marlene's question, so I would like to spend some time with it here.

One of the things that Alan Chambers stressed in the article was that when he began attending the church described in the paragraph, he "...met people who 'didn't looked at me cross-eyed because of what I struggled with. They didn't think my stuff was any different than their stuff. They were just committed to helping me like somebody helped them.'"

I think that is the bottom line to the question. Can we as Christians welcome (fellow) sinners whose struggles just happen to be different than ours? Or those who are at a different place in their journey than we are?  If the answer is "no," based simply on the fact that we are "uncomfortable" around "those kinds of people," or because disciplng them might take us down some roads we are unwilling to travel on, then that's sin, too.  And as we have said many times in WorldMovers, God doesn't prefer one kind of sin over another.

If the heart attitude is right, and we are willing to "not look cross-eyed" at such people, are we to beat ourselves up because they are not flocking to our doors? That is a missional question that we should discuss thoughtfully as Dove Mountaineers.

I have long been opposed to the "program-based design" model for churches, in which consumers shop around and look for the church that has the most to "offer." We could all give examples of what this looks like. I'm interested in the "people-based design" model. In this approach we look at those whom God has brought together and ask, "What are we to do individually, and what are we to do corporately, in order to be the people of God in the geographical place God has planted us?" Not every church will have a Stephen Ministry, or AWANA, or a Titus ministry, or whatever. But all churches must preach the gospel and provide incarnational examples of redeemed lives.    

In his column in the bulletin yesterday, Pastor Ed exhorted us to be "good salesmen" for the church, and we should pay heed to that. And he is right that the services of Christmas coming up this week end ar a good opportunity for that. And if our efforts result in some folks coming who are struggling with...whatever... we must do our best, by God's strength, to not look cross-eyed at them.