I’m a big fan of Jon Acuff’s blog, “Stuff Christians Like”, and after reading one of his posts, it’s hard not to be inspired, thoughtful, or rolling on the floor laughing (ROFL… for those who aren’t familiar).
He posted part of a church bulletin last week from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Community and it was just too good not to share. One segment of the message reads, “We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or like our pastor who can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if you’re “just browsing,” just woke up or just got out of jail. We don’t care if you’re more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in church since little Joey’s Baptism.”
Besides the bulletin snippet being witty, it also carried with it a very good message. I think God wants all of us to be welcoming, loving, and gracious to anyone and everyone. We will all disagree with each other on different issues in life, but none of those disagreements should make people feel like they are excluded from church.
Jesus wasn’t one to judge. He wasn’t one to rub elbows with the sophisticated and wealthy. In fact, Mark 2:16-17 states,
When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He [Jesus] was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “ Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?” And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “ It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
The perfect role model? Without a doubt.
Check out Jon’s post with the bulletin message here.
Would your church post a message like this in its bulletin?