Welcome In Our Church?

Would Jesus be welcome in your church, or would you be worried his blood would stain the carpet, get on the pews, or offend someone? I believe it is through hurting people that Jesus comes to us to see what we will say to or do with them. When we die and go to heaven will He say He knows us because we fed Him, gave Him a place to stay, and love Him, or will He say He never knew us because we went to church, read our Bibles, did good things, but didn't stop to love Him through the homeless, prostitutes, drug dealers, widows, orphans, abused, neglected, and hurting?
These chapters really hit home for me. I tend to be very passionate about a few things and one of them is how we as Christians/the church body sometimes shun, judge, and push away people/ ‘sinners’/ anything different.
I love what Jen says on the bottom of page 79; "When is the last time a dirty homeless man was welcomed into your church service, not just its food pantry? What if a hooker aligned herself with your women’s ministry? What if God selected someone like Rahab to deliver His Word or His people? Who would listen to her? We’d be so uncomfortable with her sin; it would be a matter of “Someone deal with this so we can get rid of her.” Rahab’s story is beautiful news to the Rahabs but often not welcomed by the pew fillers. Redemption is for everyone, not just those who seem worthy. That often necessitates a period between debauchery and liberation. Can you fathom how many live in that gap? Can you see how many souls are left on the proverbial salvation table when Christians won’t stand by—much love—another so broken? It is a short step into grace; Jesus made it so simple. The divide is no greater for a prostitute than for a preacher’s daughter. Often all a person needs is one friend to show her the way, but we are too preoccupied with “speaking truth,” “rebuking,” and “being set apart” to make contact with anyone under our spiritual rank. Had this been God’s position, the Bible would be half its length; we’d be left with tabernacle dimensions in the Old Testament, and much of the New Testament would be thrown out because it was written by a reformed terrorist.”

This makes me think of the songs by Casting Crowns

• “If We Are The Body”
• “Does Anybody Hear Her”
• “Love Them Like Jesus”