Doors that Swing Both Ways

"Jesus said, "Come unto Me..."  Matthew 11

Jesus said, "Go and make disciples..." Matthew 28

I have had the hardest time getting out of buildings since coming to Germany.  Typically, I go to the door, turn the handle, push and walk right into the door.  Then I fiddle with it for a while trying to figure out why it won’t open.  Only then, usually with people staring at me, do I remember that in Germany outside doors open inward, not outward as they do in the US.  This makes getting into a building fairly easy but for door impaired people like me, it means getting out of a building is a problem.    

That got me to thinking.  Which ways should the doors swing on the church and in our lives as Christians?  In other words, “Which should be easier – going out from the church or coming in?”  On the one hand, people should have an easy time coming into the fellowship of God’s people… people should feel invited, welcomes and included.  There is nothing worse to hear than statements like these, “I came to your church but no one spoke to me.  Or “At first everyone was so friendly, but after a couple of Sundays I felt like old news.  No one spoke to me.”   Or “I missed church for a couple of Sundays and no one noticed” “I volunteered.  I signed up but no one ever called me. I hear arguments in the church over how much we should cater to those who are new to the church.  Some say we should not expect people to learn a “new Christian language” when they come into a church. Words like “justification, Kyrie, and Sanctus” are like a foreign language to those new to the church.  Others say, “If new people want to come to church then we should teach them the language.”  To both, I say yes.  Coming to Germany Linda and I are trying to learn the language. We want to know this country, its culture and its people.  The language is key.  At the same time, I also love that people here have been more than patients and spoken our foreign language to help us feel welcomed here.  The church needs to be the same.  Yes we want people to learn and grow.  But first we want to welcome them.  We want to invite them in, remember their names, include them in activities, make friends and speak their language.   We want outside doors that swing inward.  After all, Jesus said, “Come unto me, all who are weary and burdened…”  “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink…”  You and I, our congregations should reflect His warm, welcoming heart.

But then there is the other question.  Should the doors of the church swing outward?   Again the answer is yes.  It’s too easy for us to sit in church like its some kind of private club… as if its mission is only to be a place where people are protected from the world…  to have the attitude that everyone ought to come to us. The problem is Jesus didn’t say “Wait here and make disciples…”  He said, “Go and make Disciples.”  Most unbelievers aren’t waking up on Sunday wondering what church they should go to.   For the most part they aren’t thinking about church at all.  If they are to know Jesus then we have to go to them… be genuine friends and neighbors to them… love and care for them… go out and introduce them to Jesus in our words and deeds.   Our call is reflect our savior… As He came looking for us through the parents and pastors, friends and neighbors, so He sends us out into our neighborhoods and workplaces, homes and schools.  He is the shepherd who leaves the 99 in the open country and goes in search of the one who is lost… We are His search party. Which way should the church doors swing?  Both ways!