Head Slap

A question we've been getting a lot lately is -


"So what does a church for people that don't like church look like?"


Imagine that you're walking down a crowded sidewalk and you hear a voice above the noise of the crowd growing louder and louder. Soon you spot a guy standing on a small platform a little above the crowd yelling at people as they walk by. As you get closer you notice that most of the crowd is annoyed and suddenly you see the guy throwing something and hitting someone. His words, now understandable, are "You! Your teeth are rotting in your head! Because YOU are NOT using Crest Toothpaste!" Suddenly he chucks a sample tube of Crest into the crowd, smacking a lady in the head. She rushes off, covering the side of her face with her purse for protection. A young man behind her picks up the sample and chucks it back at the obnoxious speaker, who ducks the tube and yells, "FINE! Go ahead! live with rotting teeth! He continues "THE ONLY WAY TO SAVE YOUR TEETH IS WITH CREST!" Obviously this guy is not connecting well with the crowd. Most are thinking, they have used non-Crest toothpaste all their lives and their teeth are just fine and this has got to be the biggest jerk they have ever seen and the next time they get toothpaste they are NOT buying Crest!


Now, as you continue down the sidewalk and the voice fades into the background, you're still amazed and annoyed at what you just witnessed. As your walking along the crowd noise starts to increase a little and you think "great! now what?" Then you spy a sign in the distance, the sign says "FREE" which kind of makes you feel a little relieved. You notice the crowd walking in the opposite direction all seem to be in a pleasant mood. As you get closer to the sign, your curiosity is drawn to normal every day people handing something out. When you're walking by, a lady hands you something and says "I hope you like it" with a smile. Your curiosity causes you to grab the item without missing a step, you look down and see in your hand a sample tube of Colgate Toothpaste. Your first thought is "CRAZY TOOTHPASTE PEOPLE!" then as you continue walking the guy next to you says "I like their way better", and you agree, looking back to see others now starting to smile.


So, the Crest people are how most of society sees the church today and it only takes one bad experience to turn someone away from church forever. A church for people that don't like church will look a lot like the Colgate people. Giving out little samples of Jesus' love without expectation or condemnation, loving people to Jesus.


A quote I read the other day by a poet was "People will forget what you said, they will forget what you did, but, they will never forget how you made them feel."