Hey Church, are we listening?

Have you ever had someone vent to you about how someone or something has failed them, but then never follow up with how they would like things to improve? Did you, perhaps, visit this blog address not long ago and feel as though I did just that?

Oops.

Recently I went on a rant about ways the Church has failed people, including me, in its rhetoric. I admit it, there should have been a "so what now?" portion of that post. I'm sorry I failed in that respect. My hope is to be more helpful this week, if you'll listen. Cool? Let's jump in.

One of my writing professors at Northwestern used to encourage us to validate each other in our creative feedback. First list something your peer did well, then offer suggestions for possible changes, and close with further positive comments on what you appreciated about their work. The feedback sandwich, so to speak. Not only does it make you a more critical consumer, but it also pushes you to be far more helpful with the negative bits of feedback.

In the spirit of the feedback sandwich, I'd like to turn our attention to the American portion of the body of Christ.

Every church I have been involved in has thrived at serving each other in times of need. Specifically, my first home church has banded together to take care of community members after house fires, floods, tornadoes...the list goes on. I truly believe I found my passion for service through the hours I spent in North Omaha with some of my youth group peers, volunteering at a summer learning program for inner city kids. Those experiences changed the way I looked at the privileged household I grew up in, and I better understood the blessing of a stable, loving family. I'm grateful for the service hearts I grew up alongside, and for the passionate service I see in my ReNew family now.

Okay, this is the part that might sting a little (or a lot), but that is the most important part of the feedback sandwich. On to the ways we as a Church could do much, much better.

Love your neighbor as yourself. We all know that commandment. Jesus even drops a parable about it. "Who is my neighbor?" we all ask each other in Sunday School. It's so easy to get lost in the Bible story aspect of it and forget to apply it to a 21st century walk with Jesus. Hey conservatives/liberals/everyone in between? Your mental and physical health are important and should be cared about by the people around you. Your voice should be heard and you should feel safe to go about your daily life. You are valuable to God and to people. 

Guess what? There are groups of people who, based on their lifestyle or background, have felt unwelcome at the feet of Jesus. Not because they were told by God that they had to change something about themselves to be welcome, but because we as the ambassadors of Christ's compassion and love have not made those people feel welcome. That's a failing on our part, Church. We need to knock it off and make it right with those people.

How do we go about that? Here are a few ways I can think of in about five seconds. 1) Make an effort to smile and make eye contact. 2) Eat a meal with them. 3) Listen to their stories. This isn't a call to change your opinions or beliefs. That's not what this post is about. But it is so dang easy to be kind if you look at another human being with a desire to love them. It shouldn't matter where they come from, what they believe, or how they choose to live their life. Jesus calls us to speak and act in love. Hard stop.

There, that wasn't too painful, right? Maybe a bit awkward or uncomfortable, but if we're seeking a life like Christ lived, it shouldn't be too rough to view every person as a beautiful creation. And now, to complete the sandwich and leave us feeling a little less squirmy this week, here's another thing I think the Church does well.

We're a passionate bunch. Especially here in the Midwest we like to think that we keep to ourselves enough to make sure everyone stays in their own bubbles, and that is probably pretty accurate. But when we worship together or eat together or even talk about the weather together, we reach out and expose our very souls to each other. It's beautiful and haunting at the same time.

Hey Church? I love you so much. I also love the people we have failed to include in our group for so long, and I ache to see those bridges built. When you've wiped away the crumbs from my hastily fashioned sandwich, I hope you can find it in your hearts to make those people feel safe and loved from now on. It might mean revisiting some of those Scriptures passages with some of those folks. Or maybe it means simply listening to their perspective on Jesus.

By no means do I have any of this figured out. I'm just spouting words over here. Thank you for coming back again and again to hear those words. At a later date I'd like to chat about the ways I have felt validated and heard as a woman following Jesus in the last year and a half. Be on the lookout for that sometime soon.

Love you, friends.