Socks, Pajamas, and the Radical Church

I have a confession to make. On my way to worship yesterday morning, I stopped at a gas station to buy coffee. As I was waiting in line, wearing my light blue button-down, belt, navy slacks, with shiny black dress shoes, I began talking to the Indian cashier about how I needed that coffee to wake me up for the worship service. The room was filled with the haze of cigarette smoke, and apparently served as a gathering place for the low-income people who lived in the delapidated surrounding community.

As I was pulling out my wallet to pay for the coffee, I heard a voice off to my right say, "I haven't been to church in forever. I need to go back." I turned to see a short African American woman whose hair looked like the resulting effect of her sticking her finger in a light socket. Her eyes were glossy, the cherry on her cigarette was down to the filter. Her attire consisted of a sloppy t-shirt with faded pajama bottoms; lose-fitting, worn-out socks were serving the purpose of shoes.

My immediate response was, "You can come with me right now, if you want." She responded by saying, "I need to change clothes and get dressed up." I could tell by looking into her eyes that she could possibly be persuaded to come that morning. And do you know what Mr. Christian's response was? "Why don't you just come next Sunday. I will be looking for you. My name is Russ. What is yours?" She genuinely looked as if she appreciated my kindness and said, "Rita."

On the surface, this may look like a kind gesture on my part. Yet God knows my inner thought process. I COULD have convinced her to come, JUST AS SHE WAS, but I didn't. You know what I didn't? Because I didn't want her to come in and be exposed to the looks she would more than likely receive by the well-dressed people in our church. I didn't want her to come in wearing PJ's and socks, smelling like an ash tray because I thought people would look down on her, and me for bringing her in looking like that. What a people pleaser I am!

What have I become? What has the western church become?? My mentality fell infinitely short of a Kingdom mentality. Who is this Kingdom we are preaching supposed to LOOK like?? Did Jesus Christ come to establish country clubs, or a Kingdom of diversified worshippers? "Every TRIBE, TONGUE, and NATION." "Man looks at outward appearances, but the Spirit judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Do these verses ring true in this particular scenario? I think so!

The Kingdom is not a country club; it is not a fraternity/sorority; it is not a political system; it is not a textbook; it is not a stand-up comedy show; it is not a Fortune 500 company; it is not a cult; it is not a religion; it is not a course requirement; it is not koom-bi-ah (sp?); it is not a beauty pageant; it is not a physical building of stone; IT IS THE REALITY OF THE CHRIST JOYFULLY WORSHIPPED FOR ALL OF ETERNITY BY THE "FILTHY RAGS" HE HAS CALLED OUT AND REDEEMED.

I am praying that I will have the opportunity to meet Rita again. Regardless of whether or not I meet her again, there will be other "Rita's" in my path. I am praying that I may never again fail to do all I possibly can to carry that soul to the cross of Christ, pajamas, socks, and all. That is radical. That is Christianity. What else is there?

My room mate, Jonathan, has also added his own spin on this subject. Check it out! It's a great read.