Belonging…

I love to watch people and see how they interact together in different situations. I find a lot of things in this that has caught my attention over the years. People have a tendency to do the same things over and over again because it is what they have always done.

We as Christians do this also. We have visitors come into the church and we shake their hands and smile big, but we never really engage in the story of their life. You even have people in your church that I am sure that you have never met and gotten to know on a personal level. Who are they really why are they here at my church?

People are drawn to church by the Holy Spirit, they don’t just get up and come because they want to, they think they do but that is the Holy Spirit working in their life to draw them to the Father.

They may be having a crisis in their lives that they need guidance in or they may be sent by God to help further the gospel in your area. Many people get a lot of pre-conceived notions about people they really don’t know. They form opinions before they ever really know the person.

We as Christians must stop this form of religious suicide in our churches God draws people to churches where He needs them to serve, but when we step in and ruin the plan of God by the way we act and talk about people to others it is setting Churches up for failure and we don’t even realize it.

I have seen this happen in the churches that I have belonged to (I have a short list of churches I have belonged to it is two to be exact). I lived in south Louisiana from the time I was 17 until I moved here to Kentucky 9 years ago. I was in the same church in Louisiana, Lafayette First Assembly of God and here in Kentucky I have been in the same church here.  I am getting to my point here bear with me.I have seen a lot of things happen in these two churches I have had things happen in my own family that people have said or done just because they think they know someone.

I have found that when we look at people from a distance we are most of the time wrong about their character. You can only judge a person when you really get to know them. We can think we know them but guess what, until we spend time with them and get to know them we will never know what that person is all about.

This is the same principle with Jesus. Until we spend time with Him we will never really know Him. What I am getting at is this we need to get to know people before we make judgements on their lives. We do this and Sometimes we get in the way of what God is doing in and through that individual’s life.

The next time you see someone who you don’t particularly know stop and have a chat with them and start getting to know them, it’s a process of many chats not just one, so keep it up learn all you can about someone, you are then becoming a person that God can use on His team and allowing others to become part of the team as well.

It is all about relationships. Relationships is what builds the kingdom of God. So get to work, ask the Holy Spirit to bring someone to mind that you can start building a relationship with that you have never built a relationship with. It will be exciting! Learn about them, pray with them and allow them to learn about you this is what it’s all about.