Recently I was given a “Zero Intolerance” leaflet. It’s a publication from the United Reformed Church – one that seeks to encourage congregations of all denominations to stamp out prejudice. It’s a precursor to a poster campaign that may be hitting a church or a street near you in the not too distant future.
Its central thesis is that Jesus welcomed everyone but the church doesn’t and that failure to love is a blot on our copybook, a reason why many have left local congregations and a reason why others don’t join. Its call is to encourage churches to become “radically welcoming” to the marginalised of society and to accept people of all backgrounds without issuing any call to change.
If nothing else, the campaign poses some interesting questions ...
•Do we need to repent of prejudice?
Quite possibly! I, for one, have been sinful since conception (Ps 51:5) and there is no part of my being that hasn’t been tainted by sin. Unlike God, I don’t always look at people’s hearts, I do sometimes look at outward appearances at least at first glance (1Sam 16:7) and that is something I do need to repent of. Maybe your church too...
•Does more need to be done to make our churches more welcoming?
Absolutely! There is much to commend the welcome of my church and I guess yours as well but we’re not perfect. James 2 makes it quite clear that churches down the ages have been guilty of the sin of partiality. We need to be passionate and intentional about doing all we can to change that.
•Is it our responsibility to accept people without calling them to change?
Not in a million years! The church isn’t a place where people stay the same. We follow a saviour who loved those that others tossed aside but who also issued the call to lifestyle change (Jn 8:11). We are bearers of the Holy Spirit whose role it is to help us put off the “old self” and put on the new (Col 3). And that message must ring true to people of all backgrounds (including our own).
If you see a “Zero Intolerance” poster later in 2011, why not think and pray about how you can start some conversations like this, using it as a spur to show love... and speak truth.
