love your enemiesThe following is an email discussion I had recently that so touched and challenged me that I wanted to share it with the larger community. I hope you enter the discussion....

 

 

    I was wondering if we are trying to make people more like Christ or are we trying to make people more like ourselves?  The group that attends the meetings are all very committed, invested people of the church.  However, most of us are also reasonably outgoing and comfortable talking in groups.  Many people sit on the sidelines b/c they lack the confidence to step up.  Are we excluding others b/c they may not have the confidence to "become the church?"  How do we build up others so they think they deserve to be an important part of the church and God's world in general?  When I bring up these points someone will say "that's just another excuse."  I personally am tired of that response.  I think we have the habit of calling other people's real feelings excuses.  Even though they may well be excuses, they are still real feelings that people have and we need to help them get through them instead of judging them and brushing them off to the side because we are in a different place on our journey with God. 
 
    I also think we do not give people enough credit when they do something for the church.  Some people would like to do one or two big things a year for the church and the rest of the time be pew sitters.  This is the beginning to something bigger for them, but it's all they can do right now.  I believe we are trying to make everyone 100% committed or not at all.  There is a happy medium and we need to let people know that even doing something small is very appreciated.  That's my 2 cents...
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