“Then he turned to the host. “The next time you put on a
dinner, don’t just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind
of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited
out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You’ll be—and experience—a
blessing. They won’t be able to return the favor, but the favor will be
returned—oh, how it will be returned!—at the resurrection of God’s people." - Luke 14:12-14
To say that Jesus was the “atypical” dinner guest is an understatement
of the first magnitude. Recently, I was reading through
Luke chapter fourteen in preparation for a lesson and was again reminded of how "social" Jesus was throughout his ministry. He was tagged a "glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners" (Luke 7:34). In the Gospel of Luke Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal or
leaving a meal! The meal scene in Luke 14 is bizarre and awkward. It begins with a spontaneous healing that offended most of the guests which in turn leads to Jesus telling the guests how to seat themselves at the next party (go low before you go high!) to instructing the host to invite a different crowd the next time he throws a party. Talk about rude. But Jesus' only interest was in expanding their minds about the kingdom - not winning the congeniality award!
As a child I regarded the parables of Jesus as simple stories. Light, innocent, informative stories that
gave us insight into Jesus’ ministry.
The more I meditate on these brief stories, especially the one in Luke
14, the more I realize they are heavy, challenging and educational bombshells that show us what
the kingdom of God should look like.
Occasionally, we get into conversations with each other
about the “”identifying marks of the church.” Been in one of those recently? The “marks”, as we call them, usually materialize into things like baptism, the
assembly (how it’s done), certain doctrinal points, acapella singing and so on. As best I can remember, I can’t recall a single conversation about
our “marks” that eventually referred to the above text in Luke
14.
In their book The Tangible Kingdom Hugh Halter and Matt Smay
ask the following questions: “Do people
take us Christians seriously? Do they
respect us and our way of life? Do the
spiritually hungry look to the average evangelical church for help, or would
they rather go buy a self-help book at Barnes & Noble?”
Later in the book they point out some stats from The Barna
Group remarking that almost every statistical reference to the church indicates
that we not only can’t draw people, but we can’t even keep the ones we
have. Between 2004 and 2007 they
discovered the following statistics about the American population.
- 1/3 of the adult population has not attended any type of church service or activity other than a special event such as a funeral or a wedding during the year.
- One out of three adults is classified as “unchurched” meaning that they do not attend a church service of any kind. When you project these statistics across the aggregate population, the numbers are staggering. An estimated 73 million adults are presently unchurched. When teens and children are added, the total swells to roughly 100 million Americans.
- Roughly
half of all churches in
- In
Walter and Smay conclude with this stirring comment:
“The inescapable conclusion is
that we must throw out any notion that God is truly at the center of the
church’s heart in North America . The shift in society’s view of the church has
resulted in the marginalization of the church and the secularization of
society. Christianity has lost its place
at the center of American life.
Christians must learn how to live the gospel as a distinct people who
not longer occupy the center of society.
We must learn to build relational bridges that win a hearing.”
A handful of counseling conversations and spontaneous chats
with people in the streets over the past three weeks have again awakened me to
some realities:
1. Luke 14 needs to
be “a mark”.
2. The way we do
church right now in most places isn’t calibrated to fit Luke 14 into the system
in a way that will allow it to do much more than stir our minds much less our
imaginations.
3. It is imperative
that we put the blessing of people with the good news of the gospel over our
traditionalism. I think the Head of the
church is paying attention to what we do with this one…big time!
4. We need to examine
our hearts and take a hard look at our capability and willingness to interface
with people in genuine ways outside of our conventional gatherings. Jesus said, “Go…” but what does going “look
like…today?”
5. Whatever stands
between us and serious conversation about this “simple episode” in Luke 14
needs to be kicked to the curb while we can still kick.
Henry Nouwen in Gracias
writes:
More and more, the desire grows
in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their
doorsteps, play ball, throw water and be known as someone who wants to live
with them. It is a privilege to have the
time to practice this simply ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems.
My own desire to be useful, to do
something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong
that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups and
workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize
people around and urgent cause and not to feel that you are working directly
for social progress.
But I wonder more and more if the
first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to
listen to their stories and tell our own and to let them know with words,
handshakes and hugs that you do not simply like them – but truly love them.
O Lord teach us to do just
that. Amen.
Randy Daugherty
