Friday, April 9, 2004

Church casualties

By DAVID EPPS
Pastor

Nearly 20 years ago, I was part of a team that, over a period of three years, visited every home in a certain town in order to present to the residents the Gospel of Christ. What I discovered surprised me.

Most (actually, nearly all) of the people visited expressed some connection with Christianity and a good number of them had been heavily involved in one church or another. Yet, while almost all had experienced a relationship with Christ and had some church background, only about half were currently in a church relationship. The others were staying home on Sundays.

Of this rather large number staying home on Sundays, some had experienced some sort of sin or moral troubles in the past and had wandered away from God and the church. There weren’t very many of these but there were a few. Some had somehow “gotten out of the habit” and knew that they should return to church but hadn't managed to accomplish that feat just yet. Most of this non-church going crowd, however, had been wounded or damaged in some way by people in the church. These people were causalities who had never recovered.

A couple of years ago, while preaching the Sunday sermon at our church, I asked for a show of hands of the people who had experienced great hurt in their lives at some point in time. Virtually every hand went up. Then I asked for a show of hands of those who had experienced this great hurt at the hands of other Christians. Again, nearly every hand went up. Such a thing ought not to be.

My own father left church in the mid-1960s never to return, except for weddings, funerals, and my ordination. A man in management at the chemical plant where Dad worked came to call on him one night. He asked my father, an electrician, to donate his services and do the electrical work on the new sanctuary that was then being constructed. When my father explained that he didn’t have a license for such work, the man threatened dad with the loss of his job if he didn’t comply. Dad, never a man to take threats lightly, rose up from his chair and bodily threw the manager out onto the front lawn. Dad kept his job but never went to church again and was, from that time on, forever distrustful of Christians.

While I understand those who would absent themselves from the services of the church, it is true that there is no such animal as a “solitary Christian.” Jesus said that he would build his “church” (the ecclesia; those called out to gather together) and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. The Apostle Paul said that Christians should not “forsake the assembling of themselves together.” The church is a corporate entity of those who have sold out to Christ; it is a dynamic organism, not a gathering of the autonomous, independent individuals who believe that all that is required is “just me, my Bible, and Jesus.”

This weekend, people all over the community who have departed from church are considering weather they will go to church for Easter. To those people I would say, “By all means, go.”

In my 30 years of ministry, I have discovered that somewhere between 85-95 percent of church people are compassionate, honorable, and full of charity. Yes, there are always a few that seem to be full of meanness and self-centeredness, and, yes, these people seem to be so loud that you think the whole church is just like them, but that assessment would simply be untrue.

In that same church that had on its rolls a man whose actions kept my dad out of church was another man. This second man paid my college tuition and books one quarter when my money had run out. Because of him, I was able to graduate and he never asked a thing in return. I have discovered that most people in church are like this second man.

A man who had been out of church for years recently went to see “The Passion of the Christ.” He was so moved that he rededicated his life to Christ and has been in church since that time. He recognizes that the church is still full of imperfect people, but he says that the movie taught him that “it’s not about them; it’s all about Him.” Which is why you should be in church this coming Easter and every Sunday thereafter.

To those who have been wounded by Christians, I apologize most profoundly. To those who have sinned their way away from God, I would assure you that he is not angry with you and is not counting your sins against you. He loves you, he has forgiven you, he will never leave or forsake you. This Easter, come home to God. And come home to church beginning Sunday. We’re saving you a seat!

[Father David Epps is Rector of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church which meets at 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. Sundays at 4881 E. Hwy 34. He may be contacted at 770-252-2428, at FatherDavidEpps@aol.com or at www.ctkcec.org.]

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