Take Off Your Shoes and Tear the Carpet Out!

Sunday morning via twitter came a challenge as I made my way through my quiet time preparing to leave for church, "As you enter the sanctuary, how often do you remember whose sanctuary you enter, whose presence you seek & whose blessing you demand?" Determined to be prepared for church I left inspired to remember the reason for church above the other distractions I may enjoy that aren't necessarily bad, but in the light of worship, distractions none the less.

As we began the service Chris the worship leader gave greater insight into his tweet. This week visiting missionaries came to eat lunch with the staff after staff meeting. They arrived a little early. As Chris walked down the hall after staff meeting he noticed the door to the prayer room was closed and two pair of shoes were carefully placed outside the door. He was struck by the beauty of what he saw and it humbled and inspired him to know this couple would choose to spend their time waiting for friends in prayer, to slip away reverently into the presence of a God they understood as holy.

Thus the question, "As you enter the sanctuary, how often do you remember whose sanctuary you enter, whose presence you seek & whose blessing you demand?" Do we come to church to be set apart in worship of a holy God? Or are we demanding His blessings missing the point that He is the Blessing?

I came prepared, but the Lord showed up with another lesson in mind that I believe had to be proceeded by Chris' challenge.

Two young men came in as we began, sat closed up front and were fairly distracting by their inappropriate talking. When it came time to greet people I greeted them because I knew they were more than likely unbelievers and I felt God blessed us with their presence. When he leads unbelievers into a community of believers it means He trusts us to care for them. We need to make sure they are welcomed. None of the men around them moved to greet them, so I did. We just tend to do that, shy away from people who are different than us. The visitors were young and a little scruffy, the members near by were older. But God had shown His light on them and I knew that I had to react. It turns out one of them had visited church several times in the last three months and brought his friend today because he enjoys being at our church. I had greeted he and his wife earlier.

They were disruptive the whole service and I could tell some around them were disturbed by it. What I saw was God at work and since the sermon was on sharing your faith, being careful of what our silent witness says I was glad I welcomed them instead of seeing them as distractions.

But I get the point. We are to come to church prepared. Worship is holy. We need to worship with our focus on the Lord. We sincerely need to ask Chris' question each week anew. But we also need to see unbeliever with different eyes especially when they bless us by coming. Let God work and be amazed. It seems like a distraction, but is a blessing instead. I think if we come focused on worship God will bless us more and more with these distractions that bless Him.

Chuck Smith who started Calvary Chapel is famous for saying, "if we don't let people in [the church] because they are bare foot and it will ruin the carpet, then tear the carpet out!"

So that...

"All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you." Psalm 22:27 NIV