A Letter to the Church on Outsiders

Editor’s Note: Hi hi, this is Rue! I almost never do guest posts on my blog, but today I am sharing a letter written by a disciple of Christ who I dearly admire and appreciate. These aren’t my words, but they are full of far more experience and lots of wisdom. Those of you who read the letter will be blessed by it!

Mr. Eric is one of those people who just wants to be a vessel for Jesus. That’s it. He doesn’t want his name praised, he doesn’t want the attention of other believers, he just wants to love God and love others. He just wants to honor Jesus. 

When I first started to see how deeply Mr. Eric loved God and others, I asked him if he would write a guest article for me and he agreed. You can be certain he prayed over the words he wrote because he proceeded to spend over a year wrestling over the subject with God. It wasn’t until about a month ago that he handed me an envelope with the written letter and the words, “the Holy Spirit is hammering me today…I just have to surrender.”

I sincerely assure you that you will be blessed by reading his words.

Mr. Eric’s Letter on Outsiders

I’ve been struggling with this subject for months, because while on the surface it may seem simple, I know it’s not. I’ve had wrestling matches with the Holy Spirit over this. And I’ve started thinking this over in my head and putting some of it down on paper on multiple occasions, but it never seemed correct, or truly felt whole to me. This is just my best shot at trying to convey my feelings.

Who Are the Outsiders?

My first thought was based on my own experiences in life and my own personal feelings. I immediately went to the freaks, geeks, weirdos, and those different from what society has labeled as “normal.” Especially those that are outside my idea of how I was taught people should be, think, or act. But, after praying about it, I really don’t think any of us are truly “normal.”

Then, I went to an overall, individual’s worldview, based on the viewpoint of an individual and social class they may belong to (or feel they belong to). This opens an uncountable number of opinions on who someone would think is an outsider. You’d have to take in all the economic, racial, religious, etc. variables and try to make sense of it all. But it still seemed silly to me to try and compartmentalize people that way. So, for the sake of this letter, I’ll choose to focus on what direction the Holy Spirit is leading me to type out…

Outsiders Around the Church

For the sake of who will read this initially, the example I have first is for the churchgoer. I am definitely speaking from experience and am including myself with this, so please don’t take this as a personal attack. But, also know, I have no control over how the Holy Spirit moves within your comfort zone.

Now, back to churchgoers…

The typical viewpoint will most likely be sinners or people outside the church. However, we are all sinners, so I find this opinion completely ironic. Most of us who have grown up in church have had these “levels of severity” of sin. It’s been ingrained in us, but we haven’t taken the time to read about what the Bible actually says about it. For example, I haven’t read anywhere in the bible that homosexuality, adultery, or murder is any more severe a sin than gossip or judgement in the eyes of God.

Sin is explained as sin and all of us do it.

Why can’t we give the level of grace to others for their “higher level” sin when God has done that for all of ours? We should know better.

Outsiders Within the Church

On the flip side, church-goers are considered outsiders to society. I can’t tell you the amount of friends I have that want nothing to do with church, or a particular church, because of experiences they’ve had with people in the past. It’s so hard to overcome their objections and just love on them. Mostly because just mentioning that you go to church, carries with it such a negative stigmatism of what people believe a “normal” church goer actually is.

My final thought on “outsiders” tries to take in the big picture…

Outsiders Beyond the Church

Honestly, all of us are outsiders. To God anyway. It doesn’t matter what your income level is, what you look like, what color your skin is, what you believe, how you act, what you wear, how your hygiene is, how well you put on your “Sunday best” face and hide your humanity.

All of us are outsiders to God.

We don’t deserve heaven, and yet, through the grace, mercy, and love of God – through the brutality and unimaginable sacrifice of Jesus – we have a shot at spending time with the Creator. It’s not just a gift for you or me, but for all outsiders.

Sadly, once we believe, we tend to just sit on our own heavenly assurance because we’re “safe.” We tend to show up on Sunday, throw some money in the offering plate (maybe), and volunteer just to fill our “feel good” checklist for the week.

But how could we get comfortable with that? How could we not want to share this love with our friends and family? Our co-workers and people we randomly meet in our daily walk in life. They’re there for a reason! They’re outsiders.

Jesus’ Response to Outsiders

But once you find an outsider…what do you do?

Well, what did Jesus do?

He loved them.

The Bible is a love story to all of us. Jesus wants a relationship with us. He didn’t live as a self-righteous judge. He didn’t look down on those He came into contact with. Jesus had compassion for the outsiders. He absolutely loved them. He prayed hard and often. Pray for those you know and pray for outsiders.

I have found that God will always open doors for you to share His love with someone. Be bold. Don’t hesitate. Don’t expect results in your timing. If they do not want to be engaged, move on! Sometimes God just needs you to be a seed planter.

Force yourself to let God do what He does best and in His perfect timing. All cards on the table, this is a tremendous struggle for me. I have to force myself to let go and let God do His thing and in His time.

I cannot stress this next point enough but love on people.

Even the freaks, geeks, and weirdos. Everywhere! Everyday. But, especially in church.

Healing and Belonging for Outsiders in the Church

I feel church should be more of a spiritual hospital and we are all in need of God’s healing and grace. It shouldn’t be a place to sit comfortably and give Jesus His 1-2 hours for the week. Not a place to meet up with your comfortable, Christian friends and stay in your comfortable, Christian box.

When someone you don’t know shows up on Sunday – they may look differently than you, dress differently, smell differently, have weird colored-hair, tattoos, piercings in weird places, but don’t worry. They’re just an outsider.

God loves them too. They’re in church and in need of a Savior. Just like you and me.

Love on them. Sometimes it just takes a sincere, friendly smile – a hug or a handshake – to make someone’s day.

Outsiders and You: Loving Jesus By Loving Them

I’m hoping, even though this is short, that it makes sense. I’m hoping that God reaches someone through these few words.

I pray for you.

I pray that you share God’s love to the outsiders in your life, with compassion, not comparison. And I pray that we realize we are not at war with the freaks, geeks, and weirdos. God loves them just as much as He loves you. Jesus suffered and died for them also.

I also pray for you because, like me, you are an outsider too. We are all sinners in need of a Savior and hoping for Heaven…where we were created to belong.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. As for me? I’m not a pastor. I don’t hold a place of authority in the church. I have no biblical degree and, truth be told, I don’t even consider myself a smart person. But I do know that God loves me.

I’m just a person who wants to pass His love on to as many people as I can and bring them along with me, because that’s what Jesus asked me to do.

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