Comments on: Open Your Doors, Set Your Table (It’s a Command)

By: Brent

Brent — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 13:22:13 +0000

Jennifer, many of the sentiments you have expressed are exactly why I have written these recent posts reminding us that the church is to be a community.

There’s an interesting dynamic here though in that we do not go to church to make friends and find a community. Rather, those things are a byproduct of a group of gathered, committed believers who have come together to fulfill the first commandment. The second should naturally follow (Matthew 22:34-40).

You ask why it is that you can go to a church and have people pretend as though they don’t see you? It’s because of sin. It’s a failure to “consider others as more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3).

I’m so sorry that you’ve been hurt rather than encouraged, but do not judge the church through your poor experiences. Rather, recognize that your experiences have not lived up to what Christ calls His people to be.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 21:52:51 +0000

This is interesting, I was just sitting here this morning thinking about this issue. I have struggled, and continue to struggle, with the concept of going to church. Personally I am uncomfortable in large groups of people, so i have people tell me, get in a small group. I guess that is the solution, I don’t know. But what I really want to know is, when you walk in the door of a church, and someone in that church sees that they don’t know you, why do they not walk up to you and engage you? Why do they look past you, looking for their friends to come and sit with them? Why is it that the church so often feels like a conglomeration of high school cliques, where everyone else knows everyone, and you know no one?

And it is not because i have not tried. I have done all kinds of things, putting myself out to people. After talking to one group of people one Sunday, I drove out behind them. While stopped at a red light, I jumped out and said, here’s my card (with phone number), I enjoyed talking to you, let’s get together.

Never heard from them.

Sometimes i feel about the church as i do about making friends in the secular world - it seems that everyone has enough friends, thank you very much, don’t need or have time for any more.

As a consequence, my desire for going to church has greatly diminished. What is the point? For a while I went to church and thought I was finding God there. I wonder now if that was simply because I was in the midst of a lot of emotional struggle and was just looking for an experience to hold on to. Now even though I like the church I have gone to a few months — I like the pastor, the teaching is solid, the worship is simple and good, the ppl “look” friendly — but I still find myself uninterested in going on Sunday mornings. And even when I have gone, I sometimes leave feeling that no one could care less who i was.

Is it because we all bear so many burdens? Are we so wrapped up in ourselves that we cannot even simply reach out to someone once a week that we don’t know?

Sorry if this sounds like a rant, I really am just trying to figure out what is wrong. Is it me or is it the church or what is it?

By: Gunny Hartman

Gunny Hartman — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 04:51:03 +0000

The pastor is Joe Kelley and is a great brother. He did our wedding back in ‘93 and is a gem of a guy.

I would heartily recommend them to folks in that area, especially those of a Reformed baptistic persuasion.

Hopefully, Mike, you can have a different excuse to make it down there.

; )

By: mike

mike — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 23:33:10 +0000

Wow Brent, three GREAT posts in a row…! Keep ‘em coming.

Gunny, i have been wanting to visit Killeen Bible Church for several years now. Im glad to see that they are a loving body of believers. Unfortunatly the only opprotunities that I am afforded to go are when family or friends are in Scott and White…I hope that it is a looong time before I get to go there.

By: Gunny Hartman

Gunny Hartman — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 21:24:11 +0000

Hospitality could also be huge in seeing a church really grow and flourish. Not only is it biblical and Christian, it’s effective.

I remember needing to find a church after my folks moved during the summer home from college at Texas A&M University. The phone book had Killeen Bible Church, with the tagline, “The Bible as it is for men as they are.”

So, I thought I’d check it out. The first two guys I met were “old Ags” who offered to take me out to lunch afterward. They were all so friendly and I got many such offers to be taken to lunch or come over for lunch that summer.

Of course, the preaching was good, which didn’t hurt, but I was particularly overwhelmed and impressed by their hospitality.

They were showing kindness to a stranger … you know, being Christians.