In his lesson last night my preacher, Daniel Hope, encouraged us to reach out to strippers with Christ’s good news.
He actually said the word “stripper” from the pulpit. Like three or four times.
Maybe that’s no big deal where you go to church, but I was stunned (in a good way) to hear someone talking about drug abusers, drunks and prostitutes in a “please invite them to church” kind of way.
Daniel talked about Jesus as a doctor, a healer of sick people and about Jesus’ church as being (ideally) a hospital. Daniel pointed out that churches exist to help the hurting. He said churches that take sin seriously aren’t the judgmental ones, turning away the sinful. Taking sin seriously means devoting ourselves to the sin-sick, doing everything in our power to bring them in and make them well.
This week I’m taking my preacher’s advice. I’m on the hunt for a messy, socially unacceptable sinner to invite to Friends and Family Day. Who knows where my search might take me… Probably closer to God.