Are you a seeker sensitive Christian?

Most people initially attend a church service because of one or more the following reasons:

1. They were invited by a friend, family member or evangelist.
2. They are searching for a greater sense of meaning in their lives and look to the church as a doorway to the path of spiritual growth.
3. They are curious about " what this is all about"
4. They feel that being part of a church is an important aspect of their sense of community and/ or public image and are looking for a "church home".

In church language we call these people "seekers", because they are looking for something. Sometimes they don't even know what it is that they are looking for yet, but the fact that they have taken that first step by attending service is in and of itself  a sign of their willingness to try something new. We have to give them credit, I mean let's face it, they have come into a strange new environment with strange new customs. Customs like standing, kneeling and praying on command, singing and dancing in public, outward displays of affection and being asked for money on a regular basis.They are also exposed to new terms like "born again", "spirit walk" and "spirit filled" not to mention  people getting " slain in the spirit" and " talking in tongues"( see the book "Christianese" by Pastor Don Moore for more on the language of Christianity).  All of this can be a little overwhelming. In some cases, an improper introduction to Christianity can be all that it takes to turn that seeker away from God for a long time, if not forever.

So where does that leave us?  Well, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the person who our belief system is named after (Christianity), is very clear on certain points :  We are to spread the Gospel(Mark 16:15);  We are not to judge((Matthew 7:1); We are not to place burdens on our brethren(Matthew 23); The world will recognize us by our love for one another.(John 13:34-35) and we are supposed to serve our fellow man.(Matthew 25:31)

These points directly reflect the theme of this post. Our role as Christians should be to bring the knowledge of God to those who do not yet know Him. There is no work that we can do in this world that is more important to God than this. Our role is not to judge what an individual does with that knowledge, nor place a time frame on how long we give them to "get it right" before we judge them.

If a person visits your church and is a drunk, or a prostitute, or a homosexual, or an adulterer etc... do you make them feel welcome? or do you look down on them?  Does your response to them reflect what Jesus would do?  I'm sure many self righteous Christians can find a ton of scriptures to justify their actions when they shun someone, but the truth of the matter is that the spirit of the law is overlooked when the letter of the law is quoted. We believe that as followers of Christ we should implement His teachings in our daily lives by showing kindness and compassion towards others, volunteering to help those less fortunate, donating to charity, and by teaching the love of God through example.