**As long as you are exactly like us.
This is can be a positive stance to take. There are times in which like-minded people band together for legitimate purposes, like preservation of heritage or culture. Or when training for a marathon and the encouragement of other runners who have been where you are is needed to push you through. Or in a MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) group.
However, there are times when this philosophy is not the most productive. For example, the Christian church. Ironically, the one group on earth that should embrace those who do not think they do ~ in other words, believe that Christ is the Lord and Savior of their lives ~ is one of the most uncomfortable to truly "come as you are". Much as the modern church tries to deny it, traditional ideas die hard, and there are some people groups that the church ~ not simply A church, but THE church as a singular body of Christ ~ has yet to fully accept as beloved brothers and sisters of Christ, even if those people groups believe that Christ is indeed their Lord and Savior. Hard as we try, we as THE church have yet to shed entirely certain stereotypical ideas, and therefore have yet to fully embrace those who do "come as you are". Is it any wonder that one of the biggest excuses for not coming to faith is something along the lines of, "I have to work on myself first. I'm not good enough for church, yet."?
Now, before the stones start flying, I will say that there are always exceptions to the rule. Our family has been very blessed to move within churches and ministries that have been much closer to this ultimate goal than others. They take to heart the words of Christ that "it is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick", and allow the "sick" to come ~ in all of their disease and illness ~ to the Healer, so that they may be made well and whole through HIM. They understand that it is exactly this kind of person who most needs to be embraced by the church and carried to the One who knows that, no matter their current condition, they are already "good enough".
Yet, by the same token, there are some churches and ministries that seem to operate a little farther from the mark. True, they may encourage people to come as they are, but then they try to fit everyone into the same mold. "Come as you are, leave exactly like one of us." Allow me to give a few personal examples.
I am a silent prayer kind of person. In fact, it is safe to say that I hate praying aloud and will pass that buck to anyone willing to take it. If someone else prays aloud, I am all ears, but please do not ask me to do the same. I will do it, albeit begrudgingly, and He will not be fooled to believe that I am being sincere, even if everyone else is. I'll let you what, I'll let you pray your way if you let me pray my way, OK? What I have to say is between me and God, so why does everyone in the room need to hear it?
My hands are my most valuable tools and touch my greatest gift. To
know that someone took a step toward becoming well and whole because I
laid hands on them is an awesome blessing and privilege. Yet sometimes
contact is not required in order to "touch" someone. I am able to
gather so much information simply by scanning the body and allowing
one's energy to interact with mine, to tell me what it needs. I can
feel dis-ease in temperature changes around the body, sense dysfunction
in an agitated energy flow, and see pain in one's eyes.
There
were 3 of us praying for someone suffering from an awful headache.
Unsure of whether this person was even OK with me touching him, my hands
hovered near the sides of his head as we prayed. As we prayed,
my hands were drawn closer, but never drawn to touch ~ until one of the
other folks praying pushed my hands onto this person's head. Well,
thank you very much for interfering with my communication, not only with
this poor headache sufferer, but also with God. If Christ could heal
the centurion's daughter from half-way across town, then surely God
could have granted His healing grace through my hands less than inch
away from this pounding head. Though I am still accepting the idea that
I may have the spiritual gift of healing, I do believe that God has healed
people through me ~ whether my hands made contact or not.
While a group of us were praying over a speaker at a spiritual retreat, I had my hands on her shoulders and could sense dis-ease and agitation. As sensations moved up my arms, I inhaled very deeply, as if I could pull the uneasiness from her, through my being, and exhale it away from both of us. I took several very deep, sighing breaths while others were praying aloud. When we had finished, and the speaker was on her way, one of the others in the prayer circle came to me and asked if I was OK. Yeah, I'm fine. I sigh while praying, you speak in tongues. You speak Him out, I breath Him in. Why does this make you question whether I am "OK"?
Of course, there are always going to be differences in ideas about how to DO church, but surely there should be some common consensus about how to BE the church. God did not make each of us to look exactly alike, to think exactly alike, or to act exactly alike. So, what leads one to believe that we must all worship exactly alike? Clearly, He enjoys variety, and variety is the spice of life. Why would we want to give Him bland, run-of-the-mill, nothing-exciting worship?
