When I mention the word ‘church’, what comes to your mind? As you sit reading this now, you may be someone who is very actively involved in a church somewhere. If not that, you may be someone who used to be part of a church but were deeply hurt or disappointed by something said or done within its walls, so you decided to leave and never come back. Maybe the word ‘church’ is one you’ve come across here and there but only mentioned in circles very different from the ones you belong to. You see it as some kind of exclusive word for religious people and you may even ask yourself the question: can a non Christian go to church?
The church is quite possibly one of the most misunderstood institutions on earth. Not in the sense that one might think – some kind of ‘victim’ sense where everyone on the outside misjudges what may be going on within it. Yes, it’s true that that may be the case, but what’s actually more tragic is that even those on the inside of the church ‘system’ keep being a part of something they themselves don’t fully understand. This short, simple video helps some way in clearing up some misconceptions:
The church, when it started after Christ, was a place where people who had just learnt about him could come together as a community and then share the miracle of his life and the principles he taught with others. To be quite blunt, it was designed for non Christians. It is not a place for the so-called ‘holy and perfect’ people to sit together and condemn those on the outside. It is a place of relationship, healing, restoration and transformation.
You can never know the power of the church, as an institution or community, without connecting personally with the one who is the reason for its birth. This is a decision that only you can make for yourself because it is a matter of faith, especially in the core message of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
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