Welcome Message

Stumbled on this blog post today, and I wanted to include it here.  I did not write these words, but they speak to me.  What follows (in colored italic font) are the thoughts of Jon Acuff on his blog "Stuff Christians Like:"

#1254.  I wish every church said what this church says in their bulletin …
July 25, 2012 in serious wednesdays with 808 Comments

So what does a great welcome message look like? What does an awesome welcome message look like?

It looks exactly like what “Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Community” has in their church [bulletin].

My friend attended there recently, and I got a copy of what they hand out. I posted a photo of it below so you could see what it looks like, but the image got cut off so here’s what it says:

We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay, filthy rich, dirt poor, yo no habla Ingles. We extend a special welcome to those who are crying new-borns, skinny as a rail or could afford to lose a few pounds.

We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or like our pastor who can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if you’re “just browsing,” just woke up or just got out of jail. We don’t care if you’re more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in church since little Joey’s Baptism.

We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast. We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, junk-food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome you if you’re having problems or you’re down in the dumps or if you don’t like “organized religion,” we’ve been there too.

If you blew all your offering money at the dog track, you’re welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who think the earth is flat, work too hard, don’t work, can’t spell, or because grandma is in town and wanted to go to church.

We welcome those who are inked, pierced or both. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down your throat as a kid or got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake. We welcome tourists, seekers and doubters, bleeding hearts … and you!

Bravo to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Community! That should be made into a poster and hung in church offices around the world.

I love the thought that a few members of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Community getting together and saying, “Let’s invite everyone to come meet Jesus!” And then they started writing their list.

And it got long. Why?

Because everyone needs Jesus.

Everyone changes when they meet Jesus.And they wanted to make sure everyone knew they were invited to meet him.
 


What is it that melts my heart when I read this?  For me, it cuts to the core of Jesus' life and mission.  Grace and mercy.  Mercy and grace.  When I think of how tender He has been with me--and my sin--and my sins--I can't imagine why anyone would reject His love.  Except that maybe someone has misrepresented the truth and warped the gospel so that it is much less than Good News.

Could that someone have been me?  The question.

Oh, I hope not.  I want my life to be a Welcome Message.