I heard the story of a church in England who were doing great work in the community, connecting with the real down-and-out people. They were opening their doors for a mid-week service to the street workers and junkies.
PICTURE: Jon Tyson/Unsplash
One lady, let’s call her Sally, starting attending regularly. Through the help of the minister, she was able to re-build her life. Getting off the street, getting off drugs, gettting a job that wasn’t dangerous to her health and building great habits.
After a time, the minister said to her, “Sally, you don’t have to worship only mid-week, God has forgiven you. You are welcome on Sunday.”
Sally replied to the gracious minister, “I know God has forgiven me, but the people in the church on Sunday haven’t.”
Is yours a redemptive community?
Paul Clark’s musings can be heard on radio across Australia and at atthetop.org.au.
