Invitation.

I had a conversation with one of my favorite people today. I’d call her one of my best friends, and that’s true enough, but really, it’s SO much more than that. There are only a couple of gals I feel close enough to share my very soul with, and she is one of them. She said something that really stuck in my head. We were talking about an upcoming party, and she said, “I think sometimes people just need to know they’re invited, and they’ll show up…”

Interesting. It immediately made me think of all the impressions I’ve been given by those calling themselves followers of Him. It also made me think of the times I’ve been judgmental, myself.

So, Body of Christ, are you “inviting” or excluding others to His table?

When we tear one another down, for whatever reason we try to justify doing so, are we inviting them?

When we tell someone they are not “believing” right, (which always means they’re not believing like us…) is that inviting or excluding others?

When we tell someone they are not affiliated with the “correct” political party, (even though the world is much bigger than America…..) are we inviting or excluding people?

What about when someone hates us, and we hate them back in return…….inviting?

What if we exclude somebody for how they dress....is this inviting?

When we exclude someone from His church because of where they live……inviting?

But what if they just don’t “get it”….they keep sinning over and over and over again…..shouldn’t we cast them aside?

What if their skin isn’t the right color?

What if they hurt us? In ways that are irreconcilable? Shouldn’t they be disinvited?

What if they aren’t American? What if they’re a terrorist? Surely they’re not invited to His table, right??

What if they’re too “liberal” or the opposite, too “conservative”? (These terms always crack me up….nobody can truly define them. It’s different for each person.)

What if they are homeless…or the direct opposite, they own too many homes?

What if they’re homosexual?

What if they are immigrants???

What if they don’t speak English, the “chosen” language??

Is anybody picking up on the sarcasm??

How DARE we, for any reason, have the audacity to exclude any person from His OPEN invitation?????!!!!!?!?!?

Church, we have to stop the hatred. We SAY “love one another”…but we do NOT, as a whole, live this way. Don’t believe me? Read the news. Or better yet, talk to somebody who isn’t part of a church, and they’ll tell you. There is a reason we are known more for what we hate rather than His life-giving, comforting, encouraging, L O V E.

His invitation, regardless of what anybody says, is for everyone. E V E R Y O N E.

If they have breath, if they are human, He invites them.

But the question is…….are WE inviting them?? Because we aren’t required to “get it all together” and THEN come to His table. We are to simply come. Dear reader, there is always hope. We can change this. It all starts with one word: L O V E.

So, are you known for excluding those who are made in His very image?

Or are you known for sending out an invitation to the table that He, Himself, has set?