As many of you may know many Christian institutions are
rightfully upset that they must adhere to the new laws requiring institutions
to provide coverage for contraception and abortion inducing drugs. (See
Here). Churches are exempt from this
provision but institutions run by churches and Christians are not. A part of the rationale for this is that the
government argues that a church should only operate internally to promulgate
and express religious belief internally.
If a church opens its doors and decides to offer its service to the
public then it is no longer functioning as a church.
According to the government, a church only operates behind
closed doors. Wow, that definition is
radically different from what the founder of the church said. Jesus said that we are called to clothe the
naked, feed the hungry, visit the sick and in prison. When we do these things for the least of
these, we have done it for Him. Jesus
commanded the church to go and make disciples of all nations (not just
geographically but ever people group) It
sure sounds to me that Jesus intended for his church to leave the building and
be the church in the world.
Which definition does your church follow? Does your church follow the definition of the
government, so that everything happens within the four walls? Or does your church follow its founder’s definition,
so that the church is both gathered and scattered? Think about it.
