If you’re been following the story of Crossroads Church, you’re familiar with our vision to be the church for the portion of our population that has forsaken all things “church.” These are people who would be out of place in a “normal” church — even one as dynamic and open as some truly are. We connect with these people through our relationships at work, school — any place where we have an opportunity to have influence with another person just by “being there.” Ultimately, we seek to build relationships with people that will(hopefully) show them the way to Christ — but that don’t depend upon their accepting or rejecting Christ. Sound confusing? In a nutshell, if our new friends reject Christ, that’s okay — just as long as they don’t reject US in the process. If we’re not rejected, we’ll have another chance to show Christ to them in the future. To prevent the tragedy of losing such a relationship, we need to understand what genuine love and acceptance looks like. A key point in this is realizing that before God wants people to be good, He wants them to be SAVED. After all, good fruit cannot be produced by the old nature. In other words, don’t condemn the actions unless you’re committed to healing the heart. But perhaps most importantly, we’re seeking ways to understand how pure, undefiled love can be promoted in all our relationships — not just those within the Church.

I have a friend at work — call him Donald (not his real name). Donald is older than me, a little rude and crude around his co-workers, keeps to himself most of the time. He was baptized as an adult, but doesn’t go to church anywhere. He struggles with the usual “man” issues (if you’re a man, you know what I’m talking about), and generally feels that God is distant and un-connected with his daily life. However, I like Donald. And he’s been opening up to me about some of his doubts and struggles — the kinds of things that true friends talk to each other about.

Donald shared with me the other day about why he doesn’t go to church. It isn’t that he doesn’t like the idea of worshipping God, it is just that he feels like an outsider. The people in church do things that matter to them, but not to Donald. He doesn’t care for singing songs, hearing about social events, and ESPECIALLY can’t stand the boring sermons. But most of all (and here is the kicker), he doesn’t feel good enough to be comfortable in a room full of Christians. He’s been hurt in the past, been offered advice from the Bible that didn’t really apply to him, and he’s been held at arm’s length by other Christians and labeled as “needy” and “difficult.”

Donald understand that I am a Christian. More than that, Donald understands that I am a pastor helping to lead a group of people we call Crossroads Church. He asked me some very direct questions; such as, “Do you believe that the Bible is 100% true?” and “Isn’t God basically the same for all the world’s religions?” Also, he wrestles with God’s basic nature — like, “How can God allow terrible things to happen to good people?” These are questions for which Donald hasn’t received satisfactory answers in his encounters with “church.” And I’m not sure that the few times we’ve had to talk about stuff like this has made much of a difference (yet). But he has shown interest in Crossroads’ style of meeting together. He likes the idea of meeting in homes where you have a better chance of actually talking with people about important stuff. He also likes the idea of having a church where ministry takes place in the “real world” — because that’s where he is. He might not ever be one of those who seeks out ministry, such as actively attending a more traditional church. But he’s open to meeting in my home. And that, my friends, is our mission at Crossroads Church.