"Welcome"

When I asked my friend, the cowboy,

If he’d come to church with me,

He looked me squarely in the eye,

Said here’s my answer, see.

Said he knew the Lord all right,

And glad I asked him in,

But the reason that he wouldn’t go,

Was he’d already been.

Said they didn’t like his stetson,

Or the buckle on his belt,

Or the red wild rag around his neck,

Least that’s the way he felt.

Said they set him in a corner,

Where they could watch him close,

And the fellers who controlled things,

Well, they kept track the most.

He’d been to church while growing up,

And all part of his roots,

Dropped out and then when he came back,

Had manure on his boots.

I said I understood him,

But now some things had changed,

And now we have a cowboy church,

Folks come right off the range.

We got some down home music,

And gospel preachin’, too,

And everybody’s welcome,

And that would include you.

He stopped and thought about it,

Said he would let me know,

I wondered ‘bout those like him,

And the churches they don’t go.

Lord, help us welcome everyone,

The ones You died to save,

Give them the same welcome,

That to us You gave.

“Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you…” (Romans 15:7, NLT)

We can be very particular about those we like or don’t like, the ones we welcome or shun. As a young pastor of a church struggling to stay open, we were desperate for new members. If anyone came who looked successful, people always suggested that I contact them and make them feel welcome. The same was not true of those who were clearly troubled, distressed, poor or addicted. Problem was, we didn’t attract too many “normal” people, and even those who looked normal still proved to have problems, too. We must guard against exclusivity when it comes to the Good News of Jesus. If Jesus died for all, and we believe He did, then all should be welcomed. And we should be proactively seeking to bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Connecting with people where they are in order to take them where they need to be was the specialty of Jesus’ ministry. It should be ours, too.

Lord, help us welcome all You died to save, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Keith Batcheller, used by permission. Thanks, Keith, and God bless you.