It does not matter where you are or what you are doing, God can still speak to you and bring certain things to light. Revelation can come anytime and any where as long as you are careful to watch and listen. I am not saying be judgmental but be quick to see and hear what the spirit is saying and doing.
One day I attended a funeral service for a friend’s mother. As I sat alone at the back of the chapel, for several minutes, I realized that everything was in Spanish.
I am sure that the carefully selected verses, songs, odes and expressions adequately conveyed both the grief for a loved one lost, and the joy for a life well lived. Something about the emotions expressed through them gripped my heart yet I had no understanding of their content.
I yearned to know what they were saying. After a while, a friend who spoke both languages, came and sat by me to interpret what was being said.
Suddenly a thought came to me. This is just like someone coming to our churches. We expect them to know what we are saying or doing. We assume they are schooled in our ways so they will just fit in.
The truth is, they do not understand what we are saying or doing. It is their first visit and they are often shy to ask for help. In their attempt to fit in they pretend to know what we are saying by nodding their heads and amening our cliches and religious chants. Courteously clapping at the appropriate moments. However, often if not always, they leave our sanctuaries confused with no intentions of coming back.
What is the principle here?
I can mask my ignorance by pretending to understand or I can ask for help. Unfortunately who is there to be asked. Who is there to help. Everyone is busy talking to someone that they know. They have already assumed I know what they are talking about.
We sit in our cliques amongst our friends and never welcome someone new into our building. Not only do we not greet them but we never sit next to them. As if that is not bad at all we even justify why we can not sit next to them, they do not look like us, they are not part of the family, besides they smell funny.
Can I be a part of your church?
Will you sit next to me just in case I have a question? Will you greet me or at least smile when I walk in to your church?
