Everybody, Always

shirts, and no discussions about theology or who was right and who was
wrong. It was just a bunch of people bagging passed-over food to give
away to people in the community who probably felt passed over too.
People who are becoming love lose all the labels because they know they
don’t need them.
The night before Jesus died, His prayer for us was that we would be
“one.” He knew what it was like to be “one” with His Father, and He said
He wanted that for us. It was a prayer for unity, not sameness. He knew
the gospel wasn’t a bunch of rules to obey; it was a Person to follow and
be one with. He wanted us to live into the beautiful, unique creations God
made us to be. Simply put, we can be “one” without being each other.
The people in the warehouse that night didn’t see themselves as a
bunch of churches coming together to participate in a program. They
were one church, living out its purpose. I bet if you asked them where
they go to church, they’d point to everybody helping out and tell you they
all go to “our” church. Our church is made of people like you and me
whom Jesus didn’t pass over just because we messed up. He didn’t give
us a membership; He gave us a message. It’s the same message I saw
carried that night by a bunch of people bagging potatoes in Alabama.
They realized if following Jesus didn’t lead them to the poor and the
hungry and the isolated, then they weren’t actually following Jesus.
The story is literally as old as time, but God loved what He created in
the universe so much, He made people to enjoy it. Perhaps we thought
because God made us, we should make something nice for Him in return,
so we built Him a bunch of buildings and started going to them on
Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. I love church buildings. I spend
almost every weekend in one. The problem is, God said He doesn’t dwell
in buildings made by men; instead, we can find Him in the people He
made who want their lives to look like His. Does He use the buildings?
You bet. Does He love it when we gather for worship in them?
Absolutely. Nothing delights Him more. Does He need them? Not for a
minute. He’s got us, we’ve got Him, and He’s given us each other. It’s