The Church and the Nudist Colony

This past weekend Church of the Suncoast had a booth at a local Buisness Expo. There were hundreds of vendors all with bright and colorful displays trying to market their buisness or service. As I sat up our stuff and took a step back to look over the layout I glanced over to the booth right next to me and it was for one of our 5 or 6 local nudist colonies here in Land O' Lakes! I had to laugh. Out of all the hundreds of booths set up over this entire campus they were able to put us right next to each other. We were the talk of the expo. "Hey, did you see that they put the church right next to the nudist... how funny." While it was funny it also broke my heart because their were many people that thought we would be rude to them, or that they would not be welcome at the Suncoast. They were shocked to learn that they would be more than welcome at our church [as long as they were dressed :-) ] I even had one lady that I am assuming was a believer come up to me and say, "Can you believe they put you next to them..." It was just another confirmation that the church in America has failed in the last 30 years. Imagine if Jesus were walking the streets of our towns today. Where do you think he would be. At the high church with its ivory tower or talking with the local nudists about hope, and purpose, and meaning, and his love. That is why I am so excited about what God is about to do here at Church of the Suncoast. We get to break down walls. Break down what people think church is all about. We get to be Jesus to a community that is lost and in need of the Good News presented in a relevant, creative, and compelling way. What a ride!