for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me --Matthew 25:35 NRSV
Last week I read about an interesting court case involving a church and Christian hospitality. A church in Florida. Pass-a-Grille Beach Community Church, in St. Pete Beach near St. Petersburg, has been fined by its small city for allowing beachgoers to park in its parking lot. The church sits two blocks away from a beautiful Gulf Coast beach, and in busy times the municipal pay-to-park lot is full. Several years ago, the church began allowing beachgoers to park in its lot and set up a box where people parking could make a donation. A sign clearly states the donations are voluntary and all proceeds go to the church’s annual youth mission trip. Often, church members, especially members of the youth group, hand out information about the church and their annual mission trip. They even pray with people on occasion. The city fined the church $500 per incident arguing it violated zoning laws (left unsaid was also the possibility the city might lose out on revenue).
Although the case is still going to trial, a federal judge issued an injunction allowing the church to continue to allow beachgoers to park in its lot. The judge agreed with the church’s argument that it was exercising two core values: stewardship and hospitality. The church was using its resources--its building and property--to share about the church and its beliefs. Also, it was welcoming strangers as a part of its Christian faith--the church cited Bible verses such as Matthew 25:35 “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” The judge disagreed with the city’s argument that the church was “not sincere in its religious beliefs and practices.”
I realize that the last sentence has a particular legal context, but I am struck by the language about sincerity. I have been a part of church fundraisers that were “sincere” efforts to share Christian love and hospitality, but I have also been a part of ones that were simply money grabs to help a church make money and close a budget deficit. I’m here to tell you there is a big difference between the two.
For me, it begs the question if a church was taken to court over a conflict with neighbors or local zoning ordinances, etc. would its actions be justifiable as a “sincere” part of its religious values and mission? I’m less interested in the legal arguments than I am whether or not a church is actually operating out of a sincere desire to care for “even the least of these” with the understanding that when it does so, it is actually demonstrating love for Christ as Matthew 25 teaches. Would a judge find my church or any other given church “sincere”?
If a church is only a club or community group, then its actions, however good, differ little from other groups doing good things in the community. But a church, if it acts like a church, does its good out of a conviction that its hospitality and stewardship are not only commanded by God but that when they are carried out it serves others in Jesus’ name. When a church does so, it is actually serving Jesus Christ himself.
I would argue that sincerely acting like a church means a church should be actually doing more for its community than the many other non-profit church groups, as good as their work may be. If a church really believed it was serving Jesus Christ himself, wouldn’t that mean its passion, its generosity and its hospitality were the greatest in the community? Sadly, we know this is rarely the case in most churches.
Perhaps it is worth contemplating what would a church's service, stewardship and hospitality have to look like for it to be judged “sincere.”
Grace and Peace,
Chase
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