A Spy in the Church

The apostle Paul demonstrated a passion for winning souls into the Kingdom of God. And, he was devoted to building bridges with other people, to learn to appreciate their world, to find commonality, so that it would increase the platform for the gospel. He is what he wrote in 1st Corinthians 9:
19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more;
20 and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law;
21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law;
22 to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

If we are devoted to winning people to Christ, in order to fulfill His Great Commission, then we can recognize God's Spirit with us.  He will partner with us to empower us to know what to say and when to say it.  Paul used the phrase in verse 22 "by all means."  That means that we keep the goal in mind and the message clear and pure, but within the context of relationship, we can find opportunities to demonstrate the love of Jesus.

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We get a vivid snapshot on the compassionate, miraculous ministry of Jesus in a passage from Matthew 9:
35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
In a storefront a few Sundays ago, a local official went undercover into a church service.  He was a code enforcement officer, and he reported the following occurrences:

I walked back to the Coffee Bar and was able to visualize, in my opinion what appeared to be a ministry in progress
There was the following going on inside the Coffee Bar
Someone speaking from a podium.
A overhead TV or projection with scripture verse on it.
Rows of people sitting in chairs on both sides like a gathering setting.
People holding what appeared to be bibles or religious books as one had a cross on it.

The officer wrote that he was able to capture on his city phone a video which will be attached to a case file for future court presentation.   You know what that means?  They may be dragged into court before the civil authorities!

The report continued;

I was approached by an unknown man with a cross around his neck, as I moved away from the front door and started to walk away. The man in my opinion appeared to be a minister, who asked me to, join his services, and that I was, welcome to enter. I asked him if it was a church gathering or a coffee shop and he replied, both but on Sundays there are two services and to, come back at 11:00 

The following Sunday, a city official came and gave the church one week to stop meeting at the premises.

The language in the initial report is mildly amusing and certainly troubling.  It's as if this official really had not been to a church service - ever.  He was able to recognize "ministry in progress."  Well, this is certainly the type of incident that you might think you would hear about in a socialist regime, or a nation with very little Christian presence.

So, what did this church do wrong?  Back to the original report from the undercover invesigator:

I inspected the property and found the following violations:
Business rental property found without a current City of Lake Worth Business license, specifically to operate as a church, or a house of Worship. Pictures and a video were taken,

Operating a church without a license!  Where is Lake Worth, by the way?  That would be in Florida - in the United States of America!  It's on the state's east coast, south of West Palm Beach.  Seems like the city is forcing all churches to acquire business licenses - available for a fee.

Todd Starnes of Fox News reported on the story, and he linked to the report, as it was posted by Liberty University.   The story quotes Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, who is representing the church, called Common Ground Church.  He stated: "Government employees are public servants and prohibited by the Constitution from inhibiting religious freedom," adding, "That is a far cry from sneaking around and into a church and acting like KGB agents."

Staver is calling on city leaders to immediately rescind the business license mandate on churches.

Staver said the city’s actions violate the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Florida Constitution, the Florida Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the federal Religious Land Uses and Institutionalized Persons Act.  In a letter to the city, he wrote: "Churches are not businesses and need not obtain such licenses."

Of course, this is a story that illustrates some of hostile attitudes toward Christians and lack of understanding of the ministry and purpose of the church.  While we are all called to obey the law, when our freedom to worship God in the manner He prescribes is being limited, then it is appropriate to petition those civil authorities.   The Alabama Policy Institute and Alabama Citizens Action Program did that in the case of so-called same-sex marriage recently, and the state Supreme Court granted their request to refuse to allow marriage licenses for gay couples until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the gay marriage issue.   Common Ground Church in Florida is working with Liberty Counsel to appeal this intrusion into what the church sees as its basic freedom to assemble.   As Todd points out, the city sees the church merely as a "business" - I certainly think that shows a real lack of understanding.

But, there is something else that I want you to think about.  You may have people coming into your church that may be strangers to the church experience or you may come in contact with those who do not attend church regularly and have never accepted Jesus as their Savior.  Their statements observing the actions of Christians might sound very much like this city official.  To them, they see what looks like "ministry in progress,"  and people are holding what appear to be Bibles. We can grapple, individually and collectively, with how the church can express the love of Jesus, projecting a welcoming attitude, and drawing people into our worship.  And, I'm not talking about compromising the message to attract people; rather, it's a matter of showing the people with whom we connect who Jesus is.  So, this Sunday, be on the outlook for a spy in your congregation - show them ministry in progress and show them the evidence that Jesus lives in you. And, be sure you show up at the right time - set your clocks forward 1 hour - Daylight Savings Time begins at 2am Sunday.