Church- What it Ain’t

I may not know what love is, but I know what it ain’t

One of Josh Turner‘s earliest songs, along with “Long Black Train”, was a song titled, “What It Ain’t“.  The lyrics to the song talk about a man who has been surprised by the actions of his girl who “loved” him. His response to her is that he may not know what love is, but what she is doing to him, ain’t love (with all apologies to my English teachers past, I know, ain’t ain’t a word… but it gets the point across). Here are the lyrics

I might not know what love is But I know what it ain’t

It ain’t layin’ in the dark and wonderin’ why she hasn’t called And now it’s 2 am
It ain’t driving by her house to find her wrapped up in the arms of you ex-best friend
It ain’t bold face lies or alibis that cannot be explained
I might not know what love is But I know what it ain’t

You say you could Show me how to love
Baby there’s one thing  You can be sure of
I wouldn’t treat you wrong cause I’ve been on The hurting side of pain
I might not know what love is but I know what it aint

It ain’t showing up for dinner with a rose and chardonnay, Then drinkin’ by yourself
It ain’t a postcard from Hawaii sayin’ we can still be friends, But I met someone else
It ain’t bold face lies or alibis that cannot be explained,

I might not know what love is But I know what it ain’t

It ain’t a mink coat, forty pairs of shoes, two 14 carat anklets on my Mastercard
It ain’t walkin’ in a pawn shop, recognizing her engagement ring she swore she lost
It ain’t bold face lies or alibis that cannot be explained
I might not know what love is But I know what it ain’t

This poor guy is now sitting on the outside of his, now former,  relationship looking in and recognizing that what he has been told is not what he has experienced. He may not be the perfect mate, he may not understand all there is to know about love, but he knows that this is not it. She has left him for another man, spent his money, lied to him about her engagement ring, all things that do not scream “I love you”.  She said she loved him, but what happened didn’t match up with her words…. you know where I am going with this…. and often that is the case with the church.

There are millions on the outside of the church looking in. They hear about the church, what the church is supposed to be, and amazingly most everyone knows the basics about what the church is supposed to be about- loving God and loving people.  We have to give the world a little credit, they are not ignorant about the church, they know that people that go to church are supposed to be kind, loving, forgiving– much like they picture Jesus being.   And yet are often left disappointed and disillusioned by “what it ain’t”.

The song lyrics point out some obvious things that are not love or loving. You don’t have to be an expert at love to know that running off to Hawaii with someone else is not showing love. You don’t have to a lot about love to know that lying to someone is not showing love.

In the same way, there are some really obvious things that happen in the church that scream to the world that we are not loving and not Christ-like.  Even the most casual observer of the church or even the most casual reader of the Bible can see that there are some things about the church that should be obvious, open and seen clearly.

So in the spirit of “What It Ain’t”— the world may not know all about the Bible, they may not have a personal relationship with Jesus, they may not be able to tell you the difference between Moses and Matthew, but they know “What It Ain’t”…

1) When the church fails to love the least in the world

How clear does the Bible need to make it that God’s people are supposed to take care of the poor and less fortunate. From the Old Testament law to the Gospels to Paul’s epistles– take care of the hungry, the sick, the needy.

Leviticus 19  9 ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.

I John 3  17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

There are many verses that tell us that God sees it as important and necessary that the church, God’s people, show His concern for their fellow man. It’s also obvious to the world. As a pastor, it is interesting to me how someone with no church connection, no mom or dad that goes to the church, no children in Sunday School, can find their way to a church when there is a need.  Why?  Because somehow they know we are the people that are supposed to care, supposed to help them, supposed to show them some love when this world has beat them down.

If I have heard it once, I have heard it a thousand times, “but pastor, they are just taking advantage of us” or something like it. People in the church complaining about having to take care of the needy. When does the Bible say that the world should earn our love or earn our help? Did we earn our salvation?  Do we earn God’s blessings and answers to prayer? So why do we expect the world to earn the blessings of getting a meal or a little food?

We like to quote that verse, “if a person does not work, they should not eat”(2 Thess 3:10), and usually the people that like to quote that verse have good jobs, plenty of money and haven’t missed a meal in their entire life. We’ve worked for our food and shelter, why can’t everybody?  That is not how God sees it. In Leviticus God tells the farmer, don’t harvest all of that crop you’ve worked so hard to grow, leave some of it for those less fortunate. In I John, God tells us that if we have the world’s good we have to use some of it for those in need.

It is unfortunate that in a country that, even in our recession, is amazingly rich, we give so little to the less fortunate. So many churches don’t help feed the poor, in our country or anywhere else. We have in some senses become cynical about helping anyone, believing that “they will  just use it on drugs”, “are lazy”, “don’t deserve it” and you can fill in more excuses you have heard about why we should not or do not help people.

Yet, when we walk into these same churches, they have air conditioning, they have stained glass, they have hundreds of dollars of Sunday School materials laying around not used, spend money on meals for themselves, trips for themselves… and yet it is an inconvenience to care for the needy.  According to God, that ain’t church, that ain’t being His people, that ain’t representing His love to the world.

So when we then invite someone to our church and they scoff at us, we feel persecuted, rejected and wonder why the community does not like us. But be careful, because if you reject the hungry, the needy, the less fortunate, it may not be only the community that does not like you….

Matt 25  41 Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’

That ain’t where I want to be.

2) When the church fights among itself

It has gotten to the point that a church having a fight, firing a pastor, having a split, is just par for the course anymore. No one seems surprised when the church down the street becomes the church down the street and across town. When First Baptist becomes First Baptist and Second Baptist. When the church becomes known for fighting over everything, and no one seems to believe that there is something wrong, then something is wrong. The world knows that we are supposed to be a people of love, and fighting ain’t a part of love, splitting ain’t a part of love, accusing and gossiping ain’t a part of love.

When someone in the church says with a smile, “nothing like a good church fight”- well let’s just say it is no wonder the world looks at us and shrugs its shoulders. Again, the Bible tells us over and over again that there should be unity, there should be no division, that there should be no grumbling or complaining, that love for one another is the proof that we are Jesus’ disciples… and we look surprised when someone doesn’t believe that being a Christian and going to church means anything.  They see fighting in their homes, at the bar, in their workplaces, they experience road rage, they see name calling and back stabbing on TV, so why should they want to go to church to “worship a God of love and peace” if they are going to get more of the same there?  Who wants to get up early on Sunday morning to experience more conflict and more hatred and more name calling and more rejection?  I can sleep in and get all of that I want in the world.

Church ain’t a place for being mean and hateful, it is a place of reconciliation and forgiveness. How are we supposed to offer forgiveness to the rest of the world, if we won’t forgive one another?  How can we reconcile the world to Christ like we are supposed to if we cannot live in peace with our fellow Christians….

2 Cor 5  18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

Some of our older generations have grown up in stable families, families that stuck together even when there was fighting, abuse, neglect, when momma didn’t love daddy. Those families stayed together because that is what you did. Today’s younger generations don’t have that, they are growing up in a world of divorce, of momma calling the police if daddy hits her, their families don’t stay together. They equate fighting and discord with pain, separation and rejection.

So when they see the church fighting amongst itself, well let’s just say, it ain’t what they are looking for nor what they need. It is little wonder some of these young people and young families, when they finally come to the church, walk right back out when they hear about the first church fight, when they take on a position of leadership and get criticized to death.  They need peace. They need to be loved. They need some place that offers them hope in a world rife with pain and division.

I was at a church years ago, we had been working with this teenager about coming to Christ. For months he had visited off and on, our youth leader would pick him up and take him home. Often he would talk about his home situation. His mom, twice divorced, had her boyfriend living with them. They would scream, yell, insult and hit one another frequently. This young man finally comes to Christ, embraces the love of God…. until one night. He is waiting for the youth leader to get done cleaning up his room and he is sitting across from the office, when two church leaders (not just members, but a deacon and a sunday school leader) start bickering over how some money (about $75) was spent. The argument escalates and becomes personal. Yelling, screaming, accusations, insults…. just like he saw at home.  He walked out the door and walked home, never to return. We tried to get him to come back, but in his own words “I don’t need two places where I see that crap, I can hang out with my friends and not see that stuff ever again”.  He knew what it ain’t and watching two bickering church people ain’t what it is about. I believe that soul was worth more that $75.

That ain’t church.