"members only."

An open door policy means the door opens both ways.

Shikamoo.

Here’s a post I came by earlier today.

But we are ready for this conversation. So now that you've mentioned it, let's talk about it. And I want us to go straight to the primary source - the actual main character, as it were.

You have a massive crowd. They've been listening to you talk all day. They're famished.

You know what you DON'T do? You don't first count to see who is really committed. Instead, you perform a miracle: Free lunch for everyone. Out of a few tilapia and a couple of packs of Supaloaf.

Food for EVERYONE.

And only after that do you hit them with the heavy stuff. Guess what happens after that?

John 6:64-66: "For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him... From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him."

You know what he did? He fed them, knowing they'd leave.

You know what he didn't do? Bitch and moan and act all self-righteous.

That is the point: You're not in the space of being a Christian - and actual one - if you're in it for the audience and applause. As thankless jobs go, being his follower is one the most thankless. Even main character himself, Yesu mwenyewe, warned about it in both word and action. Genuine Christianity and main character syndrome are as diametrically opposed in both philosophy and intent as could possibly be.

Let's land this plane: The original post - screenshot attached - implies a transaction: We give you sanctuary, you give us your attention.

But the model of Jesus is not a transaction; it is a demonstration.

Takeout 1: Service IS the sermon. Sometimes, the loudest, most powerful sermon is the very silent act of an open door in a crisis. A hot meal. A safe place to stand. That act preaches a gospel of unconditional love far more effectively than 1000 colourful speaking-in-tongues.

Takeout 2: Stop keeping score. And I think this is the tough one. The job is not to audit the motives of the people in need walking through the door. The job is to keep the door open to the people in need, whatever form that need takes. Jesus didn’t just serve the people who he knew would stick around. He washed Judas’s feet. He healed the 10 lepers, knowing only one would come back to say thanks. The job means accepting that service is an offering to God, not a contract with the world.

It's in the same spirit that he said, "Let the children come to me."

It's not a members-only club with pre-qualifications.

Open door policy, and that door is open both ways.

But hey, that's how I read it. I am, after all, not an ordained pastor, but a mere human.