Who May Come?

I had a great time this morning with a dear Christian brother from Hillcrest over superiorly large pancakes (that still managed to leave me hungry before 11...). One of the many topics of our conversation was this: what is the bar to entry at our (or any) church?

Let's put it this way: Would a homosexual (with partner in tow) be "accepted" at Hillcrest? What do I mean by accepted? Welcomed in. Encouraged to believe the gospel. Asked back. Sincerely. Would a known area prostitute or a purveyor of pornography be welcomed, encouraged to believe and asked back?

Does a homosexual or a prostitute or a pornographer have to repent before he can hear the gospel? Here is a great test of where our heart is: suppose you came upon someone in an airport lounge. You strike up a conversation. Come to find out, they are a (enter some socially unacceptable sin here). Is it more important that they see their particular manifestation of depravity as something from which they need to repent of specifically, or is it more important that they encounter Christ? While these need not be mutually exclusive (and any encounter with Christ will, even if eventually, entail these particular sins), which is of priority? Is it possible to be a practicing homosexual (for instance) and be converted to Christ without (at that precise moment) not forsaking that particular sin?

Friends, this is the magnificence of the Gospel. Who may come? Anyone. A practicing homosexual? Yes. A flagrant prostitute? Yes. A middle-aged white guy who seems to have it all together? You bet. Even if he purveys porn? Of course. At the cross, no sin is more heinous than another, no sin so egregious to God that it is unable to be dealt with. The sin unto death is unbelief: the abject refusal to come. But again, here is the magnificence: it is Christ who deals with our sin on the cross, not we who must somehow lay it down of our own power so as to make ourselves meet to come in the first place!

We must have such faith in Christ that we are thoroughly convinced that he can and will transform any and all by the power of his gospel and that such transformation will take place through the proclamation of his gospel that we invite any and all to come.