Why we are for people? Because God in Christ is for us.
For a long time, and sometimes still today, the church was/is known by what it was/is against.
This isn't always a bad thing.
In every age the Church has taken Jesus and his way seriously; the Church has been against things like untruth, injustice, and evil.
But those kinds of lists are really only there because of what the Church is for. We are for justice and mercy, truth and reality, goodness and beauty--all realities derived from the character of God and announced as available in the Gospel.
The trouble is when the against list loses its anchor in the for list.
That's when you get lists designed to keep the lines clear, not foster love. "We're against movies, we're against dancing (I have a funny story about square dancing in gym in Junior High), we're against cards"; just some of the things engrained in me as a boy.
To love is to be for. And you can be for someone even if you are against a current action or preference or behavior. Every parent knows this. In fact, good parenting requires this!
We want to be a church that is for people, all people. Here's 3 things I mean as your pastor when I say that.
#1 We're for your future.
It's a redemptive line to say this: We don't care where you've been, but we'd love to help you with where you're going. We are saying that what happened in your past doesn't have to define your future. This is what redemption means!
#2 We are for you working through your past.
Everybody (me, you, the mayor, the garbage man, the CEO, your group leader, your favorite Aunt, the guy serving a life sentence) has a past.
Stuff happened to them and hurt them.
They did stuff they wish they hadn't.
The past can be an anchor dragging a person down. To be for someone is to be for the healing of their past. The word for salvation is translated in the New Testament as both "salvation" and "healing." To be for someone is to be for their healing, which means being aware they are hurting.
#3 We are for your life working.
Life works when there is love in it. Life doesn't work when the love dries up or goes away or becomes hard to find. To be for someone is to be for the relationships they have, the love they give and receive, and for them knowing they matter. It's so healing to someone to say, "You matter to me." Try it.
Why we are for people? Because God in Christ is for us.
I’m for you!
Scott