Squirrels in church

Do you know this song?  Mississippi Squirrel

Okay go watch, laugh, wipe your eyes and come back.

Did you laugh so hard you missed the message?

Sister Bertha Betterthanyou had quite the revelation!  Didn't she?  I think we need more squirrels in church!

And in our faith families!

This fellow goes to church, in my in-laws yard, for one reason only. To be fed.

Why do we go to church?   What are we hungry for?  For the social aspects maybe. For the after service potluck, sure.  For the music. To be seen being in church.   But are you being fed?

Fed the Word of God. The message of sacrifice, of love, of redemption.  To hear again how to be saved. To hear again about how to bring others to know Jesus.

And who is doing your feeding?  Are you still on milk  and being forced to try and chew a theological steak?  Or are you slowly starving on a soup of ketchup and water when you need more?

We are blessed to have an online church (Save The Cowboy) with a Pastor who cares for a very widely scattered flock. He speaks to us God's word in language we understand. In cultural context to who we are.  It isn't for everyone, but it is for us!

When we talk of faith and church in our families are we accepting of where those we love are being fed or do we judge their choices because they are not our own?  Jesus sent His followers out to the world, to meet the world where it was at and bring people to salvation.

So what does this have to do with squirrels in church?  Simple! We need to keep things alive! Stir things up!  Bring in someone new (a squirrel!) and let them loose.  With questions, with ideas, with needs and dreams.  What would happen in your pews and up at the pulpit?

Recently there was a story going around about a new pastor showing up at his new church in disguise as a homeless man to see how they respond to someone new, and very different in the pews.  I would love to see this happen for real.  At your church.  At mine!

What if the squirrel in church was a wounded army widow?  Or an abused spouse?  Perhaps a single pregnant girl or a gay member of your congregation recently 'come out of the closet'?  What if it is is your pastor, struggling with personal issues alone?  Or you...

I know of a church that recently had their pastor removed.  Not the whole congregation, just a few people who didn't agree with their Pastor.  Not on faith issues, or teachings but on personality, and unresolved personal issues.  There was no offer or chance of reconciliation.  Just an anonymous set of complaints.  And the pastor is gone.  Sadly, that church killed their squirrel and will probably do the same with the next one.  Why?  Because they were thinking like a fraternity rather than a faith community.  A club more than a family.

Don't be afraid of squirrels in church! Bring a few with you.  They might just wake things up!