Gideon's 300.

On November 1st Pastor Sam began his sermon with a wonderful truth: sometimes, the majority is wrong.

In the context of church life, we risk becoming enamored with things that satisfy our senses: seeing the pews full of people, experiencing a working system of finance and administration, and assuming that the mission is successful because the pews are full and there's money in the bank.

Guess what? That's a big mistake.

The markers that matter are not outside of us, they are inside of us. Pastor Sam spoke on three points that Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene must embrace in order to move forward:

-Our attendance in church must be an expression of our love for God. We are not just showing up to warm the pews: we are avoiding idolatry of men and systems; we are loving honestly and without treachery; we are not insulting God by attempting to bind Him into a particular format or timetable.

-Our faith community demonstrates its love for God through loving our neighbors. Ah, remember the question that preceded the parable "The Good Samaritan": "And who is my neighbor?" The one least like you, the one you'd cross the street to avoid, the one in your path who is on the verge of death. To quote Pastor Sam, "growing together is a must in order for the vision to be realized"... and we cannot grow together until we are together.

-There is a difference between servanthood and servitude. This is particularly important: the majority of our church attendees come from a cultural context where slavery was a part of our ancestry, and it may be a challenge to view service to others as a type of spiritual grace that God can use to save souls. But that is exactly what we must do. We must, as Pastor Sam has said, "get into the basin and towel business". If Jesus could wash Judas's feet on the night of His betrayal, what can we do but follow His lead?

Remember Gideon (Judges chapter 7)? He started out with an army of 32,000 men. And what did God say? If I may paraphrase: "Gideon, there's too many men here. Get rid of the ones with the wrong attitude towards war." So the men who were scared, 22,000, were sent home. Another 9,700 were sent home for demonstrating unpreparedness for war: they got down on their knees to drink water, exposing their status as vulnerable and not ready to maintain the upper hand in a fight.

What am I saying? I am saying, Bronx Bethany, that Pastor Sam has tagged three things that God is interested in- and it's not your money, your music, or your mastery of church tradition. Our mandate is to love God, to grow together, and to serve the world. If you are not on board with that, then you're not on our team. Please understand I love you and I say that in love. We're in a war for souls, and we don't need wrong attitudes nor unprepared hearts on the battlefield.

God, Gideon showed up with 32,000 men, and You took less than one percent of the group. Some of us are hearing You: please count us among Your "300"!