by Pastor Mark Chin

How often do we consider the connection between our care for new visitors at church and our holiness? In Leviticus 19:1-2, the LORD speaks to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” What follows are the LORD’s detailed commands and instructions for how the people of Israel are to “be holy” like the LORD who created and saved them. It is worth noting that the commands that follow are addressed to the entirety of the congregation or assembly. Holiness here refers not merely being separate from sin but being chosen by the LORD, being like the LORD in all our ways, and being entirely devoted to the LORD with the entirety of our heart, soul, and resources. It is a requisite given by God not simply for the priests or the elders – but for the entirety of the congregation – for the entirety of life. As we come to Leviticus 19:33-34 – we see that God’s standard of holiness includes caring for the stranger among us in the same way that He has loved and cared for His people. “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”

The temptation we all experience every Sunday is to spend the majority of our free church time with our friends. The temptation is to assume that caring for new visitors or strangers is the job of the elders or the Welcome Team. Isn’t that why churches have a Welcome Team? We’ve just spent the week slugging it out at work in a fallen world with fallen co-workers or family members. Sunday is the one day of the week we get a chance to fellowship with believing friends – to enjoy their company and their presence – to catch up on everything we’ve missed in their lives. In truth, this is one of the sweet blessings of life in our Father’s house. However – if the summation of our Sunday is spending time with or serving friends who are just like us – then we’ve fallen well short of God’s standard of holiness, His Gospel, and the way He has loved and cared for us. If we were to take a video or a series of photos of our fellowship Sunday morning, what story would the video or photos tell? Would the video or photos show collections of people who look similar – marrieds with marrieds, parents with parents, collegians with collegians, Asians with Asians, etc… – spending time with one another like any other social club?

The good news of the gospel is that God sent His only Son to live with and die for people who were nothing like Him – for strangers. If our only hope for love and care and time with the Lord was based on our similarities to Him – in spirituality, ethnicity, life-stage, compatibility (whatever that means), common interests – where would we be? As we consider the twelve disciples whom Jesus chose to love and shepherd, we see people who could not be more unlike our Lord and Savior. This, of course, should give each one of us great hope. As we consider our great salvation, we are reminded that Jesus died for us so that we would no longer live for ourselves, but so that we might live for Him – like Him. In fact, the test of true faith, is a life that looks like Christ in every way on every day, including Sundays. As the Apostle Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I know live, I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20).

Indeed, as Jesus pointed out in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the test of true God-like love for a neighbor is not a profession of faith or Bible knowledge or position in the church or even a passing greeting. It is the ongoing love and care for the needs of those who are our enemies. One of the saddest confessions that I have heard repeatedly is from church attendees who share that after being at a church for two to three months, they are still greeted like a new visitor. It’s not hard to tell whether the person greeting you really cares for you or whether they are saying “hi” or “welcome” because it’s the right thing to do. As the parable of the Good Samaritan points out, loving a neighbor goes well beyond saying “hi” or “welcome” to a new visitor. It is the sacrificial love that takes time from a busy schedule to learn the neighbor’s needs, to provide for the neighbor’s needs, and to make sure the neighbor and stranger is cared for until he or she is in a safe place and is restored to good health. It is an expression of God’s heart of gospel compassion. Jesus’ standard of care for strangers is a convicting one. We must ask ourselves: is this our standard? If this is the standard of true love and faith, how many of us would be considered Christians? As Sunday approaches, it is worth reading through Luke 10 and spending time in prayer with the Lord, repenting over how far we fall short of His Gospel love and compassion, praying for the strangers who He brings each Sunday to His church, and preparing our hearts by faith to love the stranger among us – even as He has loved us. Caring for strangers is the privilege of every saint, not just the Welcome Team. It is our joy to love strangers in the same way Christ has loved us. It is a testimony to the holiness of the God who has created us and saved us for His glory.