People come to the church and to me with quite a variety of requests. Most are people showing up at the door, but other times it is members. People ask for personal loans, and for money to pay their bills, to buy the gas they need to get to that job that’s awaiting them in the next town, or for other reasons.
Some want me to refer church members for financial or real estate services they offer. I remember one man who suggested the church sell plaques on which he attached his original poems: “Who knows? Maybe God wants me to be rich." Another poet suggested we publish pamphlets of his poems to sell as a fund raising project.
From time to time I receive phone calls from strangers asking a question about some obscure issue they think is related to religion. Sometimes they call to pick an argument: “Is God omnipotent?” “Yes.” “Yeah, well, then what about Hitler? Why didn’t God stop Hitler?”
Occasionally, a request comes for a specific religious “product” or service: “I’m looking for a church to baptize my child,” or “I’m getting married in a few weeks and I am looking for a minister to do it and a church to have it in.” When I suggest that these kinds of events emerge from the life of the faith community and that we do such things for church members, I hear, “Well, what do I have to do to become a member?”
More often than not, what people seem to want from a church has little to do with what the church exists to offer: a relationship with God, the Creator of heaven and earth; opportunities for spiritual growth through participation in a worshipping fellowship of believers; a community of people with whom to share a spiritual journey grounded in prayer, study, and reaching out to others; and, an outlet for expressing the love of Christ each of us receives in our lives, with generosity and service through faithful stewardship of our money, abilities, and time.
Maybe the problem is people don’t really know why the church exists.