The Scarf-it-Up Church
In response to some of the
posts on this blog about helping the homeless, a woman named
Beth
sent me the following message on Facebook. It was so encouraging, I
asked her if I could share it with all of you as well. She said yes, so
here is what she wrote:
It’s so refreshing to find out there are more like my family out there!
I was adopted by missionaries in the early 1960′s, and, in the
following decade my Dad became a pastor. His degrees were in
Theology, Philosophy, and Business. My dad was the type of man who would
bring homeless folks home and sit them at our dinner table. As a
teenager, I have to confess it embarrassed me. These folks smelled like
urine, body odor, and booze. At some point, I grew up and realized that
it was not about giving them a meal, he could have bought them a
hamburger. By bringing them home, he gave them their dignity and treated
them like any other guest.
As much as I adored my folks and their love for Christ, as well as
the way they showed their love in how they treated others, especially
those considered unlovable (or invisible) by most…the fact is, their
religion — Pentecostal Holiness — was a huge turn-off and as a result, I
struggled for 20 years over my faith.
In the Pentecostal Holiness church, one almost has to be perfect to
make it to heaven. I wasn’t allowed to have my ears pierced, go to
movies, swim with boys, dance, etc. As an adult, I attended various
non-denominational churches, but so many of them were more about growing
the congregation and offering entertainment choices, then about
teaching folks to have relationships with Christ and each other. None of
them taught how to treat one another.
The political in-fighting, constant
pleas for more offerings, and competition with other churches was all
too much. The clincher was when the pastor of a church I had attended
for six years got in the pulpit and asked everyone to take out a cash
advance on their credit card to buy some latest, greatest gadget the
church just had to have.
Once I stopped attending, the senior pastor sent me a Facebook
message telling me that I could be such a great cheerleader for God if
only I would return to church. This is ironic because of what I did
after I “left” church.
I started a group 5 years ago of friends and strangers called
Scarf it Up. Here are some of the things we have done in the past three months alone:
- We had a yard sale and raised over $3k for a veteran and his family facing foreclosure.
- We bought and installed a water heater for a disabled woman.
- We held a Valentine banquet for 150 homeless folks and gave each one
a rain poncho, coat, and a small ziplock of home baked cookies in
addition to a meal.
- We feed homeless people monthly and are having a cookout planned for April 6th.
- Every December we fill backpacks with socks, scarves, blankets,
granola bars, toiletry kits, etc, and pass them out on December 15th…
this year we distributed 250 kits.
- We are also an emergency resource for our local Salvation Army and
last Thursday they called to ask us if we could help a young mother of
two who was short $275 paying her March rent after an illness put her in
the hospital and out of work. Within an hour we had the money plus $100
extra for groceries. Over the weekend we discovered she had
no furniture. None. So far, we have obtained a sofa, love seat, queen
bed, twin bed & trundle, kitchen table/chairs, dishes, and other
items as well.
But I’m not a cheerleader for God because I don’t “attend” church.
Recently a well-meaning friend told me I needed to get my family in
church. I’m a Realtor by profession, but I also home-school my three
younger sons (two are grown). My 14 year old son and I read the bible
together daily and are currently in the book of Mark. My younger
children and I also read stories from the Bible daily, pray together,
and discuss the kind of people we need to strive to be. All of my
children help in our efforts to help others.
I may not be physically in a church building, but my husband and I
put 10% of our earnings into our “blessings fund” from which we have
helped a family with nine children keep their home when facing
foreclosure, paid $1800 for a family to have a broken axle repaired on
their only vehicle. From this fund, we regularly buy groceries for needy
families, make chicken soup for our sick friends, watch the children so
a deployed soldier’s wife can get a few hours to herself, take
blessings baskets to folks who need a smile after life’s tripped them
up, and numerous other ways of blessing and loving others.
We hug our homeless friends, and they know that if they need anything
— from shoes to mosquito repellent — all they have to do is ask. To me,
many churches are run like businesses and too many pastors are making
too much money. The average home price in my market is $160k and yet we
have pastors living in million dollar homes in our small city!! I don’t
understand it. I don’t agree with it.
So, no, we don’t “go to church,” but we love God and we strive to
make Jesus “smile” (that is how we explain it to our 6 year olds). I’m
so tired of folks judging my family and thinking we’re “not living
right” just because we don’t attend church in a building.
I’m glad there are folks like you telling us that we, in fact, are
not doing it wrong and it’s OK for us to worship and serve Him in our
own way. Though our service in the name of Jesus may look different than
those who “go to church”, it is no less sincere.
Thanks, Beth!
And thanks to all of you who read this blog and who write about
similar things on your own blogs and on Facebook. All around the world,
people are beginning to see that it is possible (and maybe even easier)
to follow Jesus outside the four walls of the church and do so in a way
that takes His love to the neediest people in our towns and cities.
Sitting in a building on Sunday morning is not the only way of following Jesus!
If you appreciated what Beth said, go “Like” her
Scarf it Up page on Facebook! Maybe you can start something similar in your own town. If you do, let us know!
I am so proud of my three daughters… A daddy has got to boast a bit.
