Welcome or Not Welcome, that is the question

As churches, and as Christians, we like to say this a lot.  You are welcome at my church.  You are welcome in my flock.  It doesn't matter how you dress.  It doesn't matter what color of skin.  It doesn't matter your background, etc.

The question is:  Do we really mean that?

A resounding thing keeps coming up in my personal Bible reading.  Let me give you examples:

In Matthew 19:13-15 a bunch of children had gotten to Jesus and see Him and talk to Him, and the Disciples rebuked them and tried to send them away.

In Matthew 20:29-34 some blind me where sitting alongside the road Jesus was walking down, they heard Jesus was coming so they did the only thing they knew how to do, they yelled for Him.  Guess what happened?  Yep, they where rebuked by the crowd (the ones who where following Jesus) and told to be quiet, maybe they where being too loud?

In Matthew 21:15-17, the children where in the temple shouting and praising Jesus, the chief Priests (Religious leaders) where "indignant".

So in all three stories well meaning people who needed Jesus where either rebuked by Disciples, followers of Jesus, or Chief Priests.  In other words, they made church people mad.

So what does "rebuked" and "indignant" mean:

Rebuke: to criticize sharply : reprimand (Webster's)

Indignant: anger aroused by something unjust, unworthy, or mean

Inc Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary., Includes Index., 10th ed. (Springfield, Mass., U.S.A.: Merriam-Webster, 1996, c1993).

So first of all these people that needed Jesus where criticized sharply, or reprimanded by church people, and embarrassed in front of groups for simply trying to get to Jesus.  lovely.

Second of all, the chief Priest's anger was aroused because the children where being just too loud in the temple (the church) and that is "unworthy".  oh the horror.

So, let's talk about today:  Do we really make people feel welcome?  Or do our visitors feel like this:

People outside of our church walls may not always know (or care) about our unwritten "rules and regulations" about how we think they should look and/or act when they walk into our buildings.  However, shouldn't the focus be more on being actually thankful they are there searching for Hope in our House.

Think about it and when visitors come, and they will, put out the welcome mat instead of the stop sign.

Have a wonderful day, Chris