Accept one another… and your little dogs too

Posted by Alan Knox on Apr 11, 2008 in blog links, community, fellowship, gathering | 1 comment

Over at “spermologos“, Alan Reynolds has written a wonderfully perceptive post called “The Dog Park and Church“. He recounts a recent visit to a local dog park and some of the interactions he he had with the people that he met there. (By the way, we drive by this dog park every Sunday, and I always notice a crowd of people there. I’ve often wanted to stop… perhaps I will one day.)

After recounting a few conversations, Alan says:

We met several people and several dogs. I hated to leave, and Kinja did too. As we left, I thought to myself, “Why can’t church be more like this?” I have no real answers. While there are usually a couple of people at church who will come talk to you, the majority are content to just ignore newcomers. At the dog park, we were all there to enjoy the outdoors and play with the dogs, and we were all friends, even if we didn’t know each other’s names.

Of course, Alan isn’t the only person who has noticed that Christians aren’t always the most welcoming and accepting people, especially when meeting together as the church. I think Alan’s question deserves serious thought: “Why can’t church be more like this?”