I recently received an invitation to an online women's event. It's billed as a time of uplifting, encouragement and empowering for Christian women and I'm sure that many will emerge from it feeling all those things but I'm naturally suspicious and slightly cynical. I always do a bit of research on any speaker, especially if quiet warning bells are ringing. I want to give them a chance as I'm aware that my personal and cultural biases can influence me against certain styles, though the content may be sound, so I try to find out what I can about their background.
I discovered the church in America which this speaker co-pastors with her husband, a campus church with hundreds of attendees. I looked at the photos they posted and their statement of beliefs but what struck me most was the appearance of those they'd chosen to publicise.
The church has a good racial mixture but all the photos showed shiny happy, mainly young or in the prime of life, well-dressed people who all had a similar look. Nobody who looked a bit odd, old or falling apart was pictured. There was a scary perfection that would be difficult to live up to. Of course you mustn't judge a book by its cover, or a church by the photos it chooses to post. Or should you? Perhaps the image a church projects is a reflection of how they see Jesus and the sort of people he wants his followers to be.
Jesus' original disciples were a motley crew, and we still are. One of the most welcoming things in a community of believers is the variety of backgrounds, appearances, characters, abilities, fashion sense (or lack of) - all of us knowing we're sinners in need of a Saviour, and all knowing we're here to love and help each other in the journey of becoming more like him. If this aspect isn't reflected in the image a particular church chooses to project then I think warning bells may be justified.
Jesus does transform people from the odd, old and falling apart into the "us" he intended us to be but that's often so different from how we see "perfection " with our human eyes. Besides which, the process isn't completed in this life. We do improve the more we surrender to him but perfection is only achieved when we see him face to face after our time on earth is over. If anyone is scared away from learning about Jesus because they feel they don't fit with the church's image then that church should re-examine its values.
