I'm going to join a gym...no, serioulsy, I am. And yesterday I went to spy out the new gym I'm considering joining--Planet Fitness. I was blown away by some stuff that they're doing at PF (yes, I'm alredy referring to them by their initials). Here's what's on the homepage of their website and is unmistakably communicated in their space from the moment you walk in:
"Planet Fitness is known for a lot of things...most of all perhaps for our Judgement Free Zone® (yes that's a registered tradmark...more on that later) philosophy, which means members can relax, get in shape, and have fun without being subjected to the hard-core, look-at-me attitude that exists in too many gyms." Wow.
PF gets the fact that a huge reason people don't go to gyms isn't because they're lazy (probably a close second) or financially incapable, but because they don't want to be subjected to the judgmental glances of the chiseled adonises that lord over most neighborhood gyms (if you've ever experienced it, you know what I'm talking about).
Please, please listen to me here. I can't stand the idea of Planet Fitness outpacing the church when it comes to this issue. They get the fact that people don't want to go to a neighborhood gym and feel like they're being judged for their flabbiness. And the church needs to get the fact that people won't go to a church when they feel like they're being judged for their spiritual flabbiness. People need to be given a license by the church to begin a journey towards spiritual health and wholeness. And what happens when we don't give them that license to begin that journey? They just stay away. It's that simple. They won't picket in front of your church, they won't start a petition or email their senator. They'll simply either never show up or never come back.
So, create a culture of grace. Maybe you don't lead a church, but you're probably a person of influence at work or at home or in your neighborhood. Let grace be your registered trademark. Give people a license to be themselves around you and then partner with them on a journey towards spiritual health and wholeness in their lives.
Grace-the registered trademark of the church.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4)
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