In and Out

From a young age children are taught that in and out are opposites. Which is true, in and out are opposites. But what happens when they see their parents and elders applying this word pair negatively in society. Many churches (not all but many) including the church that I grew up in spend a great deal of time teaching their children about in and out. From a young age I was taught that a certain group of people was "in" and another group of people was "out". The "in" according to these types of churches are the people that fit what they think the perfect Christian is and the "out" is anyone who does not believe the same thing they do and in many cases is not of the same race and/or socioeconomic bracket. 
I was taught that in order to be "in" you had to fit the following characteristics:
      1. White
      2. Republican (as far right as one can possibly get)
      3. Upper Middle (if not Upper Class)
      4. Christian (b/c if even if you fit the first three and you don't have the fourth one you are out)
      5. Racist (and I mean racist)
      6. and more recently Islamophobic
      7. number 4 needs to be expanded upon; the Bible is the word of God and everything it says happened
          happened, the end of the world is coming very soon (see the book of Revelation and the Left Behind
          Series)
      8. you would not be friends with anyone who did not fit any of the above mentioned categories
      9. you would not welcome a stranger with open arms until you know how much money they made in a
          year and what political party they were affiliated with
      10. straight
      11. Hell and the Devil are what everyone who does not fit 1-10 have to look forward to
I was taught that you were "out" if you did not meet numbers 1-11ntioned above. According to the way I was taught I am "out" and I am perfectly ok with being "out". I am out because of the following:
      1. I'm more towards the left when it come to all things political
      2. I'm going to be living near/at the poverty line for the first few years after seminary
      3. I am not racist, skin color is only that.
      4. I am not Islamophobic (also taking a class on Islam this semester)
      5. I believe that the Bible is a myth
      6. Revelation is not about the end of the world. It is a message of hope.
      7. My best friend is an atheist and I dated an Indian.
      8. I invite people to come to church with me (just not the church I grew up in)
      9.I am Bi.
      10. I don't believe in hell of  the devil.

See Jesus came to save people from the idea of "in" and "out". Jesus was friends with the people who are considered to be "out" and a great deal to say to the people who thought they were the only ones who were "in". The thing is we are all "in". In God's eyes there is no word pair of in and out.
The idea that a "church" is only for the people who are "in" goes against everything that Jesus stands for. At while I'm thinking of it a church is not the building the church is the people. People are "in" because we are all created equally by the same God.
In his book "Jesus Wants To Save Christians" Rob Bell makes the profound statement that "A church is an organization that exists for the benefit of nonmembers." Just pause and think about that. Think about what you were taught growing up (especially if you grew up in the church).  Were you taught that church is only for those who are "out" or that church is for everyone especially for the people who don't belong.
I leave you with another statement from "Jesus Wants To Save Christians", "Because Jesus was a Middle Eastern man who lived in an occupied country and was killed by the superpower of his day"

go in PEACE. be PEACE. live PEACE.