This morning as I was watering the plants outside the front of the church I found a cigarette butt pressed down in the soil of one of them. It is not uncommon to find cigarette butts outside the church. We have a food pantry, weekly community dinners, funeral dinners, etc. We have a lot of un-churched people in and out of our church. I do not think many of the people who attend our church would throw their cigarette butts down outside the church. We had the same issue back in Mason County, WV when we had our food pantry in a church in Hartford. The church people there would get upset after the food pantry because of the cigarette butts laying around outside their church. It got to the point that we who worked the food pantry would pick them up before we left the food pantry just to keep the peace. It does not bother me to pick them up.
I’ve heard it said that I “Preach a Christianity that expects something” from Believers. I would agree with that statement. You cannot become a Christian without faith; and our actions are the proof of our faith. We are called to follow Jesus, and this requires repentance and change. We are called to forgive others and ourselves. We are called to turn the other cheek. (This does not mean to allow ourselves to be abused, especially in relationships.) We are called to feed the poor and provide clean drinking water to the hungry and the thirsty. And when necessary, we are called to pick up cigarette butts outside the church and in the planters without complaining and without bragging. (I hope you know I am not bragging, I am reminding myself and you of our calling).
And all of this would fall under the umbrella of love. They will know we are Christians by our love.
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Scott Knowlton's Blog 