A barefooted church.
Hypothetically….
As you approached the altar to take communion, what if your church leader tells you about how just down the road from your church there is a homeless community in dire need of shoes, GOOD shoes, because the only shoes they ever receive are worn out because they were someone else’s old, dirty castaways. What if he then prompts you to, as you take your communion, leave your shoes at the altar for this community.
Would you do so without hesitation? {I would hesitate}
Would you look down to see which shoes you were wearing first? {If you did not know what shoes you currently had on your feet without looking you may have bigger problems}
Would you wish you had known in advance that he was going to do this so you could have worn your $2 Old Navy flip flops or your work-in-the-yard boots to church {as. if.} instead of your pimped out Toms wedges or your most expensive loafers? {I really heart my Toms wedges even though I’ve not worn them once}
Would you fake a trip to the bathroom if you wore your favorite shoes? {I wouldn’t. That would be too obvious. I would fake a notification from the nursery instead.}
Would your decision to do so be based upon the outside temperature knowing you’d have to walk barefoot to your car after church or not be able to go eat out afterwards without having to first go home for another pair of shoes?
Would the church leader where you regularly attend church ever even have the guts to ask his church to make such a sacrifice?
“…and I heard Jesus whisper: This is how I want My church to look. I want her to rip the shoes off her feet for the least every single chance she gets. I want an altar full of socks and shoes right next to the communion table. I want to see solidarity with the poor. I want true community rallied around My gospel. I want a barefooted church.” {excerpt taken from Jen Hatmaker’s book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess}
A barefooted church. Divine. …said the girl who thought she was sacrificing by only alternating between two pair shoes for 30 days which happen to be Birkenstocks and Vibrams. Lord forgive me.
