A number of years ago I got banned from speaking at a church in WA. I know because the pastor invited me – but then later called to say the elders weren’t prepared to have me and would I mind not coming?… It was the Forge era and some of what I had to say was intentionally provocative and challenging around the theme of mission. But clearly this church didn’t want me to come and do my thing there. I’m not sure if the ‘ban’ is still in place, but I certainly haven’t heard from them in recent times!

I guess the way I live and express my faith is not everybody’s cup of tea . I won’t go into depth on that thought as this post is less about me per se and more about how we admit people to the faith community or exclude them – and on what basis.

Tyson Fury for instance…

You know who I’m talking about right? The ex – heavyweight boxing champ, who grew up in a traveller / gypsy community and about whose life a whole Netflix series was made. If you go to his Instagram page, or Athlete’s for Christ you will see him there proudly affirming his conviction that Jesus is Lord and he is following him. But if you watch the show or read his biography you won’t find a guy who would easily slide into your local church. I can’t imagine a Baptist member’s meeting to vote on Fury… He’s loud, brash, a self confessed heavy drinker and in many ways a very unconventional Christian.

There is a part of me (a part I am ashamed of) that says ‘he ain’t the real deal’, but that’s only because he appears to live a life that I would find at odds with the Christian culture I have been part of. And in that he would present a challenge to my own life.

Then there’s Bono…

If you read ‘Surrender’, Bono’s autobiography, you would have no doubt as to the authenticity of his faith. He is able to integrate scripture into his writing in a way that reflects direct, deep personal experience. But he doesn’t seem to be part of a local church anywhere. He can’t be serious about discipleship if a local church community isn’t part of his life, right? The guy is out there on his own – a loose canon right? We’ve heard people called that before? Haven’t we?…

And then, Alexei Navalny, whose autobiography I just finished listening to. In short, Navalny was the Russian contender for presidency, who Putin had imprisoned and then killed. His story is at times inspiring, often humorous (he has a very optimistic outlook) and at times deeply reflective. He describes entering prison as an atheist, but ‘finding religion’ while there. He tells one particular story of being in solitary confinement and of memorising the sermon on the mount, convinced that Jesus really knew how life was supposed to be lived – and then after memorising it, he sought to live it out in the brutality of his prison environment.

He does swear a lot though… And he talks more about religion than Jesus… I’m not sure he’d be allowed admittance to some churches on the basis of his bad language or his limited understanding of faith. That said, I imagine if I was locked in a Soviet prison, knowing that I was going to die I might use some fairly naughty words too.

I could go on, but you get the point.

If like me, you have grown up in a particular expression of evangelicalism then chances are you have had your ‘boundary markers’ formed by the priorities of that particular culture. Church attendance, language, even dress code are all such common – yet often shallow markers of what we use to determine acceptability (even though it really isn’t ours to call anyway.)

I remember in my childhood days at a Baptist church where a certain elder’s son was living a prodigal life and when he occasionally did come to church on a Sunday night it was in a hotted up car, that he drove fast and loud, it was with long hair and cigarettes and a vibe that said ‘I’m not a churchie’. I can’t believe he ever made it past the front door – how he managed to deal with the concerned looks and disapproving manner of the gate-keepers…

So this is just a quick thought dump after pondering the way we frame our communities and how we determine who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out’. There is no question of the ‘Jesus way’ – it’s everybody in – all are welcome – come as you are.

If we could lead with that then maybe faith and the faith community would be more attractive to so many people who just see themselves as not belonging or not even welcome.

And if you’ve read this and feel like I am ‘lowing the bar on holiness’ or offering cheap grace – then you have read it wrong. I suggest Jesus has no barriers to entry other than a willingness to bow the knee and call him Lord. What happens after that is another thing entirely. How faith takes shape in a person’s life is always a journey, so to even expect a Tyson Fury to believe and behave like a middle class church going evangelical is absurd.

If you also feel this ‘not my type of Christian’ thing going on, then quite simply it’s time to call that for what it is and repent – have a complete change of mind – and allow Jesus to welcome whoever he wants into his kingdom.

And along the way perhaps we will be shaped and formed by these people in ways that our tightly formed and bounded cultures could never do.