You are the light of the world. – Matthew 5:14 (Jesus – the Sermon on the Mount)

“We’ve been lied to!”

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard or read that declaration in the past few weeks, and oddly, I’m delighted, because of the context. (I’m a big fan of context.)

Unless you’ve been comatose or living under a rock this summer, you’ve seen the videos, maybe experienced in person the great influx of visitors to the U. S. for the World Cup soccer (a. k. a. “football”) championship games and watched the rest of the world fall in love with America.

If you’re like me, you’ve watched their posts on social media, and they can’t say enough about America – how varied and beautiful the scenery is, how fabulous the food is, and how awesome the stadiums are. Europeans were euphoric over free refills in virtually every restaurant, and they reveled in the air conditioning (Apparently, they have no AC in Europe.) Bucky’s blew people’s minds – “Petrol stations in the UK are nothing like this!” They marveled at the exuberant patriotism, how free everyone is to go where they want and wear what they want, and how safe they felt.

Most importantly, the visitors spoke, often with tears, about how friendly, hospitable, and kind the Americans are. They were shocked that people of different races had received warm acceptance. Diners found random Americans paying for their meals. Lost visitors had total strangers offering directions, even rides. One fan said some Americans invited him to ride on their boat, and others invited him over for dinner.

One Frenchman had come expecting to look down his nose at the Americans, but was humbled by how wonderful everything – and everyone – was. “I came here to judge. I stayed for de snacks,” he confessed.

Soccer fans from all over the world have been blown away by the contrast between what they’ve heard on the news and what they encountered when they actually came here.

Hence the refrain, “We’ve been lied to!” and “America, we owe you an apology.”

But I don’t think America was looking for an apology. I can only speak for myself, but I’ve just been thrilled with the positivity that has permeated the whole culture the past few weeks as we hosted “The Great American Sleepover.”

Having been warned that America is a hostile, dangerous, rude, racist, horrible-terrible-no-good-very-bad place to be, soccer fans stepped off the planes and were met with the opposite. And it’s been a win-win for all of us, except perhaps the mainstream media who have lost a lot of their credibility.

Now the reports haven’t literally been lying – there have some been some unpleasant occurrences in our country, bouts of violence, horrendous crimes, and acts of hatred that were deemed newsworthy by the media whose philosophy seems to be, “Good news is no news.” Of course, in a country with 330 million people, there are going to be bad apples, and unfortunately these are the ones making the loudest noise and getting the biggest headlines. But I’m so glad the rest of the world got to see the incredible beauty of this country, the decency of the everyday people, the kindness, generosity, and just plain goodness of the vast majority of Americans, and that they now know why we love our country so much.

And this got me thinking …

What if the same kind of positivity we saw with the World Cup were to break out in the Church?

Think about it … If you were to ask a random person who has never attended church what (s)he thinks church is like, you’re liable to get the standard answers: “Full of hypocrites,” “judgmental,” “racist,” “self-righteous,” “snooty,” etc. Not to mention “boring.” Whether this is due to a bad experience in the past or just what they’ve heard ad nauseum from other people (who also have never been to church), this is usually why they are reluctant or just plain unwilling to accept an invitation to come to a worship service.

But what if one day one of those people were finally persuaded to “just come with me once, and if you don’t like it, I’ll leave you alone.” And let’s suppose that person walked in and found welcoming, friendly, kind, happy, non-judgmental people? Suppose the attendees were dressed in a variety of ways, which no one gave a second thought? What if there were hugs, laughter, and fellowship with people of all ages, races, personalities, and styles – a kaleidoscope of happy individuals loving one another and engaging in exhilarating worship of the Lord of us all?

I’m guessing that person might think, I’ve been lied to! – and in a sense, they have. The enemy delights in highlighting the flaws and sins of Christians (and persons calling themselves Christian who aren’t really) to keep people away from the Church.

But what if we were to prove him wrong? What if word spread that “These people are nothing like what we’ve been told! There’s something special about them!” And we could tell them it’s not something, it’s Someone.

Just a thought. And while you’re thinking about how you might help bring about that scenario, enjoy this feel-good song I discovered last week:

Prayer: Lord, sometimes it seems the abundant life You told us about is the best kept secret today. But the Good News is too good to keep to ourselves! The enemy has told the world lies about You and Your Church. Help us to dispel those lies, to represent You well – to “conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel,” letting everyone know they are included in Your offer of eternal life. We know there’s a great celebration in the future. May we spend every day of our lives extending invitations to one and all, in Jesus’ name Amen.