A Sam's Club Kind of Faith Community

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I was shaving this morning and thanking God for a little thing. I was thanking Him that I had discovered that, while I would have to pay upwards of $8.00 for 4 razor blades for my shaver, I could buy 20 blades at Sam's Club for about $30.00. That's 25% less! I get more, and it costs me less.

Different Kinds of Stuff, And Lots Of It
People love Sam's Club because you can find almost anything you'd want to buy at their giant, sprawling stores. You can get a lot of different kinds of stuff there, and whatever kind of stuff you'd like to get, you can get a lot of it.

When you've been shopping in a regular grocery, Sam's Club overwhelms you. From floor to ceiling, from side to side as far as you can see, there's beautiful stuff everywhere. You know the way you feel the first time you walk into a Catholic cathedral? That's how people in the world feel when they walk into a Sam's Club for the first time. Complete, speechless awe.

You see, satan binds people by offering them temporary escape from their problems with a false form of comfort that’s always running out. That false form of comfort might be alcohol or drugs or sex or soap operas or football games or biting their nails. The effects are always temporary, and the supply always runs out. People who trust in a false form of comfort are always wanting and needing.

As believers, though, we should walk out of every encounter with Christ saying what people who are shopping at Sam’s Club sometimes do. "How in the world am I going to use all this stuff?"

And that's the point. We can't use all of what He's given us for ourselves. It's too much. It's too big. From the floor to the ceiling of our hearts, from side to side of our lives as far as you can see, there's beautiful stuff everywhere.

"How in the world are we going to use all this stuff?" By giving it away to a needy world.

.....At A Lower Cost
People also love Sam's Club because you pay less there. Since Sam's Club is so big, they can buy everything at a lower cost, and pass on the savings to the customers they serve.

In Revelation 3:18, Jesus tells the Laodicean church, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Jesus is our storehouse. We can buy wondrous things from Him - big things - at a much lower price than weight and sin will extract from us. And it's not just so we'll be blessed. It's so that we may pass these blessings on to others.

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

On a physical level, consumers at Sam's Club and - on a spiritual level - the lost in this world are concerned with the "cost of living."

On a physical level, Sam's Club and - on a spiritual level - much of the church today is sometimes concerned with the "cost of giving."

This is an important understanding for believers, because our attitude about giving reflects what we perceive to be "the cost of giving." If we are consumed with what we perceive to be an endless struggle through life, in spite of our Christianity, we will eventually become bitter and resentful toward those in need. What's more, we'll not be able to spiritually recognize just how much God has given and is giving to us. We won't be able to see that daily He has loaded us with blessings.

You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
Hebrews 10:34-35

And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.
Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: ‘He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little‘;
2 Corinthians 8:10-15

The bottom line is that when we daily comprehend and joy in the great blessings we have received from God at a price to us that is so low, we will be able to "pass on the savings" to others.

Free Gifts
Another reason that people love Sam's Club is because there are people standing around all over the place giving you free samples of stuff. Not expensive stuff, but neat stuff or tasty stuff. And it's cool because it's all free.

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Romans 8:32

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians 2:8

Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
Acts 3:6

And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Matthew 10:7-8

We in the church may not have silver and gold, but that's not what people are really looking for, either. We do have what people are really looking for; peace with God through salvation in Christ Jesus. We have comfort. We have joy. We have hope.

When people come to church, wouldn't it be wonderful if they saw people standing around all over the place giving you free samples of that kind of stuff? Neat stuff or tasty stuff. And it would be really cool, because it was all free.

Try It For Free!
At Sam's Club, anyone can get a free membership for a day. That means they treat you like a real member for the day that you're visiting. It doesn't matter how you're dressed or how you talk or what side of town you're from; anyone can be treated like a full-fledged member on the day they're visiting. The employees are really nice to you, too, and you walk around the place in wonder, thinking, "Wow, I would love to be able to be a member and come here all the time. There's so much neat and tasty stuff here, it's stacked up so wide and so tall, it's everywhere! And everyone is so nice and helpful."

So that servant came, and [told] his lord [that all whom He had at first invited to His supper had refused]. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Luke 14:21-23

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
John 13:34-35

But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.
John 12:32

When people come to church, wouldn't it be wonderful if they felt as though they were loved like a full-fledged member and not just as a visitor? Imagine those people visiting church and receiving all that neat stuff and tasty stuff from people that really seemed to love them and each other.

The Best of Both Kinds.....
Our churches are not meant to be a bunch of isolated, independent Mom and Pop corner stores. Mom and Pop corner stores are nice because you know the people that work and shop there. It's comfortable and familiar.

But there's a lot of stuff that you can't get at a Mom and Pop corner store that you can get at Sam’s Club.

I think that Jesus would like us to understand that instead of our churches being isolated, independent Mom and Pop corner stores in our town, we are actually like different departments in a Godly Sam's Club.

Each department offers something different, and lots of it, at a great price. Some people will tend to shop more in certain departments, but at some point we all will venture into every department in this Godly Sam's Club and be able to experience the loving wonder of His blessings and the loving touch of His people who work there.

If the leadership and management of Sam's Club could ever their stores to feel like a Mom and Pop corner store, no one would ever shop anywhere else again.

When people come to church, wouldn't it be wonderful if they experienced the intimacy of our welcoming love, coupled with the wonder of God's storehouse of blessings? That would give our Godly Sam's Club the intimate, friendly feel of a Mom and Pop corner store. And if that were the case, it's hard to imagine people in the world ever wanting to "shop" anywhere else again.

It's A Good Thing To Be Unpopular With satan
Now, when a Sam's Club moves into a community, there is sometimes a great outcry against it. It comes from Mom and Pop corner stores who claim (and rightfully so) that Sam's Club will eventually draw everyone away from their own stores. They claim that, because of Sam's Club's ability to provide more to people at a lower cost, people will eventually completely abandon Mom and Pop corner stores and they will forced to close.

While this might be bad news in the business world, it is great news in the spiritual world. The writing is on the wall for Mom and Pop churches that have chosen to be isolated and independent from the rest of God‘s people and the world of the lost. }

God is bringing together His people to manifest the oneness that He gave them through His Holy Spirit through whatever means necessary; gently as possible, firmly as needed.

God is building a Sam's Club that feels like a Mom and Pop store.

You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:5

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22

satan is scared of this. satan doesn't want a Godly Sam's Club that feels like a Mom and Pop store. He doesn't want that kind of a manifestation and demonstration of God's great blessings or our great love. It was the same way with satan and his followers in the days of Acts.

And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto
them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
Acts 17:2-6

When Paul preached Christ, it turned the world upside down. When Paul preached Christ, Jews, Greeks and many important women believed on Him. As we learn Christ, live Christ and preach Christ it will be the same. Through God's Holy Spirit, many different peoples will be transformed into one Body by one Christ.

In Closing
So, yes, there will be opposition, but it spite of that opposition God will bring many souls to Himself and transform them. What's the right way to handle opposition?

Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.
Acts 4:29-30

Notice how it was okay for the disciples in this passage to ask God to be aware of the great opposition that was facing them. But, having done that, they then turned their attention to where it should be; upon God and upon those in need.

Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable Your servants to speak Your word with great boldness. Stretch out Your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.

Focusing too much on opposition makes everything about "us." And it's not about us anymore. It's about God, and it's about those who are still without Christ, broken and hurting and without hope. It's about them. So we must acknowledge that opposition is imminent and ask for God's help, but then turn to God for His unmerited favor that we might stretch forth His hand to the world.

In turning my own eyes away from myself and toward the lost, I am asking myself a question and answering it with the only answer I can give:

Do I think the world is ready to receive big blessings from God at a low price ("For my yoke is easy, and My burden is light"), in an awe-inspiring storehouse of God that feels like a Mom and Pop store, surrounded by welcoming people that pour out their sincere love for them and each other?

"Welcome to Sam's Club. How may I help you today?