Rats In The Church



Plymouth, Michigan Church of the Nazarene

In the early 1980's the Plymouth Church of the Nazarene relocated to a beautiful 40 acre piece of property on Ann Arbor Road.  The location was ideal, the visibility was wonderful, the accessibility was easy, and there was plenty of room for growth.  Today the church has a strong congregation and serves her community in many ways.  The sanctuary is nearly filled when the "body of Christ" comes to worship.  Its' warmth and worshipful surroundings make it a perfect place to sense God's presence.

You would never guess that it was once a part of the "rat house" that occupied the property at the time of purchase some 30 years ago.  The owner of this great piece of property and the tenant of the building that was incorporated into the plans of the church facility was a group that bred, sold, and many times ran experiments on a large population of mice and rats that inhabited the structure.  The building was known in the area as "the rat house". 

While it may indeed give a whole new meaning to the phrase "church mice", it also should remind us that "rats" are welcome in the church!  You see, the church is not just for the good guys.  It is also for the "rats".  As a matter of fact, the good guys were most likely "rats" themselves not so long ago.  We should somehow convey to those who have lost their way in the maze of sin and succumbed to their "rat" side that the church has an answer to their wanderings and failures.  We must remind ourselves that "all have sinned and fallen short" and that the church must be a place of acceptance and love for all; even the "rat-like".

I am so glad that my Jesus was a friend of "publicans and sinners" and that one day He found me.  I am so glad that the churches I grew up in and the churches I pastored understood that there were people with some nasty looking souls that needed saved, that need rescued.  God forbid that we should ever become so focused on the type of people who make up our church that we fail to make the "rat pack" feel welcome.  We must provide a place, not where "rats" are born, but where they are reborn and set free.  Thanks Plymouth Nazarene for the reminder.      .

 

Rev. Fred Hall, Pastor