Stop circling the wagons!

I have one complaint about Christians.  OK, maybe more than one, but for the sake of this blog post we'll go with one.  I love my fellow Christ followers...I do.  Despite the fact that we love Jesus, we're still mortally flawed human beings desperately in need of grace. 

What I have a problem with are the cliques that seem to permeate so many Christian groups.  We (yes, I'm including myself in the proverbial "we") get involved in something, find the set of friends we want to associate with and there we sit.  We're comfortable.  We don't want anyone to disrupt our little bubble.  Heaven forbid that anyone else might want to join us.  New people show interest in participating and the uproar begins. 

"No, we like things the way they are.  We don't want things to change. Let them start their own group."

Really?  Is that how Jesus handled the masses who pressed in around him?  Thankfully He welcomed them all, excluding no one.  Not the lepers, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the most unclean.  No one was left out. Scripture tells us God is no respecter of persons.  So why are we?  Do we think we are that much better than him that we can choose who to include?  God calls us to reach out and mentor, helping those who are behind us on the journey, loving those who have not yet begun.  Instead, we close our ranks and become exclusive. 

If we're circling the wagons around our "perfect" little piece of terra firma, how on earth is anyone suppose to grow?