What the World
Sees

Let me ask you something

Have you ever wondered what it looks like from the outside? What the world sees when they look at us? At our conferences, our churches, our worship, our leaders, our scandals?

I have. And it is not always pretty. Let me tell you what they see, because we need to see it too.

What they see that is real

First, let me say what they see that is actually good. They see community. They see people who show up for each other. They see people who care for the poor, who visit the sick, who welcome the stranger. They see a faith that produces fruit that can be seen.

They see changed lives. They see people who were broken and became whole. Addicts who got clean. Marriages that were saved. Lives that were transformed. And that is not nothing. Even the world can see that.

They see worship. Not performance, but surrender. People who sing like they mean it. People who pray like it matters. People who gather not because they have to but because they want to. And that is beautiful, even if they do not understand it.

There is real good in what we do. And it would be dishonest not to name it.

What they see that is embarrassing

But here is what else they see. They see the scandals. The fallen leaders. The televised frauds. They see the prosperity preachers with their private jets. They see the prophets who were wrong. They see the abuse that was covered up. And they are not wrong to be horrified.

They see the weirdness. The speaking in tongues that looks like nonsense. The healings that look like circus tricks. The worship that looks like emotion manipulation. And from the outside, it is hard to argue that it does not look ridiculous.

They see the hypocrisy. They see us say one thing and do another. They see us judge and then claim grace. They see us preach love and practice exclusion. They see us claim to have the truth and then fight among ourselves about what the truth is. And it makes them sick of religion.

They see what we see. The difference is, they do not have the context we have. They do not see the history. They do not see the heart behind it. They just see the surface. And from the surface, it is not always pretty.

Why they dismiss us

So why do they dismiss us? Why do they laugh at what we believe?

Because they see the fraud and assume it is all fraud. Because they see the exaggeration and assume it is all exaggeration. Because they see the abuse and assume it is all abuse. And we gave them reason to. We made it easy for them.

But that is not the whole story. They also dismiss us because they do not want to believe. Because if what we believe is true, it changes everything. And they are not ready for that. They are not willing for that. It is easier to dismiss than to consider.

The enemy uses our failures to create a shield for their unbelief. And we walk right into it by making the faith about things other than Christ.

What they are missing

But here is what the world is missing. They are missing the evidence. They are missing the changed lives. They are missing the joy that cannot be explained away. They are missing the peace that passes understanding. They are missing the community that persists through trial.

They are missing the Holy Spirit. They are missing the presence. They are missing the intimacy. They are missing the relationship that makes everything else worth it.

And one day, they will see. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And they will know what they refused to see.

What we do about it

So what do we do? How do we respond when the world looks at us and sees what they see?

We do not defend the indefensible. We name what is wrong. We clean house. We hold our leaders accountable. We do not pretend the failures did not happen.

But we also do not apologize for what is real. We do not throw away the gifts because some people abuse them. We do not stop believing because some people lie. We do not stop worshipping because some people make it weird.

We show them the fruit. We show them the changed lives. We show them the love. Not in words, but in deeds. And we let them see what they choose to see.