Today as I was doing my cardio workout at the gym, I felt myself sucking in my gut.  Why?  Who do I have to impress?

For some reason, I have a stereotype in my head...only muscular fit people belong at the gym.  I KNOW that's not correct thinking, but it was a passing thought.

Then, I took the time to look around...what did I see?  People of all shapes & sizes…some thin as a bean pole...some stocky...some fit...and some broad in certain areas.  There was not ONE person that looked the same as the next.  Suddenly I felt like I truly belonged there.

As silly as that thought was, I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has ever thought it.  People also think that way about church...only the holy & religious go there.  That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Just like the gym, the people at a church are all different...all from various walks of life. They each have their struggles & weaknesses, but (like our finger prints) they are individually unique to Christ.
 
Our pastor once said "You don't have to clean up to come to the Lord, instead you come to the Lord to clean up."

How do we think that the people at the gym become fit?  And likewise, how do we think that people grow closer to Christ, and each other, in the church?  Each of them has been on their own journey.  And who knows, they could have started at the same point that we’re at now?

We often look at things backwards, and we need to become aware of that.  Only then can we look with the proper perspective.

Moral of the story...YOU BELONG!  It's all a matter of your mentality...not a stereotype.