Someone asked me, “If you lived in a small town and the only church in town was conservative, would you go to church?”

Well—perhaps.

But I would not be quiet. So, I might cause a bit of a fuss. Because the Gospel is not “conservative.” And when someone tells me they are conservative, I am tempted to ask them, “Who are you leaving out?”

“Who do you think is beneath you, not worthy of your love?”

For white people when I was growing up, it was often people of color.

It still is for some.

But add to the list: immigrants, gay people, Muslims, Jews, anyone different.

“Conservatives” tend to be exclusive.

The Gospel is inclusive.

The Gospel proclaimed by Jesus declares God’s love for all people, equally.

No one is excluded.

The love Jesus teaches is unconditional, unmerited.

Jesus specifically tells us to love people who do not love us. He says only this kind of love gets a reward.

And God does not play favorites. Muslims are loved just as much as Christians.

Immigrants have the same value as the native-born.

Everyone is made in the image of God. Everyone belongs to God. And everyone will be treated with the same love by God.

This is controversial talk in many churches—“conservative” churches.

You may be in such a church—and that’s fine.

But don’t be quiet.

When you hear others demean gay people or immigrants or people of other faiths—speak up!

It may cause a little fuss.

But it’s worth it.

Evil triumphs when love is silent.

Pam Reynolds had a brain aneurism that could not be removed by usual methods.

So, the doctors did the unusual, a procedure called “Standstill.” They lowered her body temperature to 60 degrees and stopped her heart and breathing.

Her brainwaves flattened and the blood drained from her head.

She was clinically dead.

She left her body and hovered above it for a while. (She watched the surgery and later described it all to the doctors—to their amazement.)

Then a tunnel opened up and she was pulled into it.

“It reminded me of the tornado vortex from The Wizard of Oz,” she said.

She was headed for an incredible light. It got brighter and brighter.

But she also heard her grandmother calling her.

And she exited the tunnel to a family reunion with her deceased loved ones.

They all looked great.

“Uncle Gene was there,” she said, “and great- great Aunt Maggie, and my grandmother.”

Pam was delighted to see them, but she wanted to go on to the light.

They would not let her.

They told her if she went to the light, she could not go back to her body.

And her family was somehow nourishing her with light. It made her feel really strong.

When the surgery was over, her uncle escorted her back. When she saw her dead body, she resisted going into it.

Her uncle “pushed” her. “And it was like diving into ice water.”

“It hurt!” Pam said.

The surgery was a great success. The doctors had done their job. But so had heaven.

Life is a joint venture, heaven and earth working together. So–let God work with you in your life.