The SIAFU Guidebook

Part I I : Making the Case

67

Objection 5: We don’t have a way to integrate folk who are “different” into our church.

The Argument: “I like the idea of a SIAFU Chapter in our church, but I am genuinely afraid that if the Lord were to bring us really different kinds of folk, our church wouldn’t accept them. We’re not prepared to welcome ex-prisoners, ex-gang bangers and folk like that into our church. It sounds good, but I don’t know how they would fit. Beside, it would make a lot of our members feel uncomfortable having folk like that around.” The Answer: We should expect the Word of God to convert and call men and women from the city to the Lord, and SIAFU Chapters are an effective means to incorporate new and immature Christians into our churches. In many urban churches, we oftentimes do not have a safe, open, and welcoming place for church members to invite their lost neighbors, friends, and family to hear the Gospel. To be sure, we can always invite them to our special outreaches, our worship services, and evangelistic meetings, but these can be intimidating to lost people, especially when they realize they are being “targeted” in such meetings. SIAFU Chapters can allow you to host small, non-intimidating, and culturally sensitive gatherings where people can be introduced to the Lord through the testimony and experience of ordinary believers. In the same way that groups like Alcoholics Anonymous have been able to create a warm, safe place for people to come and be exposed to sobriety, so SIAFU Chapters will provide the same warm environment for church members to invite seekers to attend, and be exposed to men and women who love and serve the Lord. Of course, we know that the goal of the Gospel is to bring every person into the Kingdom of God, for it is the power of God for salvation to each one who believes (Rom. 1.16). This includes those described as unlovely, unlikely, and even “dangerous.” The goal of all Christian