God Wants a Balanced Church

We founded Open Door Center for a specific purpose: God wants a balanced Church. We were aware of the need for a Jesus Christ-centered church that was “liberal” in its Open & Accepting stance toward many whom the church had historically excluded, while remaining firmly “conservative” in our stance on the tenets of the New Testament Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” (Luke 7:33-34)

Poor John the Baptist and Jesus! With certain religious people, neither of them could win! Have you ever felt that way? We certainly have. And that’s why God called Open Door Center to exist.

Many of us knew what it was like to attend churches that were faithful to the Word of God: Jesus Christ was proclaimed to be the only-begotten Son of God, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. How wonderful! But something was wrong. We noticed that many of these churches were filled with the holier-than-thou, self-righteous “frozen chosen.” They were filled with the “saints” who were always ready to cast the first stone. Church members ostracized us for not fitting in. They alienated us for not measuring up to their “standards.” Oh, and by the way… Many of their rules, they did not even comply with themselves!

On the other hand, many of us tried to attend churches where, seemingly, there was an environment of “unconditional love and acceptance.” But alas, we discovered that these were churches that had compromised the gospel by casting doubt on the inerrancy of Scripture, questioning the divinity of Jesus, and denying His bodily resurrection.

And surprisingly, we learned that these “liberal” churches can be every bit as ostracizing and excluding as the “conservative” churches we escaped from! In these churches, we were ostracized and excluded for our theologically, politically, and socially conservative views.

Because of these realities, Open Door Center is a rare church in today’s world: “Conservative in our beliefs, Liberal in our open and affirming love.”

God wants a balanced Church. So finally, there is a “conservative-liberal church,” where Jesus Christ is ALL, and ALL are welcomed!

Our kind is not very popular in today’s world. Being a conservative liberal or a liberal conservative will not make you very popular in today’s environment. People expect you to be one or the other and have disdain for “the other.”

At this Open Door church we love and accept all people. All who come in peace are welcome.

So if you have the courage to join the ranks of Jesus, John the Baptist, and us by rejecting groupthink, please come and join us!