Cabot & Dave's Story - You Belong (Even Before You Believe)
Our final Vibrant Family Value is that You Belong (Even Before You Believe).
"So if God gave them the same gift He gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God's way?" Acts 11:17
Check out Cabot and Dave's story about how the church was a place for them to belong and how we can make it the same for others:
"So if God gave them the same gift He gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God's way?" Acts 11:17
Check out Cabot and Dave's story about how the church was a place for them to belong and how we can make it the same for others:
Dave: "My name is Dave Daniel. I've been here in the Mechanicsburg area my whole life and I've also been at Vibrant literally my whole life. I was born on December 22nd, was at the Christmas Eve service on the 24th. So... whole life."
Cabot: "I'm Cabot Lodge, his grandfather, and I've been here over 39 years. As a young boy teenager, twelve years old, I had a good experience with the Lord. But puberty kicked in and my brain kicked out and I walked away from the Lord, now 34 years old. A friend of mine decided to be a Baptist preacher in West Virginia, so he said he'd come and if he'd come visit me on a weekend he had off if I'd go with him to church. So I went to church. And there's this three foot by five foot portrait of Jesus, long hair, beard, the whole thing. At the time, I had a beard and had a fro and of course, the leisure suit. So I'm listening to this guy preach and he's actually trying to make fun of me because everyone else is in their suits with their ties and whatever. So we go back and I'm keeping my mouth shut. And we go back home and have the typical Sunday afternoon dinner and my friend's going, 'What did you think of the preacher?' And I'm telling him things that the guy was abusing in scripture and he's going through his Bible and he's going, 'You're right! You're right!' And he just was amazed. So they got packed up and left and headed back for West Virginia. And we put the kids to bed and my wife, Darcy, looked at me and said 'What in the world happened? What was that all about?' And I said, 'I don't know what's happened but I know one thing: we need to get straight with God and we need to do it now.'
Cabot: "So we looked for a church that was a good strong Bible believing church. We went in and they were very traditional, starched people. And I came in in my leisure suit. And I had a band so I came in smelling like cigarettes and booze. They were so starched I swear they starched their underwear, but they accepted me and put their arm around me and guided me through my growing periods to the point where it wasn't long 'til I was working with youth groups and working with life groups. I soon became an elder and a leader in the church, preaching on Sunday evenings and all kinds of things all because they put their arm around me and put up with a lot of stupid questions."
Dave: "In my late teen years, my early twenties, I really strayed away from God. I played in a band, I was on the road, I was drinking, I was partying. I was not living a life that was in line with my values today. And I had taken some time away from the church, hadn't even really showed up on a Sunday in a few years. And when I decided to start a family and leave that life, I was welcomed back with open arms."
Cabot: "When he walked away, the church didn't walk away from him."
Dave: "No, not at all. Actually it was the exact opposite. I had people constantly checking in on me and asking, 'Hey how are you doing?' 'Coming to church this week? We haven't seen you in a while.' I had people all the time checking in on me. And it's a blessing. So thankful that I came back."
Cabot: "We'd introduce people to Jesus, but we wouldn't cram Him down their throats. We'd let them talk to Jesus as much as they wanted to and help guide them and give them the equipment necessary to succeed in getting their relationship with Him. It wasn't like 'You gotta look like me. You gotta act like me. You gotta do these things like I do.' No. You gotta be you. But let Jesus, the Holy Spirit into your life and see where that takes you."
Dave: "The leisure suit story is something I've heard my whole life, I've heard that story a thousand times. And it's funny, you know, I don't necessarily look like your typical Christian, your person you would see on a stage on a Sunday morning with tattoos and giant holes in my ears. But a person like my grandfather who wasn't ashamed to show up to church as he was, wasn't afraid to just be himself unapologetically led to somebody like me who can be on a stage and lead worship. And ultimately, I hope that I can help disarm people a little bit and feel a little bit more comfortable. It's taught me to really not judge people. You just kind of accept people. Like hey, we're all messy here. This is a place to be messy. That acceptance that Vibrant's always had has been literally everything in my life. I met my wife at this church because she, as a teen mom, was accepted. And if it wasn't for the fact that she was accepted, I never would have met her. I owe a lot to the fact that Vibrant is a place where you are just accepted and loved."
Cabot: "You gotta understand, the only perfect person that ever existed was Jesus. So you're imperfect and so are they. So don't go pointing fingers at them or looking down your nose at them. They're just you before you got to know Jesus. So give them an opportunity."
Dave: "Tell people that, you know, 'Hey you're welcome here. You belong here.' You don't have to have your act together in order to come to church. There's too many people that think you have to be a good Christian in order to be allowed at church. I've heard that too many times, 'I don't have it all together.' 'Let me get my stuff together first.' That's not what it's about. Come here. Get plugged in. And then get your stuff together."
Cabot: "I'm Cabot Lodge, his grandfather, and I've been here over 39 years. As a young boy teenager, twelve years old, I had a good experience with the Lord. But puberty kicked in and my brain kicked out and I walked away from the Lord, now 34 years old. A friend of mine decided to be a Baptist preacher in West Virginia, so he said he'd come and if he'd come visit me on a weekend he had off if I'd go with him to church. So I went to church. And there's this three foot by five foot portrait of Jesus, long hair, beard, the whole thing. At the time, I had a beard and had a fro and of course, the leisure suit. So I'm listening to this guy preach and he's actually trying to make fun of me because everyone else is in their suits with their ties and whatever. So we go back and I'm keeping my mouth shut. And we go back home and have the typical Sunday afternoon dinner and my friend's going, 'What did you think of the preacher?' And I'm telling him things that the guy was abusing in scripture and he's going through his Bible and he's going, 'You're right! You're right!' And he just was amazed. So they got packed up and left and headed back for West Virginia. And we put the kids to bed and my wife, Darcy, looked at me and said 'What in the world happened? What was that all about?' And I said, 'I don't know what's happened but I know one thing: we need to get straight with God and we need to do it now.'
Cabot: "So we looked for a church that was a good strong Bible believing church. We went in and they were very traditional, starched people. And I came in in my leisure suit. And I had a band so I came in smelling like cigarettes and booze. They were so starched I swear they starched their underwear, but they accepted me and put their arm around me and guided me through my growing periods to the point where it wasn't long 'til I was working with youth groups and working with life groups. I soon became an elder and a leader in the church, preaching on Sunday evenings and all kinds of things all because they put their arm around me and put up with a lot of stupid questions."
Dave: "In my late teen years, my early twenties, I really strayed away from God. I played in a band, I was on the road, I was drinking, I was partying. I was not living a life that was in line with my values today. And I had taken some time away from the church, hadn't even really showed up on a Sunday in a few years. And when I decided to start a family and leave that life, I was welcomed back with open arms."
Cabot: "When he walked away, the church didn't walk away from him."
Dave: "No, not at all. Actually it was the exact opposite. I had people constantly checking in on me and asking, 'Hey how are you doing?' 'Coming to church this week? We haven't seen you in a while.' I had people all the time checking in on me. And it's a blessing. So thankful that I came back."
Cabot: "We'd introduce people to Jesus, but we wouldn't cram Him down their throats. We'd let them talk to Jesus as much as they wanted to and help guide them and give them the equipment necessary to succeed in getting their relationship with Him. It wasn't like 'You gotta look like me. You gotta act like me. You gotta do these things like I do.' No. You gotta be you. But let Jesus, the Holy Spirit into your life and see where that takes you."
Dave: "The leisure suit story is something I've heard my whole life, I've heard that story a thousand times. And it's funny, you know, I don't necessarily look like your typical Christian, your person you would see on a stage on a Sunday morning with tattoos and giant holes in my ears. But a person like my grandfather who wasn't ashamed to show up to church as he was, wasn't afraid to just be himself unapologetically led to somebody like me who can be on a stage and lead worship. And ultimately, I hope that I can help disarm people a little bit and feel a little bit more comfortable. It's taught me to really not judge people. You just kind of accept people. Like hey, we're all messy here. This is a place to be messy. That acceptance that Vibrant's always had has been literally everything in my life. I met my wife at this church because she, as a teen mom, was accepted. And if it wasn't for the fact that she was accepted, I never would have met her. I owe a lot to the fact that Vibrant is a place where you are just accepted and loved."
Cabot: "You gotta understand, the only perfect person that ever existed was Jesus. So you're imperfect and so are they. So don't go pointing fingers at them or looking down your nose at them. They're just you before you got to know Jesus. So give them an opportunity."
Dave: "Tell people that, you know, 'Hey you're welcome here. You belong here.' You don't have to have your act together in order to come to church. There's too many people that think you have to be a good Christian in order to be allowed at church. I've heard that too many times, 'I don't have it all together.' 'Let me get my stuff together first.' That's not what it's about. Come here. Get plugged in. And then get your stuff together."