There is a story told, apocryphal of course, about a black man in one of the Southern States of America. it was pre-integration days, and he was standing outside a church which was attended by whites only.

As it happened it was quite close to where he lived, and he was seriously considering attempting to go there on a Sunday morning rather than travel several miles to an all black church. He was standing outside, trying to get enough courage to face what would surely prove an impossible task anyhow, when he looked up, and there was Jesus standing beside him.

Jesus asked him what he was doing there, and he said he was trying to figure out a way to get into that church. Jesus smiled and said, “Oh I know well how you feel. Actually I myself have been trying for years to get into that Church!” [Jack McArdle]

The important thing for Jesus is not what we do to him, but how we’ve grown up in our relationship with Him.