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Some Reasons to Visit Another Church

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Christmas Eve, my family and I attended a church service at another church in town. If you don't get a chance to visit other churches periodically it can be a really good thing. Here's why-
 
  • You get to just to "be" in a worship service, and maybe even sit with your family. We attend a small church and most of us are busy during the worship services. Visiting gives us a break.
  • You stay engaged. Face it, when you know it's a welcome, two songs, offering, two songs, special and sermon it's easy to disengage. Or at least it is for me.
  • You don't know everyone's backstory. They're just fellow pilgrims, worshipping Jesus, just like you.
  • You learn things. There's no one right way to do ministry or to do a worship service. 
  • You remember it's not about you. The focus shifts from the role you're supposed to perform to the Savior and Redeemer you've come to worship.

 

What happened the last time you visited another church?
 
 
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Baby and Believers

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Baby stepsThis weekend we got stop and visit my nephew and his wife… and their new baby. What a cutie! My kids- my son especially- were enthralled with her. And with good reason.

Babies are miracles. We celebrate them. We shower them with gifts. We mark each milestone as they grow. But did you ever wonder why we don't do that with baby believers?

We rejoice when someone is born again, but most times, by next week's church service, we expect them to act like fully matured seminary-ready "adult" believers. Granted, the individual has a lot of responsibility for his or her own growth, but so do we as their family.

Do we feed them well when they are hungry?
Do we love on them, and comfort them?
Do we pick them up when they fall?
Do we make sure they rest?
Do we let them "help" even when it means we'll do more work?
Do we watch them for any signs of illness, and get them to see the Great Physician?
Do we see to it they get their vaccinations to protect them from getting sick later?

It's labor intensive, but I suspect someone (probably not the same someone) did all those things for us to get us where we are.

Do you think we often leave new believers to grow themselves up? Who has the greater responsibility for growth- the new believer or the body?

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Lessons on Welcoming Visitors Learned in a Bar

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A neon OPEN sign glowing red in the window of a restaurant
This past Saturday evening, Valentine’s Eve, Jon and I ended up at Applebee’s for dinner. We were headed home after teaching at a retreat Friday night and Saturday. Tired, hungry, anxious to see our kids, we hoped that 8:30 p.m. dinner meant no waiting. Ha! Not on Valentine’s Eve. Five minutes into our wait, the hostess announced there were seats at the bar- no waiting…  I looked at Jon. He looked at me. We’re walking in grace, right? We took the seats.
Now I don’t recommend bar-hopping as a way to learn how to minister more effectively, we did take away a few lessons.
Greeting – We were immediately greeted and welcomed by the bartender and the guys sitting around us. It didn’t matter that we weren’t drinkers.
When newcomers drop in our churches, we need to do our best to make them feel comfortable and connected even if they are not participating in our primary function, that is, even if they aren’t believers. Sometimes what happens, though, is we are so excited to have visitors we can’t help but act weird, and we end up making them feel uncomfortable.
Jargon – There is a lingo that allows a bartender and a patron to communicate. It’s almost like a code. And we have a tremendous body of jargon in the church. It leaves outsiders firmly planted there on the outside.
Cliques – We listened to the guys and the bartender talk about what was going on with some of the other regulars. We had no idea who they were talking about, and it highlighted our status as visitors.
Giving – Both guys had sizable bar tabs- considerably more than our dinners cost, but they each left 40% tips! Do we blow our visitors away with our generosity?
Boldness – We walked back into the bar like we belonged, blessed our food just like we always do. Don’t be surprised when our visitors don’t immediately convert and start doing things our way. They are going to do what makes them most comfortable. We need to be accommodating so that visitors can become regulars.

A neon OPEN sign glowing red in the window of a restaurantThis past Saturday evening, Valentine’s Eve, Jon and I ended up at Applebee’s for dinner. We were headed home after teaching at a retreat Friday night and Saturday. Tired, hungry, anxious to see our kids, we hoped that an 8:30 p.m. dinner meant no waiting. Ha! Not on Valentine’s Eve. Five minutes into our wait, the hostess announced there were seats at the bar- no waiting…  I looked at Jon. He looked at me. We’re walking in grace, right? We took the seats.

Now while I don’t recommend bar-hopping as a way to learn how to minister more effectively, we did take away a few lessons.

Greeting – We were immediately greeted and welcomed by the bartender and the guys sitting around us. It didn’t matter that we weren’t drinkers.

When newcomers drop in our churches, we need to do our best to make them feel comfortable and connected even if they are not participating in our primary function, that is, even if they aren’t believers. Sometimes what happens, though, is we are so excited to have visitors we can’t help but act weird, and we end up making them feel uncomfortable.

Jargon – There is a lingo that allows a bartender and a patron to communicate. It’s almost like a code. And we have a tremendous body of jargon in the church. It leaves outsiders firmly planted there on the outside.

Cliques – We listened to the guys and the bartender talk about what was going on with some of the other regulars. We had no idea who they were talking about, and it highlighted our status as visitors.

Giving – Both guys had sizable bar tabs- considerably more than our dinners cost, but they each left 40% tips! Do we blow our visitors away with our generosity?

Boldness – We walked back into the bar like we belonged, blessed our food just like we always do. Don’t be surprised when our visitors don’t immediately convert and start doing things our way. They are going to do what makes them most comfortable. We need to be accommodating so that visitors can become regulars.

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Allergies in the Body of Christ

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42-16820864

I was sick all last week during my semi-annual battle with my immune responses. 42-16820864We have a spring skirmish and a fall assault each year. The fall one was late- very tricky. However, as I was giving my body a chance to recuperate, sleeping off the antihistamines, I began to wonder if we, as the body of Christ ever suffer from an allergy attack.

An allergic response occurs when the body misidentifies something as an invader and rallies a full immune system response to get rid of it. Do we ever incorrectly identify threats, or invaders? Is our ‘body’ tired, achy or ineffective because we’ve being fighting the wrong things? This is not to say that the body of Christ isn’t threatened from within as well as from the outside. John’s and Peter’s epistle say a great deal about heresy and false teachers. However, we do need some discernment to ensure we’re not at war with something harmless or worse, fighting our own body.

I’m not going to name what I believe have become ‘allergies’ for the church. Our best strategy is to look at Jesus Christ. He had three short years of ministry, so He didn’t waste any time on anything that wasn’t helping fulfill His purpose. How did He minister? What did He address? How did He touch lives?

Go, and do likewise, He said.

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