July 21, 2014
Making Disciples
I am somewhat dismayed by the
lack of greeting extended to visitors in the various churches. It doesn’t seem
to matter whether the worship service numbers eight or 300. My experience is
showing that extending a hand in fellowship is sorely lacking. I have to laugh
when I consider that the battle cry for many churches today is, “making and maturing
disciples for Christ.” I’m here to tell you that if we can’t even welcome
strangers into our worship, it’s beyond me that we think we can make disciples.
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Gail;
-----Scientific studies have shown that when something of obvious personal value, a woman’s purse, for instance, is abandoned in an area where some people are moving through and others are just hanging around, precious few will take it upon themselves to guard the purse. But when someone is specifically asked to guard it for a moment, most are willing and do it well. Unless a person has a natural inclination for doing a particular thing, they are most likely not to do it when others are around whom they think might do it. This comes from our most innate penchant for perceiving everything in the framework of “me” or “them”, “mine” or “somebody else’s”. And quite simply, if the responsibility has not been specifically delegated to me, then it must be someone else’s.
-----None of that should apply to greetings. But it has been applied. And it might be part of the problem. Most churches designate a couple or more greeters to stand at the doors and greet. Lovely. Now the duty is done, freeing everyone else to focus on populating pews. This isn’t much different from many other Christian rituals which take the place of genuine actions from genuine attitudes.
-----If discipleship is really important, then it will involve teaching the importance of certain social processes and how to instigate them. The greeting isn’t just that someone has said, “Hi,” and shook a hand while having a plank smile Velcroed under-nose. Greeting a visitor is for extending a proper welcome, acquainting him with a place in the group, and giving him a springboard for more interaction. I’ve never heard of a church teaching this kind of thing. I’ve never heard a series of sermons directed at the goal of instilling this into the normal demeanor of the congregation. I've never seen a group of elders purposefully becoming this character, which would go far towards growing the same throughout the congregation. But then, I’ve never gotten around a lot, either, I've never felt welcome amongst strangers.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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