` This week I’ve been attending The Leadership Institute at Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. Church of the Resurrection in one of the largest, fastest growing United Methodist churches in the world. I had an interesting experience the first night I was here. Having just arrived I asked the clerk at the hotel desk if there was a good Mexican restaurant nearby. He informed me that there was an On the Border just around the corner.
At the restaurant the hostess seated me right away. But then I sat there for several minutes before the manager finally came over and asked me if had been helped. When he realized I had been waiting for some time he took my order. Just after the manager left my waiter arrived. The manager came back and informed him that my order had been taken. From then on the server lived up to his title, giving me excellent service.
When I finished my meal the waiter informed me that there was no charge for my dinner. He apologized for his slow response at the beginning. It was clear that the manager had had a little talk with this employee.
I left that restaurant with a different attitude toward this restaurant chain, especially the one in Kansas City. I also began to think about the Christian church in general and Minor Memorial in particular. I wondered how guest feel when they visit our church. I wondered if they feel like they get “added value” for their investment of time and effort to attend our worship services. Are people blessed by our music? Are they encouraged and strengthened by the messages? Are they made to feel welcomed and comfortable? Do they leave feeling that this is a place where they could really belong.
I have to confess that I have seen several visitors over the past year sitting in the fellowship hall by themselves. It is so easy to let this happen. One conference speaker this week at the Leadership Institute smiled when he said, “Every church is friendly. Unfortunately, we are too often just friendly to one another. We don’t always include our guests.”
Becoming a part of a new church is not easy. Helping people experience real community is hard work. It is every church member’s responsibility to help make this happen. We have all had bad experiences at a restaurant. Excellent service makes a lasting impression. Creating the kind of atmosphere that attracts others to God’s church is “job one” for every church member. It won’t happen without YOU!
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2 comments:
On your profile you have your industry: religion and your occupation: pastor. For me, that is one of the problems. Within your religous organization you have rules that you have to follow. It would appear that you were never free to be what God wanted you to be because you were tied to all of those rules. Organized religion tries to keep everything in neat little boxes. How is the Spirit of God able to move within the confines of all of these neat little boxes that the institutional churches have built? I don't even like to be called a "christian" anymore because that also is another little box. I am a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ from Nazereth and He is who I follow. The Bible tells us that "we, the believers" are the Church. The buildings are NOT the church. At church we are not free to serve or move as the Spirit moves within us. We go into church as we would a concert or a movie. We are simply spectators. For many, they are just following the rules and attending the weekly show. They may get excited at the pastor's message and even feel touched for a moment in their heart, but after the show is over it is easily forgotten. I don't mean any disrespect towards you personally but pastor's are generally put on a pedastal and people tend to worship them instead of the Lord. I know this because many years ago when I was married, I had two brother-in-laws that were pastors, each with their own church. As an insider I saw alot of pastor worshipping going on. They both are gifted in speaking and can give great sermons. I heard all of the "amens" as the preaching was going on. It was always a great show. However, I didn't see the people going out any different than when they came in. They would go back to their lives as though that message went in one ear and out the other. Even my own parent-in-laws would return home and while we were having dinner, they would gossip and slander half of the people in the church, yet they called themselves christians.
Institutional church is not where it's at and it never was. People need to be told that the church building is not the church. The pastor is not the church. "WE" are the Church. We need to be taught and encouraged to be the Church every day, all day. No matter where we are or what we are doing we are the Church. When we see someone that is hurting, we should stop and give them a shoulder to lean on and offer to pray for them. When we see that someone needs help, we should help them and offer to pray for them. There are opportunities every day to show someone the love of God that lives within us. The world in general sees that christians have become hypocrites, gossipers. money grabbers and such. It does not speak to them of the love of God. I have a new friend and now brother from Africa that I met through the Organic Church website. I reached out to him and asked him if he would be my friend and told him that I was in need of encouragement. He is a very busy person. He is a true servant of the Lord. He is helping people in his country that have aids/HIV. He is planting simple churches. He is "out doing" and not just talking. However, he took the time out of his very busy life of serving those in his own country and wrote to me several times. I got more of the love of God out of those few letters than I ever got out of an institutional church! This is the way that Jesus taught us. We were never meant to be confined to the walls of a beautiful and costly box. The churches in America take in billions of dollars every year yet there are people in our country (USA) that are hungry and needy. Their are people in Afica that are dying on the side of the road for lack of food and water. This should not be. As a believer in Christ, I am ashamed that this is happening. Being a pastor should not be anyone's occupation. It should be one's calling and they should be a servant to the people and not the other way around. They are to teach other's to be diciples so that they can keep moving on to teach other people. I feel that just as there are pew warmers, there are also pulpit warmers and neither are doing what the Lord intended them to do. There were times when Jesus walked with His diciples but there was many times that He walked alone. He was contantly going about serving and teaching. He is our example. Although many of us are not called to serve in another country, we have many people within our own communities that need us. There is much to be done and you can't do anthing when you are sitting in a box with rules and regulations that are not scriptual.
God Bless,
Terri
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