Do we assume too much . . .

That may seem like a strange question to start with, but hang with me for a few minutes. The full question is – do we assume too much when we assume that everyone knows how we do church? Granted, I grew up in the “Bible Belt” and have been around church for a long time. But everyone living in this area today was not raised in or around church. As our city has grown over the years and even explosively over the last few years, people from all over the country and the world have moved into our area.

Even those of us that were raised in and around church all our lives can be confused by different denominations and beliefs. Let me give you an example: my wife and I went to a wedding this past Saturday at a Baptist church. But, the wedding was conducted in a Lutheran format. If it had not been for the printed order of service, we would have been totally lost. They stood at certain times and sat down at others. There was time’s that the Pastor would speak and the people in attendance would respond. Being raised in a Baptist church all my life, I will admit that I was confused.

Now, let’s think about someone that is invited to attend your church and they have never set foot in a church in their life – church can be a very confusing place. The terms that we use can be confusing. The directions for getting around our church building may seem crystal clear to us and confusing to someone who has never walks our halls before.

Maybe we should take a lesson from “Carrabba’s Italian Grill”. My wife – Irene – and I met some friends there last night for supper. When we arrived, someone met us at the door and welcomed us and asked us how many would be in our party. They walked us to our table – not point and give directions – and seated us with menus. Shortly there was our waitress, along with a waiter in training (mentoring is a great way to learn your job), welcoming us a second time. They made sure that we were comfortable and found out if this was our first time to visit this restaurant. After returning with our drink order, they were able to answer questions that my wife had about terms that were used in the menus that we were given. They checked on us throughout the evening to make sure that we were comfortable and happy. I was impressed that when we wanted to go boxes for our left over food, they took our plates and put it in boxes for us. At the end of the meal they thanked us for coming to the restaurant and for the privilege of serving us.

Maybe visitors would come back more readily to our churches if we took them as seriously as our waiter and waitress did at the restaurant last night. Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and spend some time with a visitor. Who knows – maybe Jesus will change their life.