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Make
Yourself at Home!
by
George Pearsons
Have
you been sitting in church lately and felt like something's missing? The
worship's great and the preaching's better than ever. You're so full of
the Word, you're about to pop. But in the midst of the feast, you notice
there's still a hunger.
Then you look next to you and see a total stranger. For three rows up, the
faces look vaguely familiar but you can't quite recall the names. You
don't know who these people are or what's on their hearts.
That's the problem. You don't feel connected to those around you. There's
no sense of belonging. Church just doesn't feel like home.
Many Christians today have come to accept that sense of isolation as
normal. But it's not!
According to Ephesians 3, the Church is God's family, and the members
should be knit together in love (Col. 2:2). In a family, people know you.
You're missed when you're away and there's rejoicing at your return.
People laugh when you're happy and encourage you if you're sad. They serve
cake at your children's weddings. They comfort you when it's time to say
goodbye to relatives who've gone on to be with the Lord.
Spiritually, you need those kinds of relationships - not just with
relatives, but with our brothers and sisters in the Lord. So, don't treat
church like an impersonal training center where strangers come together to
worship and hear the latest teaching. Instead, follow the instructions of
the Apostle Paul: "Welcome and receive (to your hearts) one another
... ." and "be mindful to be a blessing especially to those ...
who belong to God's family" (Rom. 15:7; Gal. 6:10 AMP).
Get to know the people around you. Find out who they are, where they work,
and what's on their heart. Invite them over for dinner. See if there's a
way you can minister to them.
Just as you would at home, look around the church and see what needs to be
done. Find a place to plug in and labor with other members. Learn what
it's like to rub shoulders with them while you're doing dishes after a
church supper, changing a diaper in the nursery, or praying for someone at
the hospital.
Yes, it's important to have good teaching and wonderful worship. But when
you walk through those doors and see the faces, God wants you to know
you're home. |
