I loved this story!

This past weekend, while talking about favoritism and opting for LOVE instead, I came across a great story by Max Lucado. I didn’t have time to use it, but thought is was still worth sharing. Check it out:

     What impresses a visitor about a church? Let me tell you about the day I answered that question. A few months back I found myself with a free Sunday. I wasn’t supposed to be back at my church, but as things turned out, I was back from out of town early. So I decided to go have a “church smorgasbord.” 

     I got out the phone book and began making my itinerary. I found four different churches, four different morning services I could attend, one after the other. What an opportunity! For a fellow whose life is church work, but who seldom sees a service from anywhere but the pulpit, this was a chance of a lifetime. 

     Two factors made the morning interesting. First, I hadn’t shaved in four days. Second, all I had to wear were jeans and boots. I opted not to shave and chose not to go home and get a suit. I wanted to see how it felt to be an unknown, displaced visitor. With a four day shadow and dirty jeans, I certainly didn’t appear as deacon material. I didn’t want to. 

     I saw a wide variety of religion. I saw robes. I saw choirs. One preacher was dry. One was great. One church dozed; another applauded. One congregation was wealthy, another was inner-city poor. 

     I made many observations and took a lot of notes. But what impressed me the most was a lady. One member of one church who took the time to shake my hand. 

     She was attending the fourth church of my schedule and she was the first member of all four churches to greet me. I don’t think she was a leader in her church. She didn’t wear any tag or pin that would suggest she was a teacher. She sat alone. I wondered where her husband was. I wondered if she was married. I don’t remember her name. I doubt if she would remember mine. But I do remember that she looked past my casual attire and unkempt face and greeted me like I was the visiting preacher. 

     I left church thinking, “If I was looking for a church… I would visit her’s again. Not because of the sermon, or the singing, or the building. I would come back here because a person in the crowd made me, a stranger in the crowd, feel welcome.” 

     Remember that next Sunday. Remember that the next time you see an unfamiliar face. Remember that the next time you think, “I can’t make a difference.” Remember- a visitor may forget the singing, the sermon and the programs- but they will never forget you, if you make them feel welcome.” 

Now…keep your eyes open to make the next “new person” feel at home!

“If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. ” (James 2:8-9 NIV)