Leadership Thought: What Would Your Church Look Like If Everyone Did This?

Dear Friends,

Yesterday before church I was talking to a member who every Sunday sits in the same area of our Family Worship Center. I suggested to him that he might want to try and sit somewhere else for a change as he might meet some new people.

 "I am a creature of habit," he responded. "I don't like to move around,  so I sit in the same general place each Sunday."

I knew him well enough to say to him, "Sometimes we need to break old habits," and I then suggested he might want to sit in a different area so he could connect with someone he didn't know and perhaps make a new friend." 

I am glad to say he responded and said, "I think you are right and maybe I will give it a try."

Now I don't know if he made any new friends on Sunday, but I do know that unless we come to church with the intention of making new friends, we will miss wonderful ministry opportunities.

Like LEGOs we were made to connect with others.

Americans today are less connected than at any other time I can remember. We are like marbles. We bump up against each other for a milli second and then we scatter.

The church doesn't need rabbit hole Christians who pop out of their hole on Sunday morning, come to church, and then as soon as the last hymn is sung, scurry back home to their hole where they can hide from others for the rest of the week. 

Because we don't make the time to engage with others on Sunday mornings, we and  others we are the less for it.

I remind our people that we were created for community and fashioned for fellowship. God wants us to be connectors.

Genesis 2:18 states "Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.".

God didn't just create one human, but two.

The church is called a body and as a body we all have different parts and different roles so that together we can serve one another. 

The church is  a family and if one of the members of that family is hurting or in need, another part of that body should automatically respond.

Every Sunday I come to church with  a goal of meeting and making at least one new friend. 

If every member of your church would come with the same goal and commitment, just think of the difference it would make in your church. 

Relationships matter to God, and they must matter to us.

We don't have to be best friends with everyone, but we do need to know some people well, and for that to happen we must be intentional about building  relationships.

It doesn't matter if you’re an extrovert or an introvert. You need to be connected.

Salvation in the New Testament was never meant to be an individual experience.

There are many good reminders in the Bible about the importance of buildings relationships, but one of  the most memorable is found in  Ecclesiastes 3:9-12.

"Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed, but if one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. but how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple braided cord is not easily broken." Ecclesiastes 3:9-12)

As you prepare to worship next Sunday, I suggest you pray and ask the Lord to help you meet and make a new friend. 

"LEGOS  are wonderful toys but no LEGO can be any more than it is until it is put together with others." ("The LEGO Principle:5 Reasons for Connecting," from the internet, no author given)

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom