Whose Job To Learn Whom?

In our worship services here we just finished a message series on the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, based on the book by United Methodist Bishop Robert Schnase. The five practices include: Radical Hospitality, Passionate Worship, Intentional Faith Development, Risk-Taking Mission and Service, and Extravagant Generosity. We now have a group of people examining each of these practices in depth on Sunday mornings.

We've just started our look at Radical Hospitality. Each of us have been asked to recall what it was like to attend a church worship service for the very first time. That's a little hard for me to measure, as most times I've attended a congregation's worship for the first time I am coming in as the new pastor. However, I did remember an occasion quite a while back when I attended a worship service at which I would preach for the first time. Of course, people were very cordial. (What choice did they have; I was the new guy in the pulpit, like it or not.) I was welcomed warmly, and I appreciated that. I do recall, though, that I felt something very noticeable. I got the sense that it was my job to learn and understand them, rather than their job to learn and embrace me. I remember thinking at the time, "If I wasn't assigned here as a pastor, if I was just a person looking for a place to connect with Jesus and to be accepted by those who follow Jesus, and I was made to feel this way, I doubt if I'd come back."

I don't think anyone in any fellowship of Jesus-followers intends to send a message like this. However, life is hard enough, and we have to grasp for attention and work our way into being recognized and approved-of in more than enough ways. It would be nice to walk into a worship service of strangers and get the sense that they're saying, "We don't know who you are, but it's our job to learn you and embrace you, because that's what Jesus calls us to do."

If you are a Jesus-follower and you are a part of a congregation, what was it like the first time you showed up there? I'll see you around the next bend in the river.