Welcome
Could it be the popular church culture phrase, “You are welcome here!” is doing us more harm than good?
Don’t get me wrong. I believe our local churches should be a warm and welcoming place. Everyone should be welcome on our campus and in our building. We should go to great lengths to make sure guests are welcomed and quickly connected to the life of the church. However, if all we are doing is waiting for people to show up because we have prepared for them to show up, we may be in for a weekly disappointment.
Looking at Jesus will give us some insight as to why, “You are welcome here!” might not be where we want to spent all of our time. Yes, Jesus spent time in the synagogue. However, he didn’t hang out there waiting for people to find him. Jesus went to where people could be found. Now, I would not suggest our new slogan be, “We are going to hunt you down and find you!” However, there are some lessons Jesus can teach us to transform our passive approach.
Jesus went to Samaria. In other words, he went to where the spiritual outcasts would be found. He did not wait for the spiritual outcasts to make their way to church. Jesus took the church to them.
Jesus went to the unclean. In other words, he went to the people that were excluded from spiritual gatherings.
Jesus went to the sinners. He knew they had a reputation and he loved them.
Jesus went to the synagogue. He went to where the spiritual insiders could be found and let them know that not all of them were spiritual insiders. However, if they wanted to experience abundant life, Jesus wanted to show them how.
Over and over again, Jesus didn’t sit passively around waiting for people to find him. He left the synagogue and went to where lost people could be found and introduced them to what life could be like. Every week we are where lost people can be found. Will our love be so compelling that they assume we have found the real meaning of life?
If neither “You are welcome here” nor “We are going to hunt you down and find you” work, then what might work? I personally like “I love you enough to meet you where you are.”