“Greet one another
with a holy kiss.” Romans 16:16a
One day in the mid 1970’s when I
was serving as an Associate Minister at the First Christian Church in Colorado
Springs, the Senior Minister, Warren Hile, told me I was spending too much
time with individuals on Sunday mornings. There were about 400 people
in worship, and he said I was not shaking hands with enough people.
We talked about this for a while. The result? I started spending
less time conversing with individuals and more time roaming from one person
to another saying 'hello'. I found this very hard to do. I
would have much rather spent longer amounts of time with a few than short
periods of time with many. I didn’t kiss people as Paul suggests,
but I started shaking a lot of hands.
In a Dawn Breaker some time ago,
I mentioned Lyle Schaller’s counsel for leaders to speak to each person
in church each time they see them. He reminds us that people have
a need to connect with leaders in order to feel welcome as a part of the
community. This is something that is ongoing. This re-connecting
must happen each time people come together or people begin to feel disenfranchised
and will move on, or, they may drop out of church altogether. After
learning why it was important for me as a leader to “glad hand” everyone,
I felt much better about it. In fact, I started looking for ways
to make it happen that would be more appealing to me. For example,
rather than “work a room,” I would arrive at an event early enough to stand
by the main entrance, greeting people as they entered a room. I worked
to make people feel welcome as soon as they arrived. This enabled
me to have longer conversations later. I know I do not succeed all
the time, but helping people feel welcome is something I often do.
On occasion, I have found myself doing this when I am a guest!
Last week I observed something
that caused me to think this type of connecting is important for all of
us, not just the leaders in a group. “Believe it or not” I discovered
this from watching two things. One is the Discovery channel on television.
The second, our dog, Jackie. Television helped me to understand something
about Jackie. I have come to believe that animal behavior often serves
the same purpose in the human species of animals.
When I come home from work, Jackie
comes to the door to greet me. As much as possible, Linda and I go
for a walk about ten minutes after my arrival. We are gone about
30 minutes. When we enter the house, Jackie comes to the door to
greet us. The greeting is about the same as it was after being gone
all day. If, ten minutes later, I go to the store and return in fifteen
minutes, Jackie comes to the door to greet me. The greeting is about
the same as it was after being gone all day. This scenario repeats
itself again and again.
According to the animal experts,
she is bonding with her pack and reaffirming her position and role in the
pack. Whether it is a pod, a pack, or a gaggle, this type of behavior
is lived out in one fashion or another. Humans are no different.
It is important, yea, vital, that we connect with each other on a regular
basis. Congregations who work to make people feel welcome again and
again and again, usually have people hang around long enough to learn something
about the love of Jesus Christ.
Dawn Breaker #79:
Wherever I am, what ever I am doing, greet people. God designed us
to bond with each other.
"There are a number of
guidelines I try to follow in life and ministry. I find that when I follow
them, situations sometimes become like the rising of the sun. There
is a luminous glow turning to great light, and occasionally, inspiration.
When I don't follow these adopted guidelines, they sometimes become Don
breakers, making life frustrating at best. I do not suggest
you should live by all the principles I choose for my life. If they
are helpful for you, make them your own. They work for me."
Don Shelton
|
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
