Fellowship: Welcoming Everyone Like Family

This past Wednesday night we showed a film about Fellowship at Remedy. As I set it up I told Bob, “This is one of the main reasons my generation is leaving the church.” Immediately he asked me what I meant. I replied, “My generation wants community, and for many in my generation, all they have found is a service. They want more than a service. They want more than a ‘Good morning’, a ‘Hello’, or a handshake. They want a community.”

Bob then told me that being a father and a husband (and not single), he spends most of his spare time with his family. He asked what that looked like for him. I paused for a second before responding. Then a thought came to mind. God’s been teaching me something that everyone can do. It’s simple, but it’s powerful.

A few weeks ago Bob told me that people, when asked to describe Remedy, said that it was a very welcoming place. Upon entering they explained that they felt loved and accepted. After Bob said this to me another thought came to mind. This is what it was, “This is the way people should feel when they meet you. The people in Remedy should be following the example of Remedy.”

So I began to ask myself that question. “Am I like Remedy?” When people meet me, do they feel welcomed, loved, cared for, accepted…no matter who they are? I thought of the people who I tend to welcome, and those who I tend to shy away from. It was embarrassing to consider. Since then, whenever I interact with people I ask myself, “Does this person really know that they are totally welcomed and loved by me?” and everything changes!

I’ve even been going back to the people who I realize that I didn’t treat in this way (though I was nice) because of their appearance or demeanor. It’s a beautiful and freeing thing to be able to show such welcome and love to anyone. As I’ve been doing this, I’ve been reminded of a quote I once wrote down from a powerful teacher. He said, “You will learn more about Jesus when you live like him for 10 minutes than you ever will by listening to 10 years of sermons.”

We all want to be loved and cared for, to feel like we matter. The challenges is that we, as “the church,” need to take the initiative in engaging the world in that way, letting people know that they are welcome into this family instead of leaving that responsibility to the building on Sunday mornings.

Bob’s response was to have me share this before the “Greeting Time” at the Sunday service.