Diana Weishaar. She is and has been my lifelong bosom buddy. We teamed up before I can even remember, as pictures of us as toddlers attest, and have been best friends ever since. With the exception of a rocky period around 3rd grade, I don’t recall ever being out of sorts with each other. I treasure her so much and I know I can spill my guts to her, and she will love me still-no matter how much of my “ugly” spirit I reveal. I consider her to be one of the best gifts God has given me. Unfortunately, our friendship is mainly by phone now. She lives in Padukah and we don’t get to see each other very often. Thankfully, we know that if one of us needs the other, we are just a phone call away.
When my kids were growing up, my desire for them was never that they would be “most popular” or part of the “cool” kids. I just prayed for each of them to have at least one person they could count on. If there was one, I knew they would never feel totally alone.
At school, I see some students who always seem to be surrounded by others. Maybe they have a contagious smile, are naturally friendly, or have that illusive everyone-wants-to-be- me charisma that draws others to them. On the other hand, a student or two always seems to either be alone or trying too hard to fit in. I bet, if the truth were known, most of us have felt like that student at one time or another.
Have you ever been in a huge crowd and felt totally alone? Maybe it was a conference or workshop, a busy restaurant, or even a ball game. Maybe it was at church. That may seem like an oxymoron, but I know it can be true. Our family has visited in more than one relatively large congregation while we were on trips or just away from home on Sunday and have been very disappointed when no-one spoke to us. One time, no one even made eye contact with me. What’s up with that?
When this happens, I always wonder-what about our church? Do we make newcomers feel welcome? I hope visitors leave our congregation overwhelmed by our friendliness, feeling inundated with an outpouring of the love of Christ. I’m afraid for some this might not be the case. Our fellowship hall can be a pretty intimidating spot after Sunday services. It seems everyone rushes to the same groups every Sunday visiting up a storm. But…what if you are a visitor, a new member, or just not part of a group? The temptation might be to run out the front doors as quickly as possible. I know it is hard to just walk up to someone you don’t know and start a conversation. What if you say the wrong thing? Someone might think you are a dork, a ding-a-ling, or an idiot. Or… that person might be extremely grateful for a kind word, a handshake, an acknowledgment that they are a valued human being.
I guess what I am suggesting- to myself first of all- let’s all step out of our comfort zones, look around us, and go out of our way to make Scott Avenue Christian Church a place of friends-true friends. I pray that we will remember what it is like to be lost and lonely and show to others the compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience spoken of in Colossians 3:12.
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