Finally Made It!

I am not much of a trend setter, I’ll admit it. I will go so far to say that I often swim against the current, resisting trends, so no one will be surprised to know that yesterday I finally made it to the Custard Stand for the first time this year. Yeah, I know it took me five full days to make the pilgrimage that some look so forward to, but I finally made it and now I am good for a few months. My own attitude causes me to wonder how the church might get people so excited about God that folks actually looked forward to Sundays…I also wonder how to connect with those folks who, like me, resist. Believing as Wesley did, that we encounter God through Scripture, tradition, experience, & reason (remember the Quadrilateral?); it would seem to me that for the unchurched, experience carries a lot of weight. I cannot imagine that Scripture or tradition will influence the unchurched. Reason, I would think, means little without an experience. I know God can and will work in ways I cannot fathom, but someone’s first experience with God, with God’s children, and with the church is going to influence them tremendously. Forget the protocol on Sunday mornings; what does a guest at our church experience? Their first encounter could make an eternal difference. Are they treated like an outsider at a private gathering, or do they have an encounter with our loving, gracious God?