In my first church, I learned that mission matters. Why? Because at that church there didn’t seem to be a clear missional target. There was no poster on the wall dictating what you could get a star for.
What were we trying to do?
What were we trying to accomplish?
What did it mean to get a “win”?
I learned that the poster for stars needed to be about turning unchurched people into fully devoted followers of Christ.
And that singular mission fuels me to this day.
And remember, people tend to do what you give stars for.
4. Everyone deserves a special day.
The last lesson I’ll mention from my first church is that everyone needs a special day.
Remember what it was like to go to school on your birthday? Your mom may have made cupcakes for everyone. You got to go to the head of the line for lunch. You were treated special.
All day.
In my first church, I learned that everyone deserves a special day.
Maybe not with cupcakes, but with attention.
At my first church, I did every hospital visit, every wedding, every funeral. I visited people whose only ailment was an ingrown toenail or who had a tough day at work (I know, it seems ridiculous, but I have stories.).
Yet there was something about the visit, the personal attention, the… presence.
Granted, I now lead a church where (by necessity) that is neither my primary nor my best role. It’s not even a possibility.
(We can talk about the pros and cons of that later. Hint: it’s mostly pros.)
But it is still my role to ensure that it is cared for.
And I do.
And, for what it’s worth, I still do countless personal appointments every week; in truth, about as many as my schedule can physically handle. What I’m trying to say is that people matter to God, and therefore they should matter to us. To put it bluntly, we are in the people business.
That’s easy to forget.
I try to remind myself every day that I get up in the morning for,
… single-parent moms,
… college students,
… hard-working parents,
… skeptics,
… divorcees,
… the unemployed,
… the sick,
… the widow,
… the ….
Well, you get the point.
If I ever forget it’s all about the people, then I have forgotten what Jesus has called my life to be about.
And forgotten everything I ever learned in kindergarten.
Sorry,
… I meant my first church.
This article about my first church originally appeared here, and is used by permission.
