I have been thinking a lot about the
I read recently of a hospital that was trying to drastically improve their patient care by focusing on how it felt to be a patient. Here is what they did: They put someone on a gurney with a video camera and had them record what it felt like to be a patient. Doctors and nurses and technicians were a bit startled to see that perspective. Lying down, looking straight up, all the patient could see was lights and ceiling ties. Winding around corners, down halls, and up and down elevators was amazingly discombobulating. Often the patient was left in place while unknown people moved by. All around were disembodied voices talking in technical jargon. Occasionally, a head would pop into view to ask a question. People who saw this video become much more intentional about what the patient was experiencing. They were clearer to the patient about where they were going and what was going on and more regular about getting into the patients field of view.
This reminded me very much of my first few times in a church. What we forget is that people who are not Christians do not know what to expect and do not know what is going on. There is a lot of fear and anxiety. For me, everything moved a little too fast and I felt incredible self-conscious and out of place. From where I sit on Sunday morning, I see that look all the time from new people. They walk through the doors of the sanctuary and they look confused and trapped. There is no clear indication of where they should sit. Often they have to look around to find a seat and then fight their way to it. Too often, that seat is not on the end of an isle. Only a person who has gone to church many years would think that it is ok for a new person to have to ask someone to move. Had that been me the first time, I would have left.Our mission as a church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Part of that mission includes inviting and welcoming people who have had no previous relationship with Christ. I invite you, the next time you are in church, to ask yourself, “Can I see through the eyes of a seeker?” Look at the church from the parking lot to the sanctuary and back out again as though you knew nothing about Christianity and nothing about the people of our church. Pretend you don’t know where we worship or what a narthex is. Walk into the sanctuary as though you know no one and nothing about the service that was about to take place. Pretend you don’t know that you need a bulletin or that our songs are in something called a hymnal. Pretend you have never “passed the peace” or sung a doxology or had an offering plate placed in your hands. Pretend you have never even heard of communion. Would you feel safe? Would you feel welcome? Would you be clear about what was expected of you? Would you come back again?
Can you see through the eyes of a seeker?
will
5 comments:
Small business owners are told to use this technique also: walk through the FRONT door and go to the front of the counter and what do you see--how do you feel?
Excellent point, Will. We get in our routine and don't think of how new people must feel--especially if we grew up in the church and it's all second nature to us. We know how things are "supposed" to be, we know the responses, we know how to act.
I went to a Catholic mass once and had no clue what was going on.
Will - This post is great; it really makes one think about why we are setting out on the journey that we are on - both short-term with the move of th 9:45 service to the sanctuary, and longer-term with the move of our church to new, unfamiliar territory.
I believe that our vision of the future and what we can do about it right now is the key. I keep focus on two points that Don Nations summarized so wonderfully in a recent training session:
1st - God wants good things to happen to us - if we are open to it!
2nd - Our focus can't be inward; it has to be outward because we are Ambassador's for Christ and our church is a missionary outpost of the kingdom of God!
Change is oh so difficult. But I truly believe that if we make decisions based on direction from God and not based on our emotions, we can only be victorious in reaching those people that don't yet have a relationship with Christ. And isn't that what we are called to do?
Good word, brother Will. I concur. I recently went to a Catholic Mass -- just to see what it felt like to be a visitor. I highly recommend that anyone who wants to truly understand, go visit a mass or a jewish service. (Something that is different enough that you don't know the tradition, what comes next, or why everyone else knows what to say and when to say it.) You find yourself so busy watching those around you so that you don't stick out that you miss meeting with Jesus.
I appreciated Ryan's invitation to visit a worship service of a completely different religion. If you're a protestant, visiting another protestant church doesn't count. In order to experience the kind of awkwardness Will is speaking about, a person must place him/herself in unfamiliar territory. Only then will eyes be opened. (And even that's conditional because true extraverts rarely experience that feeling of fear or reluctancy. Think "introvert" and you're likely to hit the mark.)
I love the conversation on this. Thanks for the additional insight. We should probably all take Ryan's advice every so often so that we keep out eyes open.
I try to be conscious when I attend even secular things. If I go to a sporting event in a venue I have never been to, I try to pay attention to how I feel and what sort of things are making me feel that way.
I love the insight about introverts and extraverts!
peace,
will
Post a Comment