Service Without Grumbling

Over the weekend, we got together with another couple and went out to dinner.  The location was cute.  The space was a bit odd, but they had done the best with it that they could have.  The food was very good.  It wasn't the best steak I've ever eaten, but it was very good.  The time spent with our friends was fun.  We caught up on years gone by and made big plans for the future.  Everything was wonderful....almost.  Both of the ladies who came to our table were rude.  At first, I thought it was just my opinion, but my friend mentioned something to me, as well.  Then the husbands got in on it.  It was unanimous.  The service was lacking.  Rude people don't necessarily make my food taste bad, but they definitely sour the entire experience. 

Our family has lived in six different locations in the past three years.  We've spent as little as three months in one home and as much as a year in another.  With all of this moving about, we've managed to visit quite a few churches.  The conversations that we have leaving the parking lots are always interesting.  We discuss things like, did you like the worship?  Did you enjoy the sermon?  Kids, did you like the classes?  But one of the most telling things that we have observed is this:  Did anyone speak to you?  If we have been to a service and not a soul spoke to us, we usually don't want to go back...even if the worship was phenomenal.  However, when someone turns and talks to us during the greeting portion of the service, or when someone sees us in the hallway and starts a conversation, we automatically like the church even if the styles of worship or sermon were less than compelling.  So, my verdict is that the human element of any type of establishment is largely important.

If we were to have guests in our home and I didn't say hello, I didn't clean up in advance, I didn't prepare some sort of refreshment or make an effort to see to their comfort, I would be far from the mark of hospitality.  Hospitality is an often overlooked spiritual gift, but it is a vital part of our relationship with others inside the Body of Christ.  It is the job of God Himself to draw everyone to Himself, but we are the ones responsible for making others feel welcome in their encounters with Him.  We set the tone in our homes, businesses, classrooms and churches.  We are the ones who provide the atmosphere that can either lead people into God's presence...or away. 

1 Peter 4:9-10 says "offter hospitality to one another without grumbling.  Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms."  It's quite simple, really.  We just need to be nice and think of the needs of others.  There is a warmth that comes from kindness.  All the people in town can visit our church, but if we do not make them feel welcomed, they probably won't come back.  We can invite people into our homes and feed them every night, but if we don't engage them in conversation and make them feel at home in our space, then they won't feel like our interest in them was sincere. 

As I mentioned earlier, the meal we ate with our friends was very good, but it could have been a fabulous experience if only the ladies who served us had smiled and answered our questions with warmth.  As children of God, we can't forget to welcome others into the presence of God.  It can mean the difference between a good experience and a God experience for them.