Knock, Knock

I have never really understood much about things closely associated with that “Old-Timey Religion.” In fact, in most cases I have been bitter/resentful or just plain rude to things connected with it.

This is especially true with visitation.

I don’t know what it is- I’m not very big on people dropping by my house uninvited/unexpected. It’s not that I’m not a good host. I LOVE having people over. I like to cook for a group (Next time you’re over, let’s do steaks). I like to entertain with movies/board games/sports. I thoroughly enjoy a deep conversation over GOOD cups of coffee sitting on the couch. (It should be noted that there is such a thing as an Un-good cup of coffee.)

I just like all that stuff a lot better when I invited you over.

I think that that’s my biggest hang up when it comes to visitation. Deep down, I feel like they’re just waiting for me to finish whatever I’m talking about and leave. At least that’s what I’d be thinking if you randomly knocked on my door and started inviting me to church.

Maybe I’ve just been too private with my private life.

Maybe I just lived in New England a little too long and I need to readjust back to a simpler “Southern Hospitality” way of doing things.

I have said time and again that I want to go wherever God leads me.

I have always said that I am not tied to a particular methodology and am willing to do whatever works (even what’s uncomfortable to me) to push the Gospel forward.

So why do I still have an aversion to things like visitation?

It could be that I’m prideful. It’s a sin that I have to wrestle with every day. Jesus still has much to change in me regarding my arrogance. He is continually drilling into my head that my methodologies aren’t THE methodologies.

I am young. I am dumb. And everybody knows it. It’s not some big secret. I regularly put my foot in my mouth in a very public way. I am bumbling through this world as I figure out what kind of man and what kind of pastor God would have me to be.

But could my aversion also have to do with something else?

Could it be that my pride is not the only contributing factor?

What if it’s also rooted in a deep desire to see the Gospel go out and for that “going out” to actually be affective?

What if the stats say that our church fails to reach younger generations well?

What if the stats say that we have never done so?

What if, as a 27 year old, I speak for a large portion of my own generation and maybe even the generations around mine and say: “I don’t like it when people drop by my house.”?

I concede my pride.

I concede the arrogance of my supposedly “proven methodologies”.

I concede that I am inexperienced when it comes to outreach ministry in the South.

As such, I should shut up and cheerfully try visitation.

But the sin of pride in my own methodologies very closely mirrors the sin of pride in many of your own.

As I said before, (whether I’m there yet or not,) I want to be in a place where I can truthfully say that I’d rather do what works for the cause of the Gospel than hold to traditions.

Even if those traditions are loved and created by me.

But are you willing to do the same?

Are you willing to part with things/methods/actions that you love (whether that be “Sleek- &-New” or “Old-Timey-&-True”) simply to push the Gospel forward?

Don’t worry, I’m not there yet either.

But can we commit to pursuing it together?

I think that may be the truest mark of a great church.