Carpet Talk.

So, a year or so ago our church renovated the sanctuary. The old one was about 50 years old and wasn't up-to-date or always functioning properly. The new sanctuary is beautiful, and naturally people want to keep it that way.


I definitely agree with that. As stewards we should take care of what we have. But when that begins to take priority over the true mission of the church, that's a little ridiculous.

When you go to church, there's always that awkward walk from your car to the greeters. You're walking down the sidewalk, staring straight at the ushers and greeters, trying not to trip. You can be an early-talker, and strike up a nice little conversation before you reach the steps, but then you run the risk of running out of things to say, therefore walking up the stairs without anything left to say. You could also be a stairs-talker. That way, you keep a nice conversation going with the ushers until you get all the way into the building. However, while you make that walk up to the side walk you have to pretend to make a conversation with your family, step on pecans, maybe eat a few or you can just walk with your head down like you're on a mission.



This is awkward for me, and I've gone to the same church for all my life! Maybe some people have mastered the walk...but I just go through the side door now.



Now imagine if you had to do this on your first time to a church. Super awkward, right? People come to the church empty and in desperate need of love. They put themselves in a vulnerable position just coming to church. That may sound weird, but it takes a lot of guts to show up at a church by yourself. Now imagine, it being your first time at church, and on your way up the steps you see numerous signs, bluntly stating,

"PLEASE NO FOOD OR DRINK IN THE SANCTUARY, BOTTLED WATER IS OK."

How would that make you feel, the first thing you saw as you came to a church. Not only do you have to deal with your first time going to a church, but now worrying about if if you acceptable to these people! It made me not even want to go to church when I saw these signs? I'm the girl who got a prize if she didn't cry all day in kindergarten, so I'd say I'm pretty sensitive.

When people come to the church, they want to be loved. They do not want to be judged or critiqued. We can all agree on that, but it's hard to put into practice. We get so distracted by other church priorities, such as keeping the carpet clean, making sure everyone had their name tags or memorizing John Wesley quotes that we can forget the core, and what should be our one priority as a church; to love as God loves.

I'm definitely not saying we should let people bring giant tubs of popcorn and let them grind it into our new carpet, just to make that clear. I do say though, that I'd rather have a spilled (pineapple) soda on the carpet if it's gonna mean someone will feel loved enough to come back to our church and grow a relationship with God.

What do ya think?