This is how long ago it was: My friends and I were waiting to eat dinner in a Western Sizzlin’. It was a larger-than-usual Friday night crowd at the Sizzlin’—and the truth is even an average Friday night at Western Sizzlin’ was pretty big—so I wouldn’t have noticed Roger’s arrival at all if he hadn’t yelled. Nor would I have known his name was Roger had he not told us. “HELLO!” he shouted. “MY NAME IS ROGER. ACCEPT JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR AND BE SAVED TONIGHT!” And with that, Roger left the way he had arrived, leaving my friends and me to return to our talk of movies and sirloins and to ponder privately the state of our souls.
So, I’ve been thinking. With the reopening of more restaurants, maybe it’s time for Glenn Church to make a splash. It only takes one person per restaurant, after all, so imagine the impact we can have in just one night.
OK, maybe not. But if not Roger’s style of evangelism, then what? At the root of the word is evangel, which means “good news.” Do you have any? Have you found in your Christian faith some hope or comfort or purpose or strength or love or wholeness or connection? Can you share that good news?
Have you stopped and thought about your story lately? You have a good one, you know. And moving through it is the grace of God and the Holy Spirit. Do you see? Yours is a holy story, and in that story someone else might just find a word they need to hear—a good word, some good news, even. Give your story some thought; maybe even put it on paper. In fact, I invite you to do just that, then share the story with me; it might make a great church blog entry.
And if you’re not up to shouting an invitation to salvation in a Western Sizzlin’ (Are any still around?), then invite someone to try the church you love. These days, that’s pretty simple. Share the social-media announcements about our virtual VBS, or invite someone specifically. Let folks know about your Sunday School or Bible Study Zoom sessions.
And Worship? Now is a great time to invite folks. Many people are uneasy about visiting a church for the first time (I know I was). But now? If someone is looking for a low-stress, low-pressure chance to give church a try, well, it doesn’t get any better than this. Online worship is perfect for us introverts. So, share the links to our Sunday and Wednesday services. Maybe even tag someone. There’s a person like me out there just waiting.
Share, tag, link—had Roger known about those options, he could have saved his voice. Share an invitation by sharing a post. Who knows? Maybe 2020 will be remembered as more than a tragic year of pandemic or as the year the economy tanked or as the strangest school year in modern history.
Someday we might just refer to 2020 as the Great Introvert Awakening.
In Christ,
Rev. Mark Westmoreland