A friend in another town had been telling me about Jesus so I decided to visit a nearby church. I walked in about ten minutes before they were scheduled to start. One man smiled at me and said he was happy that I came, but he really made me feel no more welcomed than the greeter at the local discount store. Everyone else seemed busy and did not seem to notice me.

I wanted to sit toward the back but all those seats were taken. I walked down toward the front a bit and slid past a family into the middle of a pew. They had a couple of young children. It looked like they had been camping there a while with all the toys that were spread out. 

When everyone quieted, a man gave a number of announcements. He asked that the visitors fill out a card so the congregation could have a record of attendance and then send the visitor a thank you card. It sounded a lot like putting my name on a mailing list for junk mail, so I decided not to fill out a card this time. Then the congregation joined together in singing songs. Most people sang out enthusiastically, but I saw a few people who didn’t open their mouths. Some of them had frowns on their faces or seemed bored. Maybe those people don’t have good voices. Then they passed around something they called the Lord’s Supper. I really didn’t understand what they were doing—it looked like crackers and grape juice to me. I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to do when they passed the trays to me, but I ate some since that was what everyone else seemed to do.

Then the preacher began presenting the lesson. He talked about Jesus as the Son of God. He read from the Bible showing that Jesus left heaven to come to earth as a man. He was crucified and buried but then was raised from the dead. And now He has gone back to heaven and there rules from His throne. It was a very compelling message. I focused pretty well except for the times that the baby in front of me wanted to play peek-a-boo. That was very hard to ignore. Then the little school-age child several pews up kept turning around in his seat, getting up on his knees, and staring at me. At other times he waved his arms in the air like he was playing airplane. His parents seemed too preoccupied with the sermon to notice when the child acted up. I also noticed a lot of people coming and going during the sermon. I understood a mother having to take care of a crying baby, but a number of school-age children would walk out and then come back in. I know they have to sit longer than this at school without going to the bathroom or getting a drink. If their parents think the sermon is important, I wondered why they didn’t make their children sit there and pay attention.

The preacher got me focused again when he started talking about sin. I really hadn’t understood that very well before, but he made it very clear. I now know that I am a sinner and separated from God. If I don’t do something about that, I will be separated from God forever. That’s not what I want! I want to go to heaven! I want to do what God tells me to do! The preacher read from the Bible telling me that I must be baptized in order to be saved. If that’s what God wants me to do, then that’s what I want to do. When the preacher seemed to be concluding his sermon, he talked about coming forward to obey God. I couldn’t hear everything he said right then because lots of people suddenly started pulling their songbooks out of the rack. That really made a lot of noise! The family next to me started picking up the toys and putting on their coats. I guess it must almost be time to go. Then the preacher said to come forward while we stand and sing. I was thinking very seriously about walking down the aisle and asking to be baptized for the forgiveness of my sins. But just as soon as we stood up, I got very confused. Several people who had gone out earlier came back in. I thought they were going to the front to be baptized but they just stepped into the seats where they had been earlier. Two couples in front of me stepped into the aisle but they walked toward the back. I guess they wanted to beat the rush to the restaurant. A teenager stepped past his parents into the aisle. I thought he was going to go forward, but he also walked to the back. Couldn’t these people wait a few more minutes until services were over? My mind was taken totally away from what the preacher had encouraged me to do. I guess these people didn’t think that was very important.

I stayed around for a little while afterward, but no one noticed me. They seemed to be excitedly talking with their friends or hurrying home.
Guess I will try another church next time.
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Editor’s Note: Sometimes it is good to step back and consider how the actions we normally do not pay attention to impact those who have not become accustomed to them. Please take a few minutes to think on these types of things. jlp