“This happened because God _________”. Fill in the blank. It’s tempting, isn’t it, to fill in the blank when something bad happens, whether it is something that affects one person or millions?

Presuming to appoint oneself as God’s spokesperson who presumes to know the mind of God is the ultimate presumption. Of course one can point to their knowledge of the Bible, quote some Bible verses, and attempt to establish their authority to speak for God. Add in their title of pastor, elder, deacon, head of a nationally known ministry or self-appointed lunatic and they think their credentials are unassailable.

Please! Give us all a break! We hear so many stupid, conflicting OPINIONS of what God is doing when a hurricane strikes, when a mentally ill person shoots school children or when someone’s spouse, parent or child dies that the only obvious conclusion is that most, if not all, of the people who are presuming to speak for God are themselves delusional.

Don’t Tell Me That!

Please! Don’t tell me why my dad died! Don’t tell me why my baby died! Don’t tell me that some whacked-out crazy person shot my friend’s little boy because God is punishing my country because Obama was re-elected, because abortion is legal, because gay marriage is legal in Connecticut, because church attendance is declining or because of whatever other reasons you and your political and religious cronies can imagine.

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College is often portrayed as a life-changing experience, and rightly so. Some of the most formative experiences of a person’s young life can occur during those few years on a university campus. In college it isn’t at all uncommon that a student might realize their career ambitions, meet a lifelong friend or date their future spouse.

Religion is one of the potential formative experiences in college that doesn’t get as much attention. Specifically, it’s far less common to hear about how a student who finds their way to or from Christianity, Islam, or Judaism (or even Atheism for that matter) while attending a university.Taking classes and sharing experiences alongside classmates from varying backgrounds can cause even the most religious or nonreligious person to inspect, analyze, and even question their beliefs.

I can personally attest that the college experience can mark a watershed moment for Christians who have had little exposure to other religions and belief systems. It can be a jarring experience to engage people who disagree or take issue with one’s faith, but it can also produce a healthy dialogue on the subject. The purpose of this post is to encourage Christians in college to have that dialogue with believers and nonbelievers.

Welcome the Challenge

I think it’s important that Christian college students welcome the challenge of discussing their faith to others, particularly to people who hold opposing views. Why would I advocate a conversation that so rarely changes minds on either side? Well, I think more (young) people could stand to take time to understand views that aren’t their own, Christians included. When I was in college, it was all too often that I overheard one of my friends generalize about a particular person’s beliefs just because they weren’t their own. It’s not just Atheists and Agnostics who paint faith with a broad brush; it’s all too common of a problem within Christianity itself.

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Is your church friendly? Is every visitor greeted when they arrive, during the service and after the service? Does the pastor send them a letter telling them how happy he is that they visited the church?

Yet, in spite of doing these things, have you noticed that most visitors never come more than two or three times? Some come only once. Apparently they don’t want to make your church their church.

Several churches in the area where I live have grappled with this situation. Since they were sure they were friendly to their visitors, they decided that they must need to make some changes in order to attract and keep new people.

One church decided to build a new facility on the busiest corner in town. But the church did not grow. Another church hired a full-time minister of visitation. But again, they did not grow. Another church hired a full time youth pastor. But they too did not grow. Actually, the congregation slowly declined in size.

Becoming Part of the Church

Where did these churches go wrong? They assumed that people were looking for new buildings in good locations, staffed with lots of people. But they overlooked what is often the number one reason that churches do not grow. They failed to make their visitors and new people a part of the church. Allow me to explain what I mean.

After the friendly welcome they received the first time they visited and the customary follow-up letter from the pastor, returning visitors were often on their own. A few people might shake their hands and greet them, but usually newcomers were themselves responsible for getting to know other people in the church and for finding out what the church might have to offer them.

Intentionally Implement a Plan

All of these churches, however, were able to turn the situation around, and now are growing. They learned to make their visitors a part of the church, staring on their very first Sunday. How did they do it? They intentionally implemented a plan. To help us understand their plan, let’s follow a fictional family, Bill and Susan Scott and their daughter Kathy when they visit one of those churches.

When the Scotts arrive, two greeters meet them at the door, ask them to fill out a card with their names, address and phone number, and talk with them briefly to learn a little about them. The greeters then introduce them to a couple of families in the church who share some common interests and who the greeters know will spend some time getting to know them.

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After visiting numerous churches in the town to which I had recently moved I decided that the employees at Home Depot were much friendlier than are the people in the churches I’d visited. Most people had ignored me.

When I finally found a church with a few friendly people and decided to attend, I immediately discovered that even there most of the congregation ignored me. On my third Sunday I approached eight or nine people, one at a time, stuck out my hand to shake theirs and announced “Hi! My name’s John Walker. I don’t believe I know you, so I thought I’d come over and say hello.”

Everyone told me their name and asked how long I’d been attending the church.

“Three weeks. How about you?”

Almost everyone had been attending for years. Two or three said something like “Three weeks? You’re new. I should have introduced myself to you. Welcome to our church.”

One person, however, told me that he was there for the first time. When he asked me how long I had been attending, he was surprised to learn that I had been there just three times, but also expressed how delighted he was to have someone introduce themself.

“I’ve visited a bunch of churches and this is the first one where anyone has done this,” he said.

An idea was born. I decided that I would introduce myself to everyone in the church over the coming weeks, and especially try to locate visitors and new people and try to make them feel welcome.

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