Falling Through the Pews

Have you ever wondered if you'd be missed at church if you were absent for an extended amount of time? Would someone on the pastoral staff come by to check on you? Would someone from your Sunday school class call? Would anyone take the time to contact you at all?

Most likely, you have established friendships in your local congregation and you would be missed. It might take some time, but sooner or later someone would follow up on their concerns for you. However, there are those sitting among us that might never receive that follow-up card or call.

While it is hard to believe, people fall through the cracks, or in our case, the pews each year. They slip out the back door unnoticed while fellow church members continue on as nothing has changed. Oh, their absences might be noticed on Sunday morning, but by Monday they have once again been forgotten. No one feels close enough to them to be the one to call to check on them. And there in lies the problem.

The body of Christ is like a family. Some are well-liked and well-connected. Others hang precariously on the sidelines watching like the quiet uncle that attends every family reunion. He's always there, but he never really visits with anyone. It is the church members who shy away from personal interactions and social gatherings that can easily be overlooked.

Consider Jesus' words in Matthew 25:44-45.

‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

I have always related the 'least of these' with persons outside the walls of my church home, but what if the 'least' are those we overlook among us? Are there those among us who are needing? Or lonely and in spiritual prisons we knew nothing about? Are we unaware of their needs because they haven't announced them and we've failed to ask?

Take time this Sunday to look at everyone around you. Who seems to be hanging on the sidelines?  Are there people that seem to be friendless? Who slips in and out without much interaction? Does anyone sit alone week after week? What can you do to minister to those you identify?

Reach out and make a connection. It might not be easy. It will probably take continued efforts and self-sacrifice. Yet, isn't that what discipleship is all about? Didn't Jesus demonstrate this concept time and time again. Besides, it could keep someone from falling through the pews.