Attending or Engaging?

Gatherings at church whether on Sundays, Wednesdays, or others times are more than an event to attend, they are a time to be engaged.  When you consider the call of Matthew 28:18-20, the exhortations of Colossians 3:16 and Hebrews 10:19-25, and the example of Acts 2:42-48, you see believers engaged in ministry.  I watched it happened in full view this past Sunday at Boones Creek Bible Church.

A visitor in his early 20’s, I’ll call Steve, entered the building and was promptly received by our greeters, led to our Welcome Center, and then directed to a Sunday School class.  After class was dismissed, the small group class leader engaged Steve in a gospel conversation.  This lasted through the 30 minute fellowship time into the beginning of the morning service.  At the conclusion of the service. I saw our assistant pastor engage Steve in a gospel conversation.  Later, as he mingled in the foyer, one of our deacons began a conversation with him which ended as they walked to Steve’s car.  What a blessing to see folks engaging this young in conversation because they cared for his lost soul.  How wonderful to hear that he will be meeting with someone from church later on this week.  How glad to see that these men did not just attend church, they were engaged as being the church!

Also, while the congregation was greeting one another in the morning service, I watched one of our dear older saints of God holding the hands of another lady as they bowed their heads engaged in prayer.  In the midst of all the hand-shaking and sharing what God had taught them so far in the service as well as in SS, here were two ladies meeting at the Throne of Grace!  They were engaged and not just attending, going through the motions.

Finally, two ladies entered our foyer near the end of the service. They were out-of-town guests of a family in our church and had chosen to attend Mass at the local Catholic Church.  While waiting on their hosts, one of our deacons greeted them and engaged them in a gospel conversation.  Sensing the need to summons a lady to talk to them, he introduced them to my wife.  She, too, got to know them, and then inquired about their spiritual condition.  Once again, people engaged being the church and not just attending church.

These examples are shared for God’s glory and to encourage the folks in our congregation to continue to always be engaged, soul-conscious and looking for ways to fulfill the aforementioned scriptures.

When I look back over Sunday, I am reminded of Jesus and His conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4).  Read it, study it, and when you gather at church the next time, be engaged . . . don’t just attend.