Does that describe you on Sunday mornings? Do you come, find your seat, and remain in your squeaky-chaired island for the remainder of the service?
From my observation every Sunday morning as I walk through the auditorium at Hoover and as I glance out over the seats from the stage, this is absolutely the case for most of us. We have little pockets of singles, couples, and families - worshiping in the same room, but in a very real way, not worshiping together.
I think that James, the half brother of Jesus, said it best in his letter:
"My brothers and sisters, this should not be."
An irresistible community can not be made up of a bunch of individual islands. There's nothing irresistible about that at all, actually. In fact, I can be my own island on my own couch in my own home.
Which of course begs the question:
Why would I even come to church if all I wanted was to be alone?
Actually, I'm going to continue to rant for a little bit about this. I am tired of having conversations that go something like this:
"Hey, do you know (insert Waterloo Prairielaker's name here)?"
"No?"
"Really?"
"Huh. They've been a part of Waterloo since it began, just like you."
"Well, you really should meet them sometime."
Friends: I know that we're serving a lot. I know that even though we are at church most weekends, that we are in and out of the worship center.
But here's the deal:
When you're walking into that worship center,
before you look to find your seat,
before you settle in your familiar spot,
before you make sure there's a couple of seats between you and that person you don't know,
or between you and the person that you probably should know by now,
instead, plant yourself next to someone. Introduce yourself... for the 10th time, if you need to. Ask them how their week has gone. Ask them how long they've attended. Ask them what they're doing for lunch. Get there earlier than 11:07.
Put yourself in a position for God to build his desire for community into your heart, and for God to use to you build an irresistible community at Waterloo.
God is pleased with our worship when we worship him together in unity. And it's awfully hard to be unified with someone you don't know.
Let me end this rant with a positive example. Happened this past weekend, actually.
We have a couple at Waterloo - a couple like so many Prairie Lakers at Waterloo - that put this irresistible community on display for everyone to see this past weekend. Here's what they did, and here's what it looked like:
They walked into the worship center with their focus on others instead of themselves.
They walked in a little early.
Before they found their seat, they made the rounds to those already in attendance with a smile on their face.
They simply shook peoples' hands and told them good morning.
If it was someone they knew, they chatted for a little bit.
If it was someone they didn't know, they introduced themselves, and asked them some simple questions about them.
What a great picture of God's heart! What a great picture of a what a life looks like whose spirit is attuned to God's Spirit! What a great melding of worship and mission, unity and humility! So simple, but so awesome to behold.
Let's recommit to forming this type of irresistible community, starting this weekend. Let's not make the mistake of restricting that responsibility to those who are wearing the lanyards. Let's be the type of church that oozes warmth, friendship, and belonging to everyone who walks in the doors.