Gone Fishing

www.MarysvilleNaz.org

A few years after college I nearly lost a friend because I didn't invited him to join a group of our friends that were going fishing.  I didn't even know he fished.  He never talked about it, never expressed interest in it and just didn't seem like the fishing type.  However, when we got back from the trip I found out he was hurt that we had not invited him.  It was a painful lesson for me.

I discovered that just because I think someone might not be interested doesn't really mean much.  Turns out I'm not as good at predicting what people will to do as I thought.  Worst of all, my assumptions about him that led to the failure to invite resulted in him feeling left out.

I think feeling left out is one of the worst feelings.  If feels like you really didn't know those people, maybe they aren't really your friends sometimes it even feels like betrayal.  Besides, look at all the fun they had laughing and telling stories!  I want to be a part of that!  

I think the same thing applies to church.  We love our church.  We laugh, we sing, we connect with friends and encounter the living God.  Yet as much as we love our church we usually don't invite others.  This is often because we assume they would say no, they would be offended, they wouldn't like it or they're not church folks.  

I recently read that 2/3 of people who do not go to church would accept warmly an invitation from a friend to join them at church.  I have to tell you that feels like my friend situation all over again.  I mean what happens at the judgement when God replays my life and my unchurched friends see all the great things about our church?  Will they look at me and say... hey, why didn't you invite me?  I thought we were friends? I would have gone to a church like that!  

My friend from back then is still my friend but only because we all apologized and made sure he was invited on the next trip.  (We kind of drowned him in invitations)  You know what was really strange?  He wasn't a fisherman!  -- In fact he nearly hooked me a couple of times while casting!   -  Turns out it wasn't about fishing at all.  It was about wanting to be a part of what was going on and participating in the laughter and love, that's what friends do.  The end of the story is that he became a fishermen... funny how that works.  

www.MarysvilleNaz.org