Being Gracious to Church Visitors

This Sunday I am going to visit your church.
​
​Not really. But some people will. How will they be treated by you and your church family?
Would visitors to your church say your fellowship is a place of grace? Would visitors feel welcome just as they are? Is grace a welcome mat at your local church?

Eighty percent of all people attending church are there because someone invited them. Let that statistic sink in. Inviting people to church is a first step in introducing many people to Christ.

Our current culture is in tremendous need of God’s love, mercy and grace. Our society has lost its way. Loving, gracious, caring Christians are effective witnesses for winning the lost to Jesus. Our witness of God’s love and grace in our personal life should be evident in the community and local church
Most likely, you have been a visitor to a church. What were you looking for? How did you hope to be treated by church members? What kind of church experience were you expecting? Most importantly, did the church members treat you graciously?

Bottom line: church visitors are in search mode.

Some are searching for a new church home. Some are searching for the Savior. Some are looking for friends and fellowship in Christ. Some aren’t sure what they are looking for, but they have come through the door.

Grace for all of us means undeserved, unmerited, unconditional favor from God. Visitors are no different than you and me. I need grace. You need grace. Visitors need grace. Everybody needs grace!!!

Generally, visitors are anxious about visiting churches…even those who are mature Christians looking for a church home for all the right biblical reasons. But others cross the church threshold bearing burdens.  Visitors may be battling horrendous things in life. Loss of a loved one. Death of a child. Loneliness, Burnout and depression. Financial setbacks. Divorce. Health issues. Estranged relationships. You name it, heartache, pain and brokenness enter the door of the church with many visitors.

A visitor who is hurting may put a forced smile on their face, but their soul is aching. That’s why church members must see visitors the way Jesus does, as real folks, with real problems, seeking real solutions through a real Savior and real fellowship with those who call themselves Christ followers.

My favorite definition of fellowship is two fellows in the same ship!  My question for all of us in the body of Christ is this: Is our local church a place of grace where people will get in life’s boat with us, whether the ocean of life is calm or a storm is roaring?

 Visitors generally size up you and your church in one visit.

They will compare your church with others they have visited. Throughout my ministry, I have advised and encouraged church seekers to visit a church four times before deciding if this is to be their home. I am not sure how many do that.

Read Acts 2:41-47. Our church forefathers knew how to fellowship in Christ. I would Have loved to have visited and joined their fellowships. Jesus was exalted and praised. Everyone was welcome. Believers were edified and encouraged. And most of all, the church was adding new people to the body of Christ daily! Now that is having church folks!

A grace-filled, loving band of believers makes for a soul-winning church!

Grace Checklist Toward Church Visitors

• Do you pray for visitors to visit your church? How and what do you pray for them?
• Do you have a joyful smile on your face when greeting visitors? Do your share a welcoming handshake with them? Do you ask them how you can assist them and their family while on campus?  
• Do you accept with unconditional l love and grace everyone who enters the church doors? No matter how they look? No matter what they say or don’t say? Whether you think they
  “fit” your fellowship or not? Is everyone welcome in your heart and eyes?
• Do you avoid visitors? Or do you go out of your way to engage them in a non-threating, welcoming way?
• Do you make it easy and comfortable for a visitor to talk with you? Are you open to them sharing something about themselves with you if they choose to do so?  
• Is there a gracious atmosphere in your church? Grace is the oil of positive, healthy, mutually satisfying relationships.  
• Do you treat visitors with the grace you would like to be treated with if you were visiting the church? The Golden Rule of grace is a good idea.
• Would visitors say you treated them warmly, sincerely and in a gracious, friendly manner?
• Would visitors to your church say your fellowship is a place of grace? Would visitors feel welcome just as they are? Is grace a welcome mat at your local church?

Search your heart fellow Christian. Are you a gracious church member that greets and treats visitors with the grace of God?

This weekend, at your church, reach out graciously to a newcomer to your fellowship.

“He that wins souls is wise.”
Proverbs 11:30