Lost In A Crowd

Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.  So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2: 44 - 47 NKJV

I think it's happened to many of us at one time or another.  We step into a new church for the first time and immediately feel overwhelmed and lost in the crowd.  I have.  With some congregations boasting close to two hundred worshipers per service, it's no wonder how someone could not feel lost in such a environment.  I remember serving as a usher on occasion in my former church.  Besides directing traffic for those arriving for service, one of the duties of the ushers was to be that first point of contact for first time visitors to the church.  If they had a good first experience, we figured, then they were more likely to return.  This continues to be the practice of the mainstream church.  I listened to a sermon this week from a radio pastor who was lamenting the fact that he had received a letter from a visitor to his own church upset that she had never been contacted by anyone in the congregation.  In fact, she had actually called the church office to request to speak with someone and was assured that her request would be taken seriously.  It wasn't.  Finally, discouraged at the lack of fellowship, the woman stopped attending.  How was it that someone who had been seeking fellowship within the church had been lost in the crowd?  Well, sadly, I've been witness to this as well.  One of my concerns with the Promise Keepers men's conferences which I attended and became involved with, was the lack of follow up to those who attended the conference.  Obviously, with thousands of men going to these conferences in their heyday, it may have been difficult to reach out to everyone.  I get it.  However, one of the practices of the Promise Keepers was their commitment to connect men after the conference had ended.  That is, those guys who attended the conference were encouraged to reach out to another guy who had come.  This is how I became acquainted with one of my better friends.  Yet, I still hear complaints from people I know that the Promise Keepers failed in this respect.  I agree.  For many, they were lost in the crowd.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.  For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.  But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.  Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.  And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4: 9 - 12 NKJV

I will make a confession in that I was never really too good at gathering people around me.  Sure, I have my circle of friends, but I have never been comfortable with simply, shall we say, recruiting people.  Yes, I talk and socialize with people every day, but in this context there is never any underlying agenda.  When I was an usher, the agenda was to promote a positive image so that all of those first time visitors would feel welcome and continue to come to church.  Sounds simple enough.  It wasn't until a few years after I left the church that I realized what the church truly is.  The church is not the fancy buildings and traditions we've been taught that it is.  The church, as God intended, is made up of the followers of Jesus.  We are the body of the church, and Jesus is at the head of the body.  In this context, how does someone get lost in something they are already a part of?  Think of that the next time you step into a church for the very first time.  As a believer in Jesus, you are the church.  I see the traditional church today as more of a socializing tool than anything.  We may continue to attend because our friends are there.  Again, I get it.  I believe the days are gone where the neighborhood church was the central gathering point for all who had ever heard of Jesus.  With the surge of social media in recent years, people have found new ways to socialize.  This topic may just come down to how much value we place on fellowship with others.  While I've been out of the church for awhile, I still have my friends who I continue to follow up with.  At the end of the day, I believe that it has never been the followers of Jesus, but the traditional church which has been lost in the crowd.

For the body is one and has many members, but all the member of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
1 Corinthians 12: 12 NKJV

~Scott~