FI Fridays: The Story Continues
We’re just a few Fridays out from finishing our fall series specifically designed for our First Impressions Team. Translated: savor this one.
Last Sunday we participated in the weekly Franks Family Ritual: split up in two vehicles, head home from a long Sunday, quick stop for a newspaper, and whatever kids I currently have possession of fight over the sports section.
This particular Sunday, kid #3…my seven year old named Jase…won the battle. He began to read the cover story out loud. Being the rabid sports fan that I am (liar), I was listening intently (double liar) as he read…
“Blah blah blah blah blah ‘…you just can’t give up big plays,’ said UNC Coach Butch Davis. ‘Big plays are the’…see HEELS, page B3.”
And that was it. It took me a few seconds to realize that he was no longer reading. The paper sat at his side, folded.
It was then that I realized: my kid doesn’t understand the concept of the continued story.
“Um, Jase?”
“Sir?”
“Did you know there’s more to the story?”
“There is?”
“Yeah buddy. Whenever a newspaper says, ‘see page whatever,’ you turn to that page and the story continues.”
“OOOOOhhhhhh.”
And then he found B3, and Coach Davis’ quote continued. Not that I listened, because a sports fan I ain’t.
The point is this: every Sunday we encounter guests that don’t know that the story continues. Since they’re unfamiliar with church, they don’t realize that we have small groups that will take the sermon a step farther. They don’t recognize that there’s a Starting Point process that will answer many of the questions they may have. They don’t understand that our goal is to get them to take a series of next steps. They gloss over the message that we want them to start a relationship with Christ.
As a team, it’s our job to tell the next chapter of the story, to proactively cast the vision, to help people understand what their next step is. Otherwise, they can sit on the sidelines for weeks…months…years, never understanding that there’s more to the story than a fancy headline and a few paragraphs.
How are you telling the continuing story this week?
Franks–I didn’t know you had it in you–just when you’d convinced me your spiritual gift was (like mine) sarcasm and inapropriate humor (and believe me I say that in the most admiring of ways) you come out with a genuine jaw dropping original spiritual insight-you get my attaboy of the week-good word.