Reblogged from Serve Him in the Waiting
Good to know I am not the only one who finds this mandated interaction called “greet your neighbor” awkward and unnatural. The image below seems familiar…. I call this particular formation “The Gauntlet“….. Pivot left, shake, smile, pivot right, offer a “good morning”, left again, oops, almost missed one, right again….here, take a bulletin….. It tends to leave one a tad dizzy and breathless. Not surprisingly, visitors often head up to the balcony to avoid it altogether. –S.T. Lloyd
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By Thom S. Rainer , Christian Post Contributor
You never know what will strike a nerve in the blogosphere. A blog post I wrote Saturday went viral, and the comments, discussion, and debate are still taking place at that post.
It was really a simple article. I did a Twitter poll (not scientific, I assure you) asking first-time church guests what factors made them decide not to return. I listed the top ten in order of frequency.
The surprise factor was the number one issue. Many first-time guests really don’t like the time of stand and greet one another that some churches have. According to the Twitter responses and comments on the post, many guests really don’t like it, so much so that they will not return [...]
Read more via Should Your Church Stop Having a Stand and Greet Time?.
Good to know I am not the only one who finds this mandated interaction called “greet your neighbor” awkward and unnatural. The image below seems familiar…. I call this particular formation “The Gauntlet“….. Pivot left, shake, smile, pivot right, offer a “good morning”, left again, oops, almost missed one, right again….here, take a bulletin….. It tends to leave one a tad dizzy and breathless. Not surprisingly, visitors often head up to the balcony to avoid it altogether. –S.T. Lloyd
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
By Thom S. Rainer , Christian Post Contributor
You never know what will strike a nerve in the blogosphere. A blog post I wrote Saturday went viral, and the comments, discussion, and debate are still taking place at that post.
It was really a simple article. I did a Twitter poll (not scientific, I assure you) asking first-time church guests what factors made them decide not to return. I listed the top ten in order of frequency.
The surprise factor was the number one issue. Many first-time guests really don’t like the time of stand and greet one another that some churches have. According to the Twitter responses and comments on the post, many guests really don’t like it, so much so that they will not return [...]
Read more via Should Your Church Stop Having a Stand and Greet Time?.
Hi Sandee, I wholeheartedly agree with you and the comments of visitors that are turned off by this very American custom.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all , it seems to be contrived and phony. To me, the first time I was invited to a 1 st Baptist church in the South, I was so put on the spot that I didn´t know what to do. I literally froze. Then I anxiously waited my turn to shake the preacher hand at the end of the service. Although I darted behind my friend to escape the vigilant eye of the pastor, I failed as he quickly stopped me with a smile larger than life and told me his name. I had been in the States for a few weeks and got the worst cultural shock then. I could have run out and find a gopher hole to disappear, I was so embarrassed.
So it´s not only the visiting Christian guests that are annoyed but it´s even worse when the person is totally unaware of the country´s custom or an unbeliever.
You see in France, hardly anybody knows or greets, or for that matter talks to their next door neighbor in an apartment complex.
Then, when I became born again, I learnt that I had to proclaim in front of the church body which scared me to death. I was very shy and introverted then, the Lord took care of that later on…. I thought it was a commandment that had to be obeyed. But it took me quite a few weeks before I could get the gumption to go make a confession of faith in front of people. The Lord had already taken care of that between Him and me a few weeks before, see my testimony here: http://thelightseed.blogspot.com.br/2012/02/personal-experience-of-very-young.html
Then, I was invited to give my testimony on a radio program and every week at a summer camp where I was invited to be counselor. The Lord sure knew how to make weaned baby out of me really quick. Popping out of the comfortable womb out in the nasty, dangerous confusing world of cultural mores. Then, came the almost required guilt trip of having to witness all the time if you wanted to be in good standing. None of it sounded or felt biblically sound or very natural and sincere to me. I don´t think Andrew felt this way when he went around telling everybody he had met the Messiah. O f course, later on as the Spirit emboldened me, it became as easy as breathing.
And then, once at a church congregational meeting discussing the fine points of whether to build on some work that required extending the budget. People went on with their own opinions about the wisdom of such a thing, I was reading my bible where Jesus told people to count their resources before venturing in any enterprise, which sounded like the thing to do, I boldly got up and read the scripture as I felt it applied to the situation and was greeted by a scary silence as if I had said something really out of place at the wrong time. The moderator went on without a batting an eyelash. All this sounded and l looked very strange, go figure!
Nevertheless, the absence of greeting when done spontaneously and before or after the service has the same effect of throwing cold water on the visitor. One day , I invited some friends to my church. They drove an hour and when they got there, nobody greeted them, not even the usher. I could not do anything because I was in the choir room rehearsing. Of course, they were very disappointed and never came back.
The same thing goes for the whole congregation holding hands and praying for each other. Repeating ready made phrases that do not come from the heart or present a biblical/scriptural conflict in my spirit.. Holding hands in a circle while praying for some poor victim sitting on a chair. Having somebody laying vibrating hands on me, and practicing loud glossolalia without anybody interpreting, I don´t appreciate that. They are not doing me a favor .
There are a lot more items on my list, but we will keep it short today. :) I got a lot to do before going on a weekend trip to visit my sweet mother and sister in law.
I really enjoyed your photos from your trip. Have a blessed weekend. JL.