People want to feel like they belong.
No matter who you are or what kind of personality you have, you like to feel connected to someone or something. Sure, you may get your energy from being alone, but in the end, you have to be connected with something or someone in order for it to be valuable in your eyes.
People walk in our lives everyday. People walk into our church doors every week. Those people are looking (no matter how self-confident they are) to connect and belong in some way.
That person that you keep running into around town, that person that keeps speaking to you as you go to work each day… they are looking to connect. They may not ever verbalize it exactly like that or even know that they are looking for it, but they are.
How are you doing at connecting with them?
Sure, you can give a nice smile and say ‘hi,’ but they’re looking for more. In order to point them to Jesus, you’re going to have to give it to them. They want to connect with you… they will before they connect with Jesus.
Pastor or church leader, the person that visited your church Sunday for the first time is going to connect with someone before they connect with Jesus. If you want them to continue to come to find Jesus, something is going to have to connect them. They are going to find someone, a group, a staff member, a culture, someone or something before they connect with Jesus.
I think this is where we, the Church, have failed for a long time. We’ve failed to truly connect people. We’ve failed to invest in and love people the way they feel the need to be loved. We’ve failed to provide connection points for people to latch on.
Meanwhile, so many other things out there are connecting them to a host of other things. They’re finding something to identify with and invest in, it’s just not gonna last.
What we have will.
Who are you connecting?
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