Invisible People

This afternoon I had the privilege of giving a devotional message to a group of volunteers being trained for service at the Pregnancy Resource Center of Henry County, since I am one of the board members. After I finished, one of the young ladies came and told me that she lived close to our church building and that she and her husband had visited our worship service a couple of years ago. They had moved back to the USA from being stationed in Europe with the Army. They were excited about coming to our church because we were close enough for them to walk. However, the day they came, she said it was as though they were "invisible." No one welcomed them. No one made them feel at home. No one showed interest in them. In fact, hardly anyone spoke to them. Because of this, they ended up going to another church.

I had heard this story from the men who visited with them in their home and from another lady who met the wife at a doctor's office. It broke my heart then, and it broke my heart again this afternoon. To think that a new family could come and worship with us and feel like they were invisible. It is terrible. However, I am afraid it is much worse than that really. How must all of the hurting people who don't know Christ feel about the church? I believe that they may feel invisible or even worse. I pray that we will have eyes of compassion for everyone we meet at worship and everyone we see around us every day. Each one is precious to the Lord.

Tomorrow, I intend to read II Samuel 9-11 and Luke 15:11-32.