I pulled up to the self-service pump. They wouldn’t turn on the pump until I went in and left them my credit card. Yuk! Wasted time and that feeling of being just another nameless person in their otherwise non-descript and impersonal day of toil.

    I’m sure you’re thinking, “Not a big deal, Phil; happens all the time to me in other stations. It may be irritating, but it’s understandable with all the drive-offs they’ve had. Don’t let this bug you, it happens all the time. Besides, isn’t a bit egotistical to think they would know you.”

    Yeah, except...

• I’d been going there for years!
• I knew all the folks behind the counter.
• It’s a few blocks from my house.
• I fill up there three times a week.
• This is “my” gas station.

    Was I irritated? Yep! I let the guy behind the counter know my disappointment. He did recognize me, he just hadn’t paid attention when I pulled up. I understood, but I was still disappointed. I also felt “un-special.”

    That’s when the Spirit knocked on the door of my heart with a convicting insight.

How many folks walk in our church buildings, sing our songs, go to our classes, sit with us at the Lord’s Table, and shake our hands for years, yet we don’t know their name? So they walk away feeling “un-special”!

How many folks go away from a church service or Bible class and never have anyone greet them by their first name? So they walk away feeling “un-special”!

How many aren’t even recognized as belonging to our church “family” during our grip and grin sessions in the foyer or greeting times during the assembly? So they walk away feeling “un-special”!

“You want to go where people know,
People are all the same;
You want to go where everybody knows your name.”
(Words and Music by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo)

“You want to go where everybody knows your name...”

    Part of our church experience is seeing folks we know and love. We’re excited to see them because haven’t seen for several days. We want to visit, catch up on things, and enjoy each other’s company. We get so caught up in our visiting with those we know that we overlook those we don’t know. Nothing is quite as hurtful as going in a place where they are friendly with each other, but you are left out. You walk away feeling very “un-special”!

    The Holy Spirit reminds us that the other side our church experience is being there for other folks. We’re there to encourage each other and stir one another up to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:19-25). We’re there to welcome others just as Christ has welcomed us (Romans 15:7). We’re there to build up others (1 Corinthians 14 makes this point 7 times!) and to rejoice with those who are joyful and weep with those who mourn (Romans 12:15). We’re there to comfort, encourage, and counsel each other (1 Thessalonians 4:18; 5:11). We’re there to make sure each person who comes knows they are “precious in His in sight.”

    The next time you head out to enjoy your friends at church, why not also find some folks you don’t know. Introduce yourself, then make a commitment that when you see them again, there will be at least one person who will call them by their name! Let’s make sure no one leaves feeling “un-special.”

Title: "Un-special"
Author: Phil Ware
Publication Date: May 20, 2002

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