Top Priority

I receive catalogs from the Vermont Country Store. Founded in 1946 by Vrest and Mildred Orton with the purpose of providing items that are "useful, work, and make sense." As I was flipping through their most recent catalog, I read their Customer Bill of Rights. #2 on the list was:

To be the top priority of the moment.

This made me think of the times when a customer service rep didn't make me the top priority of the moment. You know what I'm talking about - the lady at the airline counter who just keeps typing away, never looking up when you try to get some information. Or the cashier who is gabbing away with a co-worker, not even acknowledging your existence. I've walked in stores and not been greeted by a single person the entire time I shopped, causing me to wonder if they were interested in my money.

Have you ever visited a church that was like that? Or, God forbid, is your church like that? When a visitor comes are they greeted with a warm welcome or are you too busy making plans on where to eat after service to be bothered with them? I admit, many times I walk off the platform exhausted from playing, singing, or directing the choir. I am wrung out and all I want to do is get my purse, my Bible, and my sweetheart and go home. But the top priority is not me. I feel so much better when I step away from me and greet a visitor. I've heard many visitors comment on how friendly our church is.

It doesn't take a lot to make someone top priority of the moment. "Hello, we're so glad to have you." Make eye contact. (That means looking up from your cell phone, too.)

In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus placed great importance on the hungry, the stranger, the sick...

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Every visitor who comes through our doors deserves:

To be the top priority of the moment.