Dogs & Doghouses

I’ve been told by different people that a good pastor needs to visit his church members and the reason some people don’t go to church is because the pastor never visited them. One time when I went to see a church member in the hospital their roommate, someone I had never met before nor have I seen after, piped up and said, “I didn’t know preachers still made visits.” Church members sometimes wistfully mention that their son/cousin/neighbor (whatever) is in the hospital. It’s a hint – as though I’m a salesman and they’ve just handed me a hot lead and I’m supposed to get right on it. But if I’ve never met the person before (and sometimes when I have) I have a difficult time wanting to go see them. Conversely, some preachers are adamant in their stand to, “Not chase after church members.” When someone doesn’t attend services for a while the pastor has already fashioned his escape hatch to not to bother with them.

The same facets of opinion occur when it comes to making a phone call. Pastors get asked, “How’s brother so and so doing?” “Have you heard from sister (insert sick church member’s name here)?” Part of me wants to answer, “I don’t know, why don’t you call them and find out?” When someone informs the pastor, “You never called to find out about …” how often could that be answered with a, “Neither did you.” There’s a name for those types of back and forth dialogs. It has to do with who can keep the urine flowing the longest. But I digress.

Under a slightly different heading, the Bible tells us that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. Sometimes I view visiting in this light, as a sense of the visitor giving his or her time to someone else. It should be done because we want to. That’s when it will be most pleasing to the Lord.

And then there’s the scripture that tells us when we visit a brother or sister in jail it’s the same as visiting Jesus Himself. Zoinks!? And don’t forget about seeking after that one lost sheep. There are lots of sticker bushes for church members (and deacons and pastors) to get stuck in. Part of our mutual accountability means we are willing to go and find out what’s going on with one another – not as busybodies, but as concerned family members.

Myself – I crave me time. Family, work, and pastoring tend to take up one’s alone time and I know I don’t appreciate what it must be like to be lonely to the extent that I should. But, every time I go to a retirement home I see the forgotten people and am reminded. There are many people who can no longer involve themselves in life. And isn’t it interesting that their families ignore them to the extent that they do? I wonder, will my children change my diaper the way I changed theirs? Probably not.

So, let our compassion to one another be kindled. Compassion is an empathetic love, a kindness based on understanding or putting on someone else’ shoes for a while and really thinking about what it must be like to walk in them.