Extending an Open Welcome

Have you ever heard of “bait and switch?”  It falls under the rhetorical category of persuasion and in academic circles is also known as the lure procedure.  Basically it means that I advertise something of high value to you but in reality give you something different instead.  An item is advertised at a very low price and you rush to the store only to find that the particular item is no longer available or you are told how poor that item really is in an effort to sell you a more expensive version.  Obviously you are interested in purchasing that particular item, you are in the store, and the dance begins.

A specific example concerns the toy industry.  Manufacturers will unveil a toy and advertise it heavily prior to Christmas.  Children are targeted in advertising campaigns and begin nagging their parents for Toy X.  Loving Parent sets out to buy Toy X for Adorable Child, only to discover that there are none available … they are all sold out.  Of course Loving Parent cannot leave the tree bare at Christmas so buys Toy Y instead.  Adorable Child is not entirely mollified with Toy Y because invariably some friend has received Toy X for Christmas.  So of course Loving Parent sets out after Christmas to purchase Toy X for Adorable Child, find that they are now available, purchases said Toy X, and everyone lives happily ever after.

The dirty little secret here is that toy manufacturers have purposely under produced Toy X for the Christmas season, knowing darn well that Loving Parents will purchase Toy Y for Christmas and then come looking for Toy X soon thereafter: classic Bait & Switch.

Churches are guilty of the same behavior; Church Z will declare the love of Jesus and then when you are in the door smack you with Hellfire & Brimstone: Bait & Switch.

So what does this have to do with us?  Well, the first sentence of our mission statement declares that we will “Extend an open welcome and leave the world better than we found it.”  We pride ourselves on our friendliness and acceptance, on our welcome of others, but in over thirty years of professional ministry I have yet to come across a church that does not consider itself friendly!

So what does it mean to “extend an open welcome?”  As one member shared with me in discussion last week, it has to mean more than putting out a sign that says “All are welcome.”  I don’t ever want anyone to argue that my church is guilty of bait & switch, so it is incumbent upon all of us who are part of this church to make sure that extending an open welcome is more than just rhetoric.

There is a deep hunger in this world for acceptance, for welcome, for tolerance and openness.  Our nation at this point in her history is rife with deceit, maliciousness, and behavior that are decidedly not welcoming.  When we declare ourselves to be welcoming, we are ethically committed to living that welcome, for failure to do so can cause great harm.  If someone walks through our doors expecting – needing – welcome, and we are so busy chatting up our friends that we do not offer that welcome, then we have failed in our mission.

Belinda and I are very grateful for the kind welcome which has been extended to us during our first months here; I believe that such welcome is foundational to who we are as a congregation. Being a truly welcoming church is an awesome and dangerous responsibility, but one to which I believe all of us at Bellevue First Congregational Church are called.  We may not be perfect, but we will not be guilty of bait & switch!!  So when you see a stranger at church, then offer a welcome ... who knows, that person may turn out to be one of your future best friends!

See you in church,

kevin