Christians, please treat people like rookie deer hunters.

Let me start by saying: I am not a hunter.
I was not raised to hunt; I was raised to avoid hitting deer with my car on the back country roads where my family lived. Although not a hunter, I married into a hunting family…so hunting one day was guaranteed. That day came this week.

My father-in-law took me hunting for the first time and it gave me a great realization.
This realization can affect, not only how people are treated as they walk through the doors of a church for the first time, but also how we portray Church to them.

As we gather on a Saturday night or Sunday morning, wherever it may be, church is often singing a few songs, hearing a few announcements, the offering, then an encouraging word. We then leave hoping that something we heard might help sometime in the next 6 days.

Let me show you how a a Christian might miss the point.

My Father-in-law knows deer. He can think like them, act like them, put himself in their hooves, and figure out how to get a big buck. With this knowledge, he set up a tree stand in the right spot: near adequate food source, perfectly situated between rolling hills and a creek that flowed to a pond, acting as a natural funnel that deer follow.
All this comes from years of experience watching and observing this animal.

After doing all of that, he then took me to hunt. It being my first time, his main concern was getting a deer in the crosshairs of my muzzleloader. It wasn’t about adding another trophy buck to his collection or getting more meat for his freezer. For him, his thrill was me getting to experience getting my own trophy buck.

Sunday mornings should be much of the same. What if we make our life’s mission setting up opportunities for people to experience the Jesus we already have? Every Sunday, not hoping that the worship leader would sing our favorite song or the preacher would say something that would answer that question you came to church with. But rather, making the most of every opportunity to prepare the ground, leave a better seat for someone, knowing that watching them experience Jesus would thrill us more than being touched yet again.

Put yourself in their shoes this week. Prepare the ground, knowing that someone who has never experienced Jesus will walk through your church doors this weekend. Pray that Jesus would speak to them more than He speaks to you. Create a spiritual funnel for people to follow, putting Jesus in their crosshairs so they have nothing left but to look at Him.

Focus less on, “I hope I get something this week,” and focus more on “I hope I can help change someone’s life this week”.