Welcome to the Family...?

I love an altar call. In our church, we don't do them every week but more often than not. Today one of our lay pastors gave the sermon. He's professionally a state trooper. He uses bad grammar. He tells great stories. He's a regular guy. And he always--always--does an altar call after he preaches...and hearts are always moved to respond. He takes it a step past, "If you just prayed that prayer of salvation, with heads bowed and eyes closed, raise your hand!" that our pastor usually does and invites new believers to come forward so we can all celebrate their adoption into the family. And every time--every time--I am moved to tears...for the brokenness of a sinner now clean, for the choice of new life, for the adoption of a new brother or sister into the family I've been a part of for 30 years now.

So there I was today, tears streaming down my face as I watched 8 new folks accept Jesus as their Savior, blessed to be a part of the Body and a part of the celebration of this moment.

And after they had made their public declaration they went back to their seats...and 2 of them were sitting near me (hadn't seen them get up to go forward="heads bowed and eyes closed") And I got a "nudge" from the Holy Spirit to reach out to them and simply say,"Welcome to the family!" The pastor's altar call had emphasized adoption into the family so it would have been an appropriate statement.

Except I never did it. The one young lady was crying against a friend (sister? Mom?) and I didn't feel like I should interrupt that moment. The other young lady was sitting directly in front of me and was clinging onto the person sitting next to her. Again, "the nudge". Why not just say it? Her life has just changed! She'd saved! She just made the most important decision of her life! Affirm it! She is your sister now!

Can you believe I wrestled with this? I walked out of that service and didn't say a word! And Sister #2 was standing at the door with her friend greeting people and wishing them a "Happy New Year!" on their way out...and I still didn't say anything!? Something so simple! Something to affirm and confirm that the decision she had just made was the right one. A fellow believer--ME!--didn't even offer one word of support.

Walking across the parking lot to my car, I confessed this to the Lord, apologized, and declared myself a "piece of work" that still needs to be worked on. I intend to explore my resistance to "the nudge" (which I typically tend to respond to, especially when I know WHO is nudging me!) and, for penance, if I see Sister #2 in church I WILL say something to her. After all--adoption is a big thing! Getting saved IS a BIG THING! What do I have to lose by meeting/greeting a new sister in the Lord? Absolutely nothing...