That Magic Touch

I visited a couple of church members in their homes today.

It is always exciting to see how others' houses compare for cleanliness, especially since they usually do not have children at home and we do. I think it is an unfair comparison, but interesting none-the-less. Out of respect for those visited, I'll keep my assessment to myself.

More important was the content of the visit. I have tried to share with the church's Session, adult Sunday school class, and other groups my ideas about visitation. These certainly are not unique to me, and I make no claim on their creation. I learned this from others.

"Pastor, what do you hope to get out of this visit?" a deacon asked me once. This was soon after I arrived in Hysham.

"A friend," I replied.

One source for this idea is Geroge Hunter's The Celtic Way of Evangelism. It proposes an emphasis on community - communal life, really - and the creation of an organic relationship that leads towards "growing" Christians rather than "converting" them.

This idea was a part of the ministry of my former pastor, teacher, and mentor, Dr. Richard C. Boyd. Dr. Boyd always stressed the importance of relationships. Relationships are the foundation of any organization, but especially the church.

And I am reminded of another catchy phrase the seems appropriate: "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

So I am on a relationship building campaign in a church that is starved for pastoral attention. Sounds like a good combination, except that one or two are looking for ulterior motives. Maybe it is commonplace in today's world to expect me to have "an agenda," some reason for doing whatever I am doing, besides the stated or obvious reasons. Slowly I am winning people over... not winning souls, but friends.

And now that we're friends, who knows what might happen?

Back to today. I was visiting, and my church member's printer was not working. Others had looked at it, but to no avail. The plan was a trip to Billings in the afternoon for repair or replacement. I turned the printer off, then on, and then off and on again. And suddenly, the printer worked! I did not really do anything to it. Kind of like Fonzy beating his fist on the record player and it starts up.

It is not the first time I have helped someone in Hysham with their computer problems. My original degree, way-back-when, was in Business Computer Programming, and I have tried to keep with the times in computer software and basic repair. It has been helpful over the years. And it is another way to make friends - for the sake of having a friend and no other reason.

It has been a good day, and it is nice to know I still have the touch.