Hanging and Pointing

¹⁷And when Jesus heard it, He said to them, Those who are strong and well have no need of a physician, but those who are weak and sick; I came not to call the righteous ones to repentance, but sinners (the erring ones and all those not free from sin).                                                  Mark 2:17

This is quickly becoming a life verse for me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy spending time with Christians, in fact my best friends are all Christians. However, I want to have a lot more friends that don’t live for God.

We’re here for one reason: to reach the world for Jesus. How are we going to do that if we’re not befriending and loving on people who don’t know God?

Here are Some Statistics that should shock you, and ideally inspire you to action:

Within 2 Years of Being a Christian, Statistically, Christians will Have 0 Non-Christian Friends in their Lives

There are 5 Types of Unchurched People in the World -4/5 Said they Will go To Church if Someone Invites Them

21% of Christians Will Invite Someone to Church in their Lifetime

2% of that 21% Actually Invite Non-Christians to Church in their Lifetime

What does this mean? Churches are growing at the expense of other churches. We’re taking Christians from one church and bringing them to our church. We’re only reaching 2% of the lost! Does anyone else see something wrong with this?

While we spend all of our times trying to encourage and lift other believers (this is a good thing, but we need a balance), there are billions of people who are desperate for a relationship with God. People desperate for hope. People looking for purpose. People who go to bed and know there has to be something more to life. People who we can point to Jesus.

The Concept is Simple: Hang out with People who don’t know God, love on them, and point them to Jesus. If that’s too hard for you, at least you can do is invite them to church!

If we don’t, who will?

6 Things Servers at Restaurants Wish You Knew

8 Months ago I picked up a side job being a sever at Houlihans. When my manager interviewed me he said, “I believe everyone needs to work as a server at some point in their lives.” 8 months later . . . I’m not sure I’d say everyone needs to, but I will say that as a server, you can definitely learn a lot of lessons about life. Here are some I’ve learned:

6 Things Servers Wish People Knew

• We Make $2.83 an hour and depend on Tips for the rest of our income – When I was in High School, I didn’t tip people. I was totally ignorant how dependent servers are on tips. Be a blessing to your server!

• We Make Mistakes, Be Understanding – We do our best to create an excellent experience for you, if we mess something up, it wasn’t intentional, it was accidental. How do you want to be treated when you mess up?

• 20% is the New 15% - This could be wrong, but I’ve noticed that anything less than a 20% is disappointing! (I recognize that the server should deserve it though!)

• Don’t Stay at Your Table for 5 Hours – Servers make money by moving tables. We want you come to and enjoy yourself and have a great experience, but keep in mind that the average server will have 3-4 tables. If you occupy one for 4 hours, that’s 3-4 tables that could have come and went and left us with tips. Be mindful!

• Christians Rarely Represent God – you can pray at your table, speak blessings over your server, and a handful of other things, but IF YOU LEAVE A BAD TIP – you discredit anything you’ve done or said. You end up pointing people away from God.

• Servers are People with Real Lives - this does not excuse poor service on the servers part, but most people think servers are just someone they can devalue. Please keep in mind that they have a personal life to and could be having the worst day of their life – be an encouraging customer, not one who will tear a server down.

Any servers out there? What are some things you wish people knew about you?