Although Jesus said that people would know that we are His by our love for one another, one thing that the Church (as a whole) is incredibly bad at is investing in people. Over the last three-and-a-half years that my husband has been without a pastorate, we have visited a number of churches. We have filled out visitor cards at every one of these churches. Never once have we been invited to share a meal with a church member.

Never once have we been invited to Bible study or even informed about the schedules for other, more “small group” meetings of the church, such as men’s or women’s ministry meetings (although most churches have been quite eager to take our children). The fellowship we have been attending over the last two or three weeks is the first one to have sent someone to visit us. In anticipation of that visit, I got to thinking about all of this, and here’s where that thinking led…

I believe that every single person who fills out a visitor card should get a home visit (unless he specifically asks that he not be visited – and I doubt even these folks would object to a nice, personally-written card). Moreover (and here’s where churches who do have active visitation programs often err), the purpose of the visit should not be to “get him saved.” Certainly, if the visitor is not a believer, and the opportunity presents itself, take it – share the gospel! But it’s a rare person who will truly repent to follow the Lord because some stranger who couldn’t even take the time to get to know him asked him to repeat a prayer.

Unfortunately, we probably give many of these people false security, because many people will either figure that going along will get the pushy “church guy” off of their backs, or feel “on the spot” and go along because they’re too embarrassed to give the opposite of the answer we’re obviously aiming for. They “pray the prayer” and we tell them they’re saved, but no heart change was made. Instead, we have to “earn the opportunity” to share the Good News with most people, by showing them that we love them. Nobody likes to feel like a number or an accomplishment; they want to know we love them as people.

So what’s the purpose of the visit? I think it should be two-fold. First, the “church representative” should make sure that the visitor is made familiar with the church. He should make sure that the visitor knows what the fellowship believes and teaches, and what resources it has to offer, and that any questions the visitor may have about the church are answered. Second, he should seek to get to know the visitor and learn how we can meet his needs.

This is the key thing that most modern churches are lacking. It isn’t difficult; the “trick” is to stop thinking “programs” and just think “life.” If your fellowship has programs that are likely to appeal to the individual or family you’re talking to, of course you want to let him know about them. More importantly, though, try to find out how you and other church members can invest in his life. If the person is a believer, the relationship will be mutually edifying, and will help show the world that the people involved belong to Christ. If the person is an unbeliever, it will show the love of Christ and perhaps open doors for the sharing of the gospel.

These investment opportunities should make themselves obvious when we begin to look at people’s lives and, especially, their families (or lack thereof). Families are the building blocks of both the Church and society at large, and any opportunity to strengthen a family is an opportunity to invest love in someone’s life. If the visitor is an older couple who don’t get around well anymore, we could send a family or a youth to care for their yard or run errands for them.

A mother of young children might appreciate a few hours of babysitting so she can go out, or someone to care for her children while she cleans her house – or to clean her house so she can play with her children! A stay-at-home mom who is without a car during the week might like company, or someone to pick her and her children up and take them to the park.

A military man who is frequently deployed or away for training would likely appreciate someone’s checking on his wife and children while he’s away. A college student away from home would probably enjoy an invitation to Thanksgiving dinner. Nearly anyone, for that matter, would enjoy a simple invitation to share dinner or dessert. A single mom might need for her car to be taken care of, or for a godly man to spend some time with her son.

The possibilities are endless, but you get the point (I hope). We, as the Church, need to expect to invest in people’s lives this way. We need to stop worrying about how to develop new programs to “get people” into the church, and simply start asking ourselves how we can bless them – as people, not prospects. It will spill over; there is always a return on God’s investments. What investments can you make this week?