More Than Fine…

The Man in the Back

// October 16th, 2009 // Faith, Life

I think this is a great follow up to Tuesday’s post. It is nice to balance so many negative experiences with one of hope. Today’s post is a guest post by Annette Taylor. You can follow her @… (oh wait, Annette doesn’t twitter) or read her blog at www. (Annette doesn’t have a blog either). Alright then, you can find out what is on Annette’s mind exclusively here on More Than Fine… or you could ask her.

The Man in the Back by Annette Taylor

I tend to sit in the same area every Sunday at church. I like the back left section. I don’t know how it started, but that’s where I sit almost every Sunday. I noticed a man has been sitting in the back row near me for at least the past month or so, if not longer. Honestly, I first noticed him while we greeted each other at the beginning of a service about a month ago because he looked like he might be homeless. I don’t actually know if he is, but I gathered this from his appearance. I know I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but that really was my first thought. Once I saw him coming back week after week, I thought how amazing it was that he felt comfortable enough to come back and become a regular at our church. Our church always makes the “come as you are” claim and this was a real example of that acceptance. A few Sundays ago, something else about this man caught my attention. When the collection plate was passed around, he dropped in what I am assuming was all of the change he had. It blew me away. I wasn’t the only one who noticed. A friend sitting next to me mentioned it after the service. When someone gives all they have on them, not just 10% or their regular weekly offering, it amazes me and inspires me. She felt the same way. Last week, I noticed the same man by the front door when I was walking in to church. I said hello and then it hit me; he was standing by the door because he is now part of the group of men and women who greet people at our church. I was excited by this because it really showed that our church practices what we preach. We don’t want people to wait until we can afford “nice” clothes or look a certain way to come to church. We want people to be there just as they are because that’s how God wants us to be there. It’s not about our clothes, how much money we give, or anything else that matters in the end. What matters is that we are there to worship and I hope that I can live up to the example the man in the back of church sets every week.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed and leave a comment!