Last night, I had to call Verizon to correct a charge that had been put on my bill. I was paying bills, and noticed there was an extra charge put on my bill. Needless to say, I was not happy about this. After searching their website to try to find out how I could change that charge, I finally called them. The first words out of the person's mouth was, "Thank you for calling Verizon. The most important part of our company is you, the customer."
He sounded sincere, but I thought, "Okay, he has been trained to say this." Once I told him my problem, he began researching the problem. Instead of putting me on hold while he checked it out, he asked about my day--and seemed really interested. He then asked what I do for a living, and we talked about that. He resolved my problem and then asked if there was anything else he could help me with. He ended the conversation by saying warmly, "The most important part of Verizon is you, our customer." By that time, I was convinced that he truly believed that--it was not just something he was trained to do.
So I began to wonder, when I talk to people every day, do they feel like the most important part of RCC? I am not talking about a tagline to make people feel good or come back. No, do they really feel valued and accepted. Because the church is not a building, a campus, a set of beliefs, a church staff. The church is PEOPLE.
Jesus did that. Everywhere he went, he valued and accepted people. No destination or task was more important than the people right in his path.
People matter. The most important part of the church is people.
