Articles
Visiting After Services
One of the things I have always been so pleased by, most everywhere I go, is the love brethren have of visiting with one another after services. I know that occasionally one has to leave in a hurry for some special need or that many might go to McDonald’s or a park for a potluck and continue visiting there, but most of the time, they seem to just enjoy talking at the building, sometimes for as long or longer than the service lasted.
You may not believe this, but it is true; I remember as a very small child being negatively impacted, having sad feelings about how some churches we were at seemed to empty almost as soon as the final “Amen†was said. I kid you not, I felt even as a small lad that it seemed the members were only there to fulfill some sort of obligation and could hardly wait to get out of there. Am I the only one that has felt that way?
With brethren in some congregations scattered, many living as much as an hour drive from the church building, and with 21st century lifestyles in America not being as conducive to dropping over for visits on the front porch of fellow members, like I hear was often the case in years gone by, then visiting with one another after services provides a good occasion for getting to know each other, for sharing in the ups and downs of everyday life and truly enjoying each other’s companionship.
A couple once had a running joke with my wife and me, that they could not leave until all (except us) had left. Do you know what? I think the brotherly-type love I have for them grew greatly as a result of those hours spent together. And I do mean hours! Without exaggeration, we sometimes were standing around talking over an hour after the assembly concluded, and often three times a week!
Now, I am not insinuating that everyone must hang around as long as I and my family, but I simply wanted to commend this good thing. In Acts 20:11, we read, "Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even until daybreak, he departed." I might add, this was after “church†and after Paul had preached a long sermon! So, we definitely have Scriptural precedence to encourage and continue our doing good along these lines. Keep it up.
