How to be a Church Greeter

In the story of Abraham and the three visitors (Genesis 18:1-15), Abraham did not wait for the visitors to come closer before greeting them. No, as soon as he spotted them in the distance, he ran, not walked, out to greet them. He did not just say “hello,” he bowed down “low to the ground.” Not only that, he ordered water and food brought out to them. It was not just any calf from the flock he had slaughtered, but a “choice” one, the best.

Is that how we greet people who come to our church? I think you would have to admit that we fall terribly short of Abraham’s standard. Is it not true that, sometimes we get so wrapped up in our conversations with our friends that visitors could walk right by us and we would not even notice? Does that not send a message that we value our friends more than the stranger? Of course it does. So how do we create a culture in the church that visitors matter? It is important because:

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it (Hebrews 13:2).

Do you remember the verse that talks about who and how we should love one another?

He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27).

You may have come across the acronym JOY, right? It stands for Jesus first; You last and Others in between, the exact same order as in that verse. It does not begin with you, not even the visitor, but with God. You know how much God loves us, right?

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16).

Why does He expect us to love Him the exact same way? Because:

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27).

He created us to be just like Him. To be like Him, we would love our neighbors the same way He loves us, more than Himself. Of course, he is perfect and Holy. We are not and that is why we fail to greet our visitors.

To make a long story short, the way we become more welcoming as a church is to become more like God, to glorify Him above all, to believe in Him. The way we do that involves opening His word to our hearts. Then, He will open our hearts to His word. In other words, we need more Bible study. We need to get rid of the things in our lives that distract us from following Him.

Unwelcome: 50 Ways Churches Drive Away First-Time Visitors


It is very easy to accidentally turn people away instead of inviting them in to your church. Jonathan Malm has written this book so that you can avoid that.