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One of my wife’s friends posted some funny insights from her grandsons this weekend on Facebook.  The two boys were in a worship service in which two typical traditions were celebrated: baptism and communion.

When one of the boys saw the baptismal being readied during the service, he asked, “Is someone getting sanitized today?” 

Later on in the service, the other boy had his own take on communion.  As the church passed the offering plate after communion, he turned to his mom as said, “You have to pay for the juice and crackers, you know.”

While kids can have a humorous and innocent view of things we understand as adults, the commentary of the two young boys got my wife and I thinking: There is always someone new in your church service.

More often than not, when we think of new people our minds go to those visitors who are physically walking into our church for the first time.  And that’s not a bad place to go.  But the truth is there are people of all types who may have been in our church for awhile, but who are experiencing something we’re doing for the first time.  That’s why it’s always so important for us to communicate why we do what we do.  We often times do churchy things assuming everyone in the room knows why we’re doing it. 

Communion and baptism are easily understood to those of us who’ve been in church a long time.  But think about that kid whose seeing these rituals for the first time.  What educational opportunity do we miss by just going through the motions instead of explaining why we do what we do?  Or how about that guy who’s been coming to church for awhile, but doesn’t understand the importance of publically declaring your faith in God through baptism?  Do we miss a chance to help him grow deeper in his faith by saying nothing?

For some, it may seem tedious, unnecessarily and even boring to always explain the importance of why we do what we do, but it doesn’t have to be.  Let me challenge you to think about creative ways to tell that story.  We don’t have to explain the importance for baptism by saying the same script each time we do it.  We can tell the stories of people baptized in the past.  They can share that story in their own words.  That’s just a simple example and I’m sure you can come up with something more creative. 

The point is, there are opportunities each weekend to reach people for the first time.  It may not always be who we typically expect, but saying nothing is a majorly missed opportunity.  And guess what?  Even people who’ve been coming to your church for years may find themselves renewed in their faith in an new way thanks to the stories you’re telling.  The things we do to reach out to the new faces can help disciple others, too.