I was standing at the doorway to a store in Branson, Missouri while walking around the old town. Suddenly a lady inside says, “I need to get outside.” She pushed through the crowd to the street corner and began smiling and waving at a tour group going by in a vehicle. She smiled and shouted pleasantly to the group as they descended the street.
Next, she turned around, walked back to the shop, stopped, and quipped, “They pay me a lot of money to do that.” And then she walked back inside.
Now I am not sure who pays her, whether it is the city, the tour group, or another entity, but whoever it is understands a simple concept. Smiling, waving, and being kind leave an impression on people about the store owners and the town in general. People with a favorable impression will stay longer, spend more money, and possibly return. The cost of her kindness is an investment; for the city, it is money well spent.
Her smile and kindness were for money, but we have something more significant at stake in the Church. We work to help people connect to God through Jesus Christ and secure their eternal salvation.
That means we sometimes go out of our way to make people who visit the Church feel welcome. We need to smile, wave, and speak kindly. We must do everything we can to make an excellent first impression. We must be overly nice and welcoming to everyone visiting us on Sundays.
Then when you are done making that good impression, you can walk by the people in the lobby and say, “I did it for the Lord.”