When I became interested in Christian Science, my progress was encouraged by the warm reception I received as a newcomer to the local branch Church of Christ, Scientist. It was filled with members who were reaching out to the community and welcoming the stranger. I later became a member of that church and found the joy that comes from welcoming others and making them feel at home.
How important it is in fulfilling the purpose of our church to let the stranger know the love we sincerely feel in our hearts! A friendly smile and unselfish interest in an unfamiliar face can show that members value Church and wish to support it through demonstrating in their lives the spiritual love that attracts and heals. Unselfish concern for others is needed.
Christ Jesus teaches that the rewards are great for those who warmly minister to the stranger. He declares, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: ... Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."Matt. 25:34, 35, 40; Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and countless parables, including the one about the good Samaritan, amply provide evidence that the Way of Christ, Truth, is the way of unselfish love.
Mrs. Eddy touches on the importance of love toward the stranger when she writes, "If the soft palm, upturned to a lordly salary, and architectural skill, making dome and spire tremulous with beauty, turn the poor and the stranger from the gate, they at the same time shut the door on progress."Science and Health, p. 142.
It is important that our welcoming of the stranger is motivated by giving rather than getting. Do we think, "Ah, here's a new one; let's cultivate and encourage him and if he likes our church, perhaps he will become a member—we can use more workers"? While our reasoning may not be so obviously self-centered, we can, nevertheless, ask ourselves, "Is my motive truly based on a desire to let the stranger feel the sincere and loving interest our membership has in him as an individual?" If we can answer Yes, then our efforts will be helpful. If we love mankind enough, nothing can keep us from greeting the newcomer with love. Passive interest or indifference might betray undue interest in oneself.
How much easier it seems to mingle at church only with close friends and acquaintances! Sometimes the newcomer looks preoccupied, unapproachable, or timid. Healing this selfish tendency not to take any interest at all in him—realizing that selfishness is no part of the real man who reflects Love—contributes to the stranger's visit to our church. It also frees us from limiting modes of mortal thought obscuring our view of the perfect man of God's creating.
Some branch churches have a special welcoming committee. It is the purpose of the members of this committee to seek out the newcomer and introduce him to others. Opinions may vary as to the value of a welcoming committee on the grounds that all church members can devote themselves unselfishly to this activity and go about it in their own way.
If a branch church decides to have such a committee, however, its activities can be most helpful if they encourage church members to be courteous, friendly, and responsive to new people. Greeting the newcomer should not be merely a formal, organized action on the part of a committee. It is the demonstration of spiritual love evidenced by each church member as he individually makes sure his thought goes out toward others.
Before we can expect our branch church to rouse our community from materiality to spiritual understanding, which heals and regenerates, we need to be aroused. To truly love the stranger, we must love mankind enough to raise our own concept of man from the material to the spiritual. We must realize that the real man of God's creating is not an unknown mortal but the perfect expression of Life, Truth, and Love. He is the image and likeness of Spirit, Soul. He is never outside divine Principle, infinite Life. He reflects Mind, supreme good. He is the beloved child of the Father and Mother of all.
As we exchange the mortal concept of man for the immortal truth, our consciousness is purified, and our experience with the newcomer can be a natural expression of love and interest whereby we can share with him our enthusiasm and joy over his presence at the spiritual feast to which he is drawn. If we do not push ourselves or our religion on the newcomer but are inspired to say or do the right thing in responding to him, then our meeting with him will, in some way, show forth evidence of God's love to man.
A right response to the newcomer denotes a state of mind imbued with the Christ, Truth. And it is the Christ-idea present in human consciousness that heals. It breaks the dream that man is material, discordant, and unhappy. It destroys the false beliefs of mortal mind's arguing that sin, disease, and death are real. It affirms the nothingness of these errors.
Christlike thought perceives the allness of God, Spirit, and the perfection of immortal man, the likeness of Truth. It brings to the individual a clear realization of divine Love's infinite presence and all-power and enables him to eliminate from his own experience the inharmonious and abnormal conditions of materiality. It heals spiritually, restoring men bodily, mentally, and morally, to a harmonious and healthy state. Greetings based on Love, flowing from the heart of Christ, promote healing of ourselves and others.
