I'll confess, it's one of my "social decorum pet peeves", the self-centered behavior of the evil "The Seat Savers".
Alright, maybe 'evil' is a bit too much, but we all have experienced this frustrating epidemic. You've prepared to attend the day's calendar event; school play, newly released movie or a fund raising concert, only to be buffeted by the oxymoron of a 'taken empty seat'.
You have been hurried all day long, only to arrive just before the start of the program. As you begin to look for your 'first come, first serve', general admission seats, your ragamuffin frustration level begins to climb. The "seat savers" have placed every piece of clothing, paper, shoes, neckties or every purse known to mankind on all of the good seats in the house.
Risking 'life and limb' to be respectfully on time for the start of the show, and someone has decided to be fashionably late and yet sit in the best seat of the house. Thoughts of elementary school flash before your eyes; "no cuts", and "this seat is saved, sorry loser". To the back row for you, and the rest of your crew.
To the marketplace this is an epidemic of perceived rudeness, but inside of Graceland it takes upon another life form. I used to get down right "ragamuffin mad", then God pricked me my heart with a glimpse of truth. Abba showed me that I was entirely wrong about the 'seat savers'. These are amazing people who are self-less in focus, save the seat for a friend.
I watched the epidemic this past Sunday asit brought tears to my eyes. Grown men playing the role of the "Sunday Seat Savers", left holding the label of 'desperate fool'.
My missional minded community (church) has been encouraged to "Know, Love, Reach" this year (You've heard me use this on the show often). Our contemporary pastor has themed our season with "deeds", not just "creeds".
We are convinced that the Christian purpose is to really "know" people, just for the purpose of knowing them. We are determined to "love" more people, and we are making ourselves available to "reach" more people with this 'authentic relationships'. Hence, the manufacturing of a new word: "Knowlovereach", a synonym for missional in Graceland.
This "missional movement" has created a synergy of activity within our 'gang of followers' of Jesus. More and more people are getting outside of themselves, walking away from their "plastic suburbia" isolation, to really know people, love people and eventually reach people for the single purpose of authenticity in the greatest commandment; lived out in deeds our golden 'neighborly relationships'.
So what does this create on a Sunday? You got it...we are all transformed into the nasty 'seat savers'.
As I was in the process of saving five extra seats, I used everything I could find to lay across our theater styled seating. I had an entire row "saved" a half-hour before the first guitar lick from the worship band.
I took a moment from my frantic project to looked down the entire section, there were five rows "saved". It looked like someone had brought their laundry to the auditorium, clothes strewn everywhere in "hopes that St. Nick (just Nick, the neighbor) would soon be there".
Some were overjoyed to be 'joined', but in the end a majority would be played for the 'fool'. It was then, as the morning unwound, my compassion kicked in. I was watching Jesus' love in its simplest form. Graceland's population wanting to be "joined by cultural people" the church had determined in their hearts to call friends, and not 'the opposition'.
My friends would check their cell phone for the 'message' or 'texts', explaining why the guests were late. Some walked out to the lobby, checked the coffee shop and the parking lot. Others placed their heads on swivels, looking to the right, to the left and to the rear - trying to find the a familiar face on the 'seat saver's radar screen'.
