How many huddles will you participate in today?
The coach calls timeout. The team rallies together in a circle to hear the plan. Often, our thoughts of huddles include planning and execution whether for sports, jobs, and family. Huddles naturally by their size exclude people. That comes from a desire to have the right people in the circle including the right place and time to bring people together.
Forming a huddle at the inopportune time can send a different message to outsiders. Listen to what Thom Rainer says about huddles in Becoming a Welcoming Church about huddles:
Most church members do not view themselves as unfriendly. But they do not see themselves from the perspective of church guests. They don’t usually speak to guests because they don’t know them. And the church members usually retreat to the comfort of holy huddles of the people they do know. (pg. 9)
Later in the book, Rainer talks about visiting a church and counting 27 “holy huddles.” Out of those 27 huddles, one person left their group to acknowledge Rainer’s presence.
Huddles don’t just happen in churches, but they can occur at the water cooler, the bleachers of a game, the waiting room, and the coffee shop.
What we may or may not realize is that a guest enters a situation with a level of anxiety and fear. By leaving our huddle, we acknowledge their presence offering warmth. Our motivation comes from the Gospel — Jesus left the riches of heaven to welcome us into His family.
When you step out of your huddle to welcome the guest, outsider, or stranger, you have preached the Gospel in ways that words cannot explain.
Today, how many huddles will you participate in today? Will you have the courage to step out of your huddle to welcome the guest? It could make all the difference for that person.
Photo by Adrià Crehuet Cano