The Approach

Golden Gate Bridge Approach, originally uploaded by Wiggum03.

You've made it to Bridge Day--Wednesday! Half the week is behind us, and the second half of the week lies before us.

I like today's shot of the approach to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. You can see the thick blanket of fog rolling in while the bright lights on the approach light the way across the bridge through the mist.

There have been plenty of photographs taken of the Golden Gate Bridge but this is the first shot I've ever seen of the approach to the bridge. It's not beautiful and majestic like the two famous red towers and the cables that are draped across them. The approach is well...functional. It's not breathtakingly beautiful like other aspects of this celebrated structure. But the approach is necessary...it's valuable. Without the entrance that the approach provides, nobody would ever get across the San Francisco Bay. The approach is not glamorous but it gets the job done. People get across the bridge.

Your approach matters when you're helping people who are far from God--find their way to God. A coarse and abrasive, judgmental approach can drive even the most earnest seeker away.

Watch Jesus in action with people in the pages of the Gospels. His approach was winsome and inviting. He asked questions that whetted people's appetite for spiritual things. His approach drew people in. They trusted Him.

Our approach as a church family matters as well. Our dress code--easy and inviting. Our style doesn't push people away with songs they've never heard and rituals that they don't understand. The architecture is not overpowering. The environment is comfortable. We have intentionally made the place inviting. And the reason we've made Christianity inviting is because knowing Jesus matters. He is the one and only bridge between sinful humanity and the one true, Holy Creator God. It's all about the approach.

As we live out our passion for "Each One--Reach One," don't forget the importance of the approach you use in reaching out to others. A smile and a friendly, inviting countenance can make all the difference.

How's your approach?

Live the Red,

Mark