Church Potluck and Other Important Decisions

All the songs have been sung, the final prayer has been said and everyone is filing out to shake the pastor’s hand and the dreaded decision time has come. Where are you going to sit?

There’s the chair by the door, but it’s a church potluck and even though you’re in the perfect position for a quick escape everyone will stop by your seat on their way to the food and while they wait in line it’s the perfect chance to chat; whether you want to or not.

A seat by the desert table puts you in a spot to grab the best cookies before they run out but it also means that everyone will be walking right beside you to go find the sweets.

Do you sit by the front? But if there’s a presentation now everyone’s staring at the back of your head and they can see every movement you make. Or there’s the table at the back, but the line goes around the tables to get to the food so now everyone’s going by you as they go to get food.

So you pick a different table, maybe one in the middle, but then you have to consider your tablemates. There are so many options after all; there’s those people you always see. The ones you greet every week at church, go to bible study with and call when you need prayer. They may not be your best friends but they’re close and of course it’s tempting to sit with them so you know that you’ll enjoy the potluck.

Or there’s the option of sitting with those you never talk to. You go to different services, don’t attend the same bible study and the only time you talk is in passing when there’s a special event but if you sit with them now it gives you that rare opportunity to get to know someone new. Who knows they could end up being your new best friend.

Then of course there’s the table of church leaders, the elders, the pastor, the founding families and those that just seem very established in their faith, confident in their role and sure of who they are and what’s expected of them. Sitting with them can be like sitting at the popular table in the high school lunch room or it can be like being sent to the principal’s office, either way it’s a risk. Or at least you think it is, until you sit down and discover that no matter what you think, they’re still people, just like you.

So where do you sit? Do you fall back on instinct and side with your friends? Take a risk and talk to someone new? A leap of faith to sit with the pastor or do something really radical like find the empty table and see who sits with you?