There's a snake in the way.

It's always interesting at the offices of Seacoast, but today we had an extra surprise. After lunch, I was talking to Kathy Ford about some travel arrangements for a trip that I am taking next week when I heard some screams outside. Sure enough a 4 ft. snake decided to greet some guests at the front door. We called our facilities team to the scene and a battle of epic proportions ensued. The serpant hid, coiled, and struck several times (Kathy and I watched from BEHIND the glass window) After a tough fight, Kent from facilities emerged victorious and carried the snake by the back of it's head and released him in the woods behind the church. WHEW...we were all spared from the viscious fangs of the black racer. (I'd post pics but I still haven't figured that out yet.

I immediately started to think about the parallels between this incident and our role as a church. The snake was clearly a roadblock keeping any guests from entering our doors. We obviously wanted to get rid of the barrier as quickly as possible no matter the risk. Are there any other "snakes" that are making it more difficult for guests to enter our doors? What about are "member's only" Christianese language? Are we relevant to the people we are trying to reach?

It's worth thinking about.