Some Commonsensical Things to Remember and Practice

Common sense is not so common anymore these days.

At times, I get blown away by watching some of the things that people do or don’t do. The following should be no brainer for everyone but I listed them here because I am not so sure if everyone knows, agrees with and practices them. Many of these are related to the confines of New Life Fellowship, but they are also very applicable in your family, neighborhood, school and work.

1. Don’t drop or spill things on the floor. If you do, quickly pick it up or wipe it off.
2. When you see trash in front of you, pick it up and throw it away.
3. When you see a trashcan that’s full, tie the trash bag, throw it away in the dumpster and put a new trash bag in it. Every New Life member should know where the trash bags are in the kitchen. If you can’t do this because you are in hurry, then at least inform someone who can do the job.
4. If you are a man and must do #1, use a urinal, not a toilet, unless all the urinals are occupied or you have health reasons. If you do #1 in a toilet, lift the seat up, use it and put it down after you are done.
5. When you use a urinal, get close to it for a very obvious reason.
6. When you flush the toilet, make sure everything is flushed completely, again, for a very obvious reason.
7. When you wash and dry your hands, do not use more than two sheets of paper towels. After drying your hands, wipe off the water at the top of the sink for the next person.
8. Don’t allow your children to run around inside the building including the church fellowship hall. We made a gigantic playground for your children to enjoy and play in.
9. Don’t sit on the sofa arms or sofa backs. If you do, you will destroy them. They are for your backs and arms, not for your behind! 🙂
10. When you serve inside the Welcome Desk, don’t bring in and eat any food in there. If you do, Welcome Desk doesn’t look welcoming anymore but very messy. But drinks are acceptable.
11. When you greet people at the entrance door, don’t eat and greet at the same time. You look messy and sloppy. But drinks in your hand is acceptable.
12. When you serve and use the kitchen, wipe off all the grease immediately. If you don’t, it just gets harder to clean it in the future.
13. Don’t leave the dishes undone in the sink. It looks unpleasant. Moreover, others need to use the sink also.
14. When you use something, return it to the original place right away after you are done using it. When someone wants to use it and it’s not there, it gets frustrating.
15. When you borrow something, return it in its original condition.
16. Don’t sit at the end of a row when the whole row is empty. You will make it very difficult and awkward for people to pass in front of you and sit in that row.
17. When you prepare a meal for your house church, prepare enough so that people will not go hungry. Good and lots of food is very conducive to warm and heartfelt fellowship.
18. Don’t tailgate. It’s rude and dangerous.
19. Be on time. If your child prepared a special music for a concert but people are not showing up on time and your child has to play on time, how would that make you feel? The praise we do during our Sunday corporate worship is not a warm up time for something else. That is our worship to Almighty God our Heavenly Father.
20. The list can go on.

However, there is a way to keep all these without having to go through and trying to remember them all. How do we do that? Just remember the words of Jesus Christ. He said:

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)

This is called The Golden Rule. If we are considerate of others and live by The Golden Rule, then much of the problems in this world will go away. The opposite of being considerate of others is called selfishness or self-centeredness. Living selfishly is easy at first, but in the end, it will create much tension, conflict and fight. Living by The Golden Rule is hard at first, but in the end, it will produce peace, joy, unity and fulfillment. People who are immature live selfishly. People who are mature live by The Golden Rule. Therefore, let’s live by The Golden Rule that Christ gave us. It’s good for us.

Your pastor,

Eric