Our brains are equipped with a Reticular Activating System. This is a filter through which we observe the world. If we didn't have this filter we would overload our brain with data. There is so much in the world to observe that we filter only the most important things. For instance, ever notice a car in a magazine ad, and then everywhere you look you see one? Ever learn a new word and then suddenly you hear it used two or three places? It's because your RAS has opened up to that data. RAS not only opens it closes. There are things that we stop seeing or noticing. For instance when you enter the Center for Applied Technology you notice a lot of things, but each week you'll become more familiar and you'll notice less and less about it.
The importance of understanding the RAS is that as a church we should be aware of how guests see the things that we have processed over and over to the point we don't even notice them anymore. We should make sure that things look their best. Guests will give us a certain amount of latitude because they know we're in rented facilities, but for the things we can control we should.
Just a thought that came to mind today.
--Ben
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