Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Do you remember the TV show, Cheers? There were very few episodes that didn’t take place exclusively and completely in that bar in Boston. Cheers, as in the bar, was operated by has- been baseball player Sam Malone and Ernie Pantusso, aka “Coach,” who had been Sam’s coach along the way. There were, of course, the regulars who spent every evening in that bar.

But now that I think about it, how many customers, apart from Norm, of course, ever drank more than one beer in the course of the evening? In my memory, most customers were given a new mug before they had consumed much of the first. Nobody (well, except for maybe that old guy at the other end of the bar who only made occasional appearances for comic relief) was getting drunk.

Well, if they weren’t there to drink a lot, why were Frasier and Cliff and the rest hanging out there every evening? 

I think it’s the theme song that gives it away. Remember? “You wanna go where everybody knows your name.”Ultimately, that’s why the regulars were regular – they had a place where everyone in the room knew them. They were known by name (“NORM!!”). They had connections with the others around the bar. They became regulars because they wanted to go where everybody knew their name.

Maybe we should change the name of our church to Cheers Presbyterian Church. I’m kidding, of course, but the concept is good. Our church is a place where everybody knows your name, or where everyone should know your name. I can only think of two reasons people wouldn’t know your name. The first is that they aren’t trying. The second is that you aren’t trying. Sure, we’re a small congregation right now, but the regulars are known precisely because they are regular. If you’re infrequent and irregular or you don’t plop yourself down on a stool and stay a while, it’s no surprise people wouldn’t know you.

It’s tough to hide at GCPC. It’s hard to sneak in and out. You will be known at GCPC. But that’s part of how the church should operate. The church should be a place of regulars, a place where everyone knows your name.