Table for one?

“How many in your party?’ asked the smiling host the moment I stepped into the restaurant.

Raising a single finger, I said, “One.”

“Just one?” clarified the host.

I paused for a moment, then responded, “One.”

The host led me through a maze of tables to a partial booth. It looked like someone had taken a regular restaurant booth, cut it in two, and had placed the short end in front of me.

“Is this okay?” the smiling host asked.

“No,” I responded, shaking my head. “I’d like a regular booth please.”

The host frowned and silently led me to a regular booth, which is much more comfortable for my six-foot, two-inch tall frame. He immediately started gathering the additional silverware settings from the table, originally set to accommodate four persons. I didn’t mind the additional settings being left on the table, but for some reason restaurants seem to want to remind single patrons they really are “just one.”

Restaurants often don’t provide very good service to single individuals. You’ll order less, which means you’ll pay less, and therefore tip less. They’ll make less money off you.

You’re “just one.”

As a single individual, I’ve found it annoying how restaurants tend to consistently call the single patron a party of “JUST one.” They don’t say, “Will you be dining alone today, sir?” or “Will this be for one?” It’s JUST one, as if being “just one” devalues the person.

Churches often don’t seem to know how to respond to the single individual either.

Most of what churches offer are designed with couples and families in mind. And much of what is communicated from the pulpit is stated in terms of couples, families, or relating to marriage. Little consideration of the single individual is given in program planning or thought to what is communicated. Not much is done for “just one.”

In fact, many couples purposely avoid having single friends because they find it uncomfortable for their partners. Or the single individual is considered to be someone “en route” to marriage so match-making becomes the focus.

Whether it’s a business or church, defining the single individual as “just one” gives the connotation of devaluing the person for being “just one.” But that’s not how Jesus saw the lone person. Instead, He saw the individual as being priceless. Look closely at Matthew 18:12-14:

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.”

The world often sees the individual as “just one.” Jesus sees the individual as “even one.”

How do you see the single person?

Scotty