Inspiration

In case you're wondering if I'm having a rush of inspiration...I've been blogging on the church web site www.maplecitychapel.org and am finally moving some of my entries over onto Blogger. So, no great inspiration...unfortunately.

Twenty Years Later

September 10, 1988

Yesterday during staff meeting I noticed a photo being passed around the circle but didn't consider what it might be that everyone seemed to be snickering about. Finally it reached me and deja vu I was back to 1988. Pastor Gary's father was at our wedding and through some picture sorting that Gary and Anna were doing they came up with this one. Brenda and I don't think of ourselves as very old, more like more mature...uh huh...doesn't seem possible until we see our kid's (17 and 13). What a ride it has been...we didn't have a clue what we would encounter in our relationship and life experiences but 20 years ago, we started this on love and yeah love. The ensuing years have been challenging at times but we're better for it and are looking forward to the next 20.

Shut-Up Evangelism

This morning in preparation for staff meeting I read an article that reminded me of an issue in my life that I'm really, really struggling with...namely slowing down, listening to the spoken and more importantly the unspoken...Jesus, our master modeler, dealt differently with every person he came into contact with. Whether it was the woman at the well, Nicodemus, Levi, Mary Magdalene, or the disciples, he listened and knew how to respond in a way that would affect their hearts. There were no pat answers, no formulas, no one-time offers. Jesus listened and taught us that the smallest element of any culture is an individual person. Each person is unique. A person's experiences, traumatic moments, family background, ethnic heritage, and church experience all make up how he or she interprets relationship and processes faith and belief.

Hugh Halter of www.missio.us, relates the story of how he would study at the local Eugene, Oregon Starbucks and struck up a fun, over-the-counter rapport with Jess. She had the normal Eugene look: black hair, black eyes, black clothes, and studs and chains hanging from various points on her face. Often Jess would take her break and come over to talk to him about life, religion or whatever. She was very open, loved life , already considered herself spiritually vibrant, was as nice as any Christian she knew, liked Jesus along with Buddha, Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, and Oprah. She had a strong and committed community of friends, enjoyed her daily routine, but had absolutely no interest in the church or becoming an evangelical Christian. Now that's a dilemma. It's one thing to lead someone to Christ who's trying to decide what faith to believe in; it's another thing to try to convince people to pick a religion when they already like all of them.

So how are we to respond to this type of person? (Which by the way, is the majority of people.)

Hugh says he stumbled onto an answer when one day he came into Starbucks and tried to joke with her, but could immediately tell something was wrong. She didn't make eye contact and it looked as though she might cry. he sat down and after about an hour, slipped her a note across the counter asking if everything was all right. She wrote back and had a fellow employee deliver her reply. "No, I'm not doing too hot today. My father and brother just died this week-suicide and heart attack. Sorry. I'm not my normal self." Hugh knew that if he tried to console her, it would really make it hard for her at work. So he left and went across the street to a florist ship. He bought two flowers and wrote her a note that said, "Sorry," and signed it, "From the Rev."

Several day went by, and he went back in for another cup of coffee. Before he got completely out of his car, He was literally mauled by Jess. She just hugged him and cried. After they took a half-hour break, she said, "thanks for listening."

Hmm...listening? Is that the key? I think it is. Listening is watching and sensitively responding to the unspoken and spoken needs of other in ways the demonstrate sincere interest.