Wal-Mart and God

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect...  (1 Peter 3:15 NIV)

So, I haven't been blogging for awhile because I've been working at the Porter County Fair with our church.  For us, this is a big deal.  Over 150,000 people/tickets will stream through in an 11-day period (which is a lot for our area).  We have a booth with a sucker-pull game for the kids.  We will give out about 10,000 suckers, 4,000 glow-bracelets, 1000 toys, and 1000 water bottles while working over 400 person-hours in our booth and on the trolley.  It's amazing how many people will come out for the fair in the heat and humidity, but they do!

This year, I've been leading the team to make a purposeful change in our way of communicating with people in the area.  Churches in our area have really seen one another as "competition," trying to "steal" people from one another.  This has been breaking my heart for the past 8 years I've been here, as I expect it breaks the heart of a God who desires unity in His Body.  (One of the things that drew me to a church like ours down in Cincinnati was a desire for Christian Unity.)  I've been praying this whole time about what God is calling me to do in this culture.  He's been answering my prayer.

In the beginning years, I simply tried to make our "packaging" different from any of the churches in the area so we wouldn't pull anyone from existing churches.  (Relaxed coffeehouse atmosphere, underground, classic rock style music, etc.)  It didn't work for long.  Many of the people who came to our church were still disgruntled or hurt people from other churches, hoping we would be different.  We grew in numbers, so churches in the area thought things were "working" for us and they started copying our "packaging" as well.  One moved in a block away...underground of course.  Another right down the street and put signs basically right in front of our building.  I'm not so sure that God was smiling at us - His Body in action.

Then we tried to simply "serve" people.  Servant evangelism is big across the United States.  Give people a bottle of water, a can of coke, a box of doughnuts, and a card that reminds them that God loves them.  This interrupts their day and points them to God - not a local church.  While it may work in many places in the U.S., it had some impact here but it didn't really take off.  People were often suspicious, but we were doing better.  We weren't distracted by "competition" but were focused on God and people - interrupting their busy lives for a moment so they will focus on God.  This was good.

This year, God just really put it on my heart to take things a step further:  "Start a conversation about Me and My Church."  So that's what we did.  I simply ask people (at the booth or the trolley) where they go to church.  If they don't have one, I ask them what they would look for in a church.  If we have things that match, I invite them.  If they have a church home, I ask them what their favorite thing is about their church.  I tell them I'm not trying to steal anyone from another part of the Body of Christ, I want to learn about the things God is doing in His Body.  The responses are amazing.

People begin telling me about their preachers, pastors, or priests that they love.  They tell me of children's and student ministry programs helping their children grow up into the Lord.  They tell me of music that touches their soul, and church members who have become family.  Their eyes light up.  Their defensive stances become open.  They smile.  We talk...sometimes for a long time.  Sure, I've had my fair-share of people who have said, "Actually, we're looking for a church right now."  And those are good conversations as well.  Sometimes we are a good fit for them.  Sometimes we are not.  But if we are not, I know much more now about Christ's body in our area and I can point people in a direction that will encourage their walk together with God.

So last night, day 8, we closed up the tent at 10pm with a couple friends who were working the booth and trolley with us and told them goodnight.  Traci and I went to Wal-Mart to get some milk, ice cream, and other "essentials" for home.  A checkout-counter lady was standing in the aisle looking for a customer because she wasn't busy.

"You bored?" I asked.  

"Sure," she replied with a grin.  She began checking out our groceries.

"I can stand here and talk to you all night if you want.  I'm a talker."

"I wouldn't mind that.  It's been slow tonight.  I could use some good conversation."

"I can't guarantee the quality of the conversation, but I can talk."

"Well, let's start with your t-shirts.  Why are you both wearing the same shirt."

"Oh, the shirt is for our church.  ImagineLifeDifferently.com is our website."

(Then I could feel the prompting.  "Ask her...go ahead...ask her."  "Not in Wal-Mart," I'm thinking.  I asked anyway.)

"Soooooo, where do you go to church?"

"Actually, I just moved in the area and I'm starting to look for a church."

We exchanged contact information.

Traci and I walked away.

All three of us were smiling.

I think God was smiling, too.

I could almost hear Him say, "Well done you two.  Well done."