Imagine chatting with a friend or co-worker who mentions an amazing jazz vocalist you absolutely have to see. You're interested and ask where you could catch the act. Your friend names a club downtown. When you ask "Where is that," he explains it's a gay bar on Wisconsin Avenue. Then he adds, "Why don't you meet me there for the concert Friday night at 8:00?"
Of course you'd smile and continue polite conversation. But your mind would be racing! "I'm not gay! They'll be doing strange things down there! They will try to recruit me! What would other people think if they saw me there?" And although you might politely accept the invitation to meet your friend on Friday evening at that club, by Friday evening you'd have a terrible cold! Or you would have suddenly discovered you sister is coming to town on Saturday and you need to vacuum!
Imagine the way you or I might feel about visiting a gay night club for a jazz performance, and you'll understand how most urban Americans feel about showing up in a church for Sunday worship! They don't think they need it. They fear they won't understand it. They suspect they will be pressured to do something uncomfortable. They are terrified they will feel like a fish out of water. So if you invite 15 people to be your guest in worship sometime, they odds are that at least in big cities, 14 are likely to decline or politely fail to show.
Now this doesn't mean that we shouldn't invite friends and acquaintances to church. Even if one or two show up, we're that much closer to reaching their families as well. But when you realize that most secular prople would not consider visiting a strange church, you understand why we have to be intentional about creating God spaces outside the Church. A God space is a time and place in which you can talk about Jesus Christ and faith in a friendly conversation with unchurched people.
It's interesting that Jesus characterized his mission this way: "I have come to seek and save those who are lost." That passage in Luke 19:10 follows the story of Zaccheus and explains Christ's odd behavior. You remember the story: Zaccheus is a notorious tax collector living in Jericho who wants to see Jesus. On the day Christ arrives in town, the streets are too crowded for a short guy like Zaccheus to find a vantage point. So he climbs a tree and watches Christ's approach.
Christ looks past all the religious people lining the streets to cheer, and spots the little outcast perched in the sycamore tree. He urges Zaccheus to come down and invites himself the the tax collector's house for lunch!
Zaccheus becomes a follower of Christ! His life turns around instantly. He gives back fortunes to people he has wronged. But significantly, the Bible never details what it was Jesus has taught him over lunch! We have no idea whether a parable or a scripture verse became the turning point in Zaccheus' life. All we know is what Jesus did- he took unconventional action to create a God space for an outcast who would never, ever darken the door of a respectable Jewish synagogue.
Jesus not only came to save the lost. He explains he came to seek and save them. And in case you're wondering, he didn't have to look far to find lost people. They were everywhere. Apparently, he was seeking those who were ready to walk away from their old lives and follow him. As people who call ourselves "followers of Christ," that's obvious our job as well- seeking and saving.
We have to be deliberate in creating spaces outside of church in which we can talk about Christ. You can do it by offering to pray for people, and then asking: "Why don't we begin praying now?" You can do it by making an appointment: "Some time I want to tell you what my faith in Jesus Christ has meant to me. Can we sit down over lunch next Tuesday?" You can do it by mentioning a great Christian book you've just read, and offering to pass it along. Books that come to mind are Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis; the Reason for Christ by Tim Keller; Where is God When it Hurts? by Philip Yancey.
Don't be impatient. You may well have to repeat this process 14 times with 14 different people before you see results. So don't think of it as evangelism. Think of it as practice. You are practicing so that when God brings a motivated lost person along, you will be ready to share.
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