Christianity right now is big on the word "relevance". What does it mean to be relevant? What does it look like practically, and most important, how is that done without compromise? Now, I believe the Bible to be true, that you can't whitewash it so that it makes people more comfortable. Jesus is not my homeboy, he is still Lord. However, as we learned from Becky's blog we do all approach God in different ways. Just because someone isn't a Christian doesn't mean that a desire for a relationship with Christ isn't built into them, the same way it is in me. The difference is, that I can identify that longing, they cannot.Now, I've been on a few missions trips in my life. I do not know a missions organization that does not believe in something called an "Open Air". If you know that term, or worse, have participated in this, you are cringing already. If you do not, allow me to enlighten you: An Open Air is an evangelical event staged by young people in the most public place they can find. Usually in front of a subway station in Japan, or a mall in the Philippines. It consists of a "relevant" (there's that word again) dance or drama done to the latest Christian hit song, and is meant to get people staring at you in the hopes that when the jazzy little number is finished, people will stick around, read a tract, and get saved. It has worked in the past. The 70's did really well with them. Now, if someone does hang around and is faced with the Truth for the first time in their life, they have the patented response "Well, that's awesome. Good for you, but that's not truth for me." What is a good little dancing Christian to do? Argue apologetics? Who cares anymore? A few people, but not "all the world". Not our world, the western culture we now live in.
I have been amazed though, to see a few things that did work. People who sat down and really thought and prayed about how to reach the world they lived in. Ideas that translated to all the world.
A locally owned business in Kona, Hawaii, made the best shaved ice (never had one? you're seriously missing a joyous moment in life). As seen by the review here, they are always packed, always have a line out the door and into the street. In the corner of this little establishment, was a box with some papers next to it, and a pen. All the box said was simply "Prayer Requests". The business asked for some kids from the YWAM base nearby to come once a week, empty the box, and pray for the requests inside. I got to be on that team. It was incredible. You wouldn't belive the things people asked for prayer for. "My daughter ran away, I miss her, I can't find her, I know she's doing drugs" or " I just found out I have cancer, I don't know how to tell my family". Some had contact info. We called, and chatted, told them we were praying. What does this say to the world? "You don't believe in God? It's okay for now, I do, and I'll ask my Dad this one for you. Why? Because I care about you. Not just about your eternal salvation, but about your life. The crap you're living through." God bless Scandanavian Shaved Ice.
At UC Berkeley, an annual festival is held. I will get numerous facts wrong here, but the main thing is that Berkeley is a proudly Liberal school. The festival every year hosted little student made booths for fortune tellers, tarot card readers, things of a sexually explicit nature, etc etc. The place turns into something like Sodom and Gamorrah for a few days every year. So the few Christians on campus decided to sit down and see if they could make a booth that would appeal to people, and still spread the gospel in some way that would be relevant to these students. They decided on a confessional booth. They dressed like nuns and monks and went all out. It seemed appropriate for the setting, but there was a twist. They festival arrived, and sure enough, the students see the booth, start laughing, and think it's all a big joke. They go in and start confessing to all these terrible things they've been up to during the festival. The monk, or nun, stops them, and says "no, this booth doesn't work like that. I'm confessing to you." The students are stunned. "Confessing what?" they ask curiously, and likely a little drunk. "Well," they say, "what is it about the church that really, really bugs you?" And out come the stories. Molested by a pastor. Written off as a whore because the skirt she wore to church the only time she dared to go, was much too short. One guy had a really hard time with the Crusades. "What was that all about anyway?" And these young Christians confessed and asked forgiveness for it, on behalf of the church. Regardless of the denomination, or how many years had passed since our transgression, they apologized. They asked them to forgive them on behalf of the church, and they told them why it was wrong. How God really must have felt when that pastor used that girl. Did those kids do the crimes? Nope, not a one. They didn't take part in the Crusades, but they apologized for it. And why not? What did it cost them? Better yet, what did it say? "On behalf of a God you mistrust based on a bad experience, or a misunderstanding, I'm sorry you're hurting. I care about the way the church is seen in the world, and I'll do my part to make it up to you, on behalf of a God that I know loves you very much." The students reported amazing things from that confessional. People were healed of old wounds and hurts, they came to Christ, they repented back for doing things to hurt Christianity in general and specifically, they asked questions, they wept, they met God. God bless UC Berkeley.
And today, I found this on Claudia's blog. Some guy is going around giving out free hugs. He just wanted to brighten people's day. No questions asked. So I looked around YouTube, found his story. What a guy. People are literally taking this into all the world. They're giving out free hugs all over the place. Strangers standing around with a sign. And if you watch the clip, people aren't just giving awkward hugs. They're embracing. They're holding each other. They're loving each other as best they know how, in a hard world, where sometimes we all just need a shoulder, a moment when someone embraces us and makes us feel, for just a second, like it's all going to be okay. We're not alone. The clip that really got to me, is that someone took it to Israel. They're giving out hugs in the most war torn spot on the planet, a place that has been in turmoil from within, and assaulted from without more times than any other place in history, throughout all of history. Good for them. I want a hug. God bless Juan Mann.
Some girls I went to YWAM with, instead of doing the normal (if you can call it that) Open Air decided to try something new. They baked cookies all day one day, and then hit the streets of Suva, Fiji the next. They made a sign, "Free Cookies and Prayer". You could walk up, have a cookie and leave. Or, if you needed someone to believe when you couldn't or didn't, you could have someone else approach the God of all creation, and ask for you. No worries. God bless April and Kelsey.
Thanks to Claudia, who made me remember this today with her blog. You really can go into all the world and spread the gospel. You can use words, or you can give someone a hug. You can show them that though the nature and character of God doesn't change, we can emphasize the parts of it that are relevant to the audience we're speaking to. God is the most humble being in the universe, he loves repentance and reconcilliation, he asks us to stand in the gap for others, and believe for them, he asks us to bless others and not expect anything back.
Someone I knew once had spent all this time building a friendship with an unsaved person overseas, in the hopes that his friendship would "open a door". Good call. But the friend asked him one day "If you knew that I would never get saved, would you still be my friend? Would you still care about me?" I hope I would. Because getting them saved isn't my job. God does not command us to lead people to Christ. He commands us to love them.
1:49 PM
I saw that clip about a week ago on Christy's blog... I thought it looked dumb until that old woman came for a hug and looked into his eyes and stroked his cheek. Then I cried through the rest of the clip.
Anyways... To carry on with your evangelizing stories... This one time at senior high camp at Redberry we had this group of skaters. They smoked and swore at camp and at home they drank and did drugs. They were totally out of control and really making the whole week completely miserable. We had meetings about sending them home and decided to give them one more day. On the one day they had left they all got mad about something and ran away from the skill they were in (trampolines) and stole the water guns from the trampoline instructors, sprayed them down and then proceeded to terrorize the entire camp with gorilla-type water warfare. Brutal. So a punishment was conceived. They had a mock trial and were convicted. (Since there were many wet witnesses it was an open and shut case.) They were paraded (restrained by some very big tough guys on staff) with the whole camp to the horse corral and their sentence was pronounced. They would be dumped in the gross, saliva and crud floating on top, stinky and dirty, water trough. They were mad. They were fighting to get away from the staff holding them and cussing at all of us. I was thinking, okay, this is getting out of hand... Can't we get in trouble for this?
Then the two staff members that they had cussed at and ran away from and stolen from and sprayed to within an inch of their lives stepped forward. They would take the punishment. They got dumped in that gross water and those 16 year old boys wept like babies. It was the most beautiful thing I think I ever saw at camp. A number of those kids got saved and returned a few years later as counsellors.
5:47 PM
aww, now I'm a little teary. That's incredible.
7:00 AM
OK. I got the shivers reading your blog, Mel. Then I read Becky's comment and got the shvers all over again. That is truely incredible. PTL
8:57 AM
This amazes me. Your stories and Becky's.
*hugs*
12:48 AM
Like Becky, I did the exact same thing. Except I didn't see it on Christy's blog. But when he hugs that little old lady, and she touches his cheek... even thinking about it right now, I can feel the tears coming. That's so great to see.
Melanie, I love your blog and hate it at the same time. You always have the most wonderful, meaningful posts that I LOVE to read, but they make everything that I've ever wrote about seem petty and inconsequential.
12:49 AM
Oh yeah, great stories from both you and Becky. It's amazing that something that seems so small can cause something so huge.
2:09 PM
As usual, a wonderful and thought provoking post.Amazing how such a small gesture can turn into something bigger.
6:57 AM
I can't find the clip about the old woman getting a hug.
Beautiful post as always Mel. Becky that was a great story.
What more can I say.
9:42 PM
I agree with Carrie Mel... it's a love/hate relationship with your blog... awesome read every time, yet always this nagging "you don't write about anything like that..."... :)
Keep it up Mel, I'll just plug my ears to the nagging voice. ;) It was a beautiful post.