For the first time, I have a guest blogger. Over the last year, we've been encouraging folks at the church to look for "God moments" that occur "between the Sundays," as I like to say, and then share them with us in worship or in other ways. Earlier this week, I received an email from a member of our church who wanted to share a God moment with me. With this person's permission, I share the email in its entirety, with only a few minor editorial corrections.
Over the past year and a half or more, a co-worker and I have had a lot of conversations about politics and economics, and have touched a little bit on church and religion. Since he doesn't have much knowledge and very little interest in church, it just isn't something that we spend much time in conversation about unless I bring it up. Today, during another friendly debate on the appropriate role of government in society, he abruptly asked me, "So, what does your church do in the community? Like, how many people do you feed and clothe?" It is honestly the first time he expressed any interest in the actual ministry of the church. And it wasn't interest in the style of worship on Sunday morning. Or our Sunday School classes. Or if we have a gathering space to drink coffee or not. "HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU FEED AND CLOTHE?"
At the risk of diverting attention away from making disciples of Jesus Christ, and focusing on ministry with the community (which would be to feed and clothe people), I just want to highlight that these ministries in themselves are evangelism in ways we might not realize. I have often struggled with how to share my faith with this coworker. Turns out, it's easy to share your faith when you are telling someone about the after-school program that provides the best dinner a kid may get in a week. It's easy to share your faith when you talk about the cooperative church-run store for minimally-priced clothes. And it is hard to get work done on an afternoon full of such interesting conversation!
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