Do we Take it for Granted?

Have you ever heard a youth minister talk about his "rough past" and how he can "understand where you're coming from because he was there himself?" Well, this is a common line for youth ministers. I am not really interested in discussing it's validity, but there is often a place for that kind of language. Saying things like that allows a person to attempt to create at least an illusion of common ground between them self and whoever they are talking to.

But I've also know ministers (more accurately college students studying to become ministers) who have said things like "if I could just experience _____ I would be able to better understand how... non-believers, teenagers, felons, Africans, Atheists, (insert appropriate ministry here) think." There is this idea that by experiencing something firsthand you will be better equipped to comprehend it and combat it. I see some truth to this. Obviously, there are plenty of fallacies as well. But, I have to say that tonight I caught myself fumbling around with that line of thought.

As I sat at Starbucks tonight (tall chai latte in skim with just a pinch of cinnamon...in case you were wondering) I was looking around and praying. I was praying to better understand what it is that my new peers in Quincy want. I mean specifically. I just want to go up to the guy who looks to be half-way studying and sit down and start asking him: "what would you want from a church if you had to be a member of it?" "What are the most important principles to you in your life right now?" "What are the long-term personal goals you have for your life?"

I want to know these things because I want to cater to the people I am trying to reach out to. And I have to be honest with you, I'm not usually sure how to. So that's why I wonder if we take our Christianity for granted. I would never say that I wish I weren't a Christian. But, at the same time, I feel a bit at a loss when I try to comprehend the non-Christian perspective...what they are searching for, what they want. I mean, I've never really been a non-Christian.

Now, I am not a specifics and technicality kind of guy. I generally believe that people are looking for the same thing. And that applies most importantly to their search for Christ. However, that whole nature VS. nurture debate comes into play here. Though by nature we are all searching for the same thing, we have been nurtured by our environment to avoid or search for our nature in different ways. It is this nurture that I want to appeal to. This is what Paul meant when he said "[he] became all things to all people." He didn't change the message, just the presentation.

So tonight, sitting at Starbucks, I found myself essentially asking "how do I present the Gospel to the nurture that is the Quincy population?" Before coming up here I knew (just like those reading are thinking) the general answer: relational evangelism. You get to know people on an intimate personal level and earn your way into the right to talk to them about God and their intimate views on life. This is still the right answer...so I believe. However, that is a generality. At present I (we of the Boston Metro Church) are faced with the quandary of HOW. How do we initiate these relationships. This is a very closed off population. In the south I could (and probably would) just walk up to a person by them self in Starbucks and start a conversation (which a friendship could result from). But, up North I am faced with the fact that this sort of behavior would make a person extremely uncomfortable.

Work has not yet proven to be a very fertile ground for relationship building (at least not retail). Everyone is permanently stressed and in a state of complaining. Thus far this has pretty much kept people from being interested when I've tried to direct a conversation to something more significant than the jerk in the shelving aisle who wants 15 wire shelves but into 6" increments.

Right now there is a possibility that I may receive some sponsoring from a church allowing me to work at least part-time if not full-time for the church work up here. Right now this sounds like a good idea because one of the best way I currently see of meeting the "nurture" of Quincy and beginning to form relationships is through spending regular time with secular volunteer organizations that focus on social justice. Here I can work in a laid back environment with people who are like-minded in their belief that we must live a sacrificial life for those around us. I would then just be redirecting the "why" of what they are already doing. Instead of sacrificing to make them self "feel right" or for their political beliefs or whatever else, they would be doing it out of reverence and commitment to God. Anyway, it sounds like it has potential...what do you think?

Give me your feedback. Especially if you are not up here with us. An outsiders perspective is a valuable asset to any large-scale endeavor. Anyway, these are my thoughts...