Taking Small Steps
We’re just a small church here in Northern California, 120 people or so. We’re probably a typical group of Jesus-followers, if there is such a thing. We’re good at some things, not so much at others. We have extroverts and introverts, mature believers and people just checking out the faith. We like to do things, help people, act kindly…but for many of our folks, talking to someone in their life about what God is doing is either new territory, or just difficult.
I’ve been preaching through Romans this fall, and a couple weeks ago we took a look at the breathtaking sweep of chapters 9-11. In a nutshell, Paul challenges the church in Rome to see that if God can take the very worst thing that human beings can conjure up (the crucifixion of the Son of God) and actually bring about the very best thing from it (the salvation of people) …then there is truly NOTHING that God cannot do. Nothing.
Along the way, of course, God weaves towards that final purpose by using all sorts of paradoxical events. As Jim Edwards notes in his commentary, Paul details it all out:
disobedience leads to obedience.
disbelief leads to faith
wrath pushes toward mercy.
human disobedience in whatever form, from whatever people, does not jeopardize grace.
What a story. What a story! And what repercussions! If we have people whom we love who are not following Christ (I do), we need not despair. We need not doubt God’s ability to reach them. There’s nothing he can’t do, nothing he wouldn’t use.
We talked about all that and more that Sunday in worship, and at the end of the sermon I gave our church family a specific mission: “This week… have just one conversation with a person who is not yet a Christian, or has strayed away, in which you bring up Jesus. Not religion. Not faith. Not spirituality. Not church. Jesus. Talk with one person about who Jesus is for you, or how your life is different because of him, or how your life changed when you met him, anything at all. And then send me an email note about what happened.”
Nothing radical here, right? Don’t Christians always do this? Well, actually…no. For some of our folks it was an easy challenge, even exhilarating. For many others, it was excruciating. Some didn’t try it, as expected. However, my email inbox began to fill up the following week with some remarkable stories. One person ended up in a conversation with her adult son, and later a daughter-in-law. She was shocked by the opportunity, and their openness.
A senior citizen ran into an acquaintance from decades ago and experienced a holy moment.
Another person had an opportunity with a son-in-law materialize out of nowhere. And then there was the woman who ended up in a Jesus-conversation with…her hairdresser!
Encouraged, I summarized these stories at the beginning of the next sermon. You could tell our congregation liked hearing about these encounters, so I spontaneously asked if there were any others who hadn’t contacted me yet. A few hands shot up. One person had ended up in conversation with a work colleague who always seemed closed to anything related to faith. Another found that a co-worker they risked mentioning Jesus to was, unbeknown to them, a solid Christian and they loved their new connection. One character in the front row shouted out “I had coffee with YOU, Pastor Dan, and we talked about Jesus!” We all laughed. It was true. And after the service, a final person approached me to let me know that a friend recently diagnosed with cancer had sought her out to talk about Jesus.
None of these encounters were dramatic conversion stories. Just small and faithful steps, opening a door here, a window there. Most people mentioned they had done nothing more than pay closer attention to the people around them every day.
In the Church we have a bad habit of always pointing to the glamor stories, the dramatic miracles or conversions. We only talk about the homeruns. Homeruns are great, and we need them. But as entertaining as the huge leaps of faith are, I find myself increasingly interested in the small steps. Ask a question. Extend a hand. Bring up Jesus in some way…see what happens.
Peace of Christ,
Dan Baumgartner
Dan Baumgartner is the senior pastor at The Cove in Santa Rosa CA and serves as Secretary on The Fellowship Community Board.