An online friend of mine, Bruce Logue, is running a website called "Ordinary Attempts." Ordinary Attempts are stories chronicling a non-traditional approaches to evangelism — ordinary activities that people are already doing. Not a program, pitch or presentation, but a simple shift in how we view interacting with the world.
OrdinaryAttempts.org was born out of a desire to redefine evangelism – to make it doable for ordinary people.
Most of my own Ordinary Attempts probably sound churchy to some because I’m a seminary student. For me though, it’s very much a casual part of who I am.
Most people I meet will ask me what I do. I usually tell them my career (banker) and that I’m a seminary student at the same time. Why? Not to be pretentious, but because I’ve found that most everyday people on the street are FASCINATED by religion - particularly Christianity.
As soon as I say I’m a seminary student, I have them hooked because the first thing they want to know is: “are you one of those Right-Wing, War Supporting, Gay-Hating, Radical Fundamentalists?” They want to know whether or not I'm "safe."
I love telling them that I grew up in Conservative Christianity but have found I don’t agree with very much in the way of how they interpret Jesus. I tell them I think Christianity has done a lot of awful things and that I hate what a lot of people do and say in the name of Jesus.
“Then why are you in seminary?” They ask.
“Because I want to change that.” If I know they’re not Christian, I will often add, “A lot of that change can come by listening to folks like you.” Wow! What an amazing response I see in their eyes!
I experienced this just the other night at my wife’s workplace. The Montessori School had an open house, and I got to talking with a couple who relocated from Southern California. She was an agnostic and he was a backsliden Sikh!
We had a grand old time talking. He showed us an amazing picture of himself from the 1960s - he looked like a Pakistani Hindi with his turban and gigantic, jungle-like beard. That night though, in Corvallis Oregon, he looked like a regular 50 year-old white suburban American.
"I was so attracted to the practices and disciplines of that lifestyle," he said, "After attending a few yoga classes, I thought: I could really live this. After that, I traveled all over the world. It's really a beautiful religion. But then I started to realize I was praying less and less - meditating less and less - and I'd better either get disciplined or get out. I got out and started a family."
At the end, I thanked him for sharing his story, because our stories are gifts. We learn from each other. We can give those gifts, or hold them inside, greedily clinging to something that does no good when left unshared.
please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at http://emergingchristianity.blogspot.com
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