| [This article orginally appeared as a post on Ordinary Attempts, an Off The Map blog.] Recently, a few things came together for me that underscore just how important ordinary attempts to reach out and encounter others are in this world of ours.
It started as I was blogging about something Paul wrote in one of his letters about how the “church isn’t peripheral to the world” but “the world peripheral to the church” and how Jesus speaks and acts through this every-moment walking and living together of those who follow Jesus (i.e., the “church”). Pondering Paul’s words, I was struck again by how this walking and living together is pretty darn crucial in God’s plan. My friend Susan, however, responded to my ramblings with this wonderful, crystal clear image that really gets to the heart of what this looks like:
 "Last night our motley crew home group had a potluck. An elegant older lady brought homemade brownie pie with fresh strawberries, a young lady talked about her husband’s Parkinson’s disease, a little girl explained why she hates all insects and her father told us about the time he saw an angel. It was all comforting and sweet and wonderful, but it is even more wonderful to think that this little gathering was one of the important things that happened in the world yesterday. "
Wow. I love that. These seemingly random, ordinary events are among the most important things that happen in the world each day. They matter—a lot. They are the way Jesus—the God of-and-beyond-the-universe in-the-flesh—reaches out and changes us and the world.
As I was still chewing on Susan’s image, I ran across this snippet from Peter Rollins’ How (not) to speak of God (posted by one of my favorite bloggers in England):
"We need not look far to find that our religious communities have tended to emphasize the idea of ‘being’ and ‘destination’: one becomes a Christian, joins a church and is saved. From this idea of destination flows our understanding of evangelism as a means of sharing our faith and encouraging others to embrace it for themselves. For those involved in the emerging conversation, this view distorts the deeper meaning of evangelism, for once we acknowledge that we are becoming Christian, becoming Church and being saved then the other can be seen as a possible instrument of our further conversion."
This idea that we are in the process of converting and transforming (an idea I’ve also heard from Jim Henderson and the likes of Brian McLaren, Scot McKnight and Dallas Willard) is significant to me. It underscores and deepens my understanding of how every encounter we have is one of the more important things happening in the world. Why? Because Jesus is at the very core of reality and creation. All life revolves around him. Any encounter we have is an opportunity for everyone—from those interested in Jesus to those following Jesus to those who don’t know or get who he is—to transform. It is an opportunity for Jesus to touch and change me and those I encounter, to grow within us both. It is an opportunity for God’s Kingdom and Life to grow and expand. And that, simply, is what it’s all about.
 As things tend to go when walking with Jesus, it didn’t take long for an opportunity to arise in which to put it all into practice: A day or so later, I was at the grocery store with my two kids. Ahead of me, I noticed the clerk was a rather chatty young man and I inwardly groaned. I didn’t want to make small talk. I just wanted to get my groceries and go home. Then I remembered Susan’s image and Peter Rollins’ words. So, I just simply gave God the moment. Funny thing, my head and heart cleared. Suddenly, I wanted to talk with the guy—and I genuinely enjoyed his recounts of an experiment with fabric softener sheets and travails with fuzz-balls and blankets. Then he loaded my groceries into the cart and I gathered my kids and went home.
I don’t know what happened in the unseen realm in that moment. I don’t need to. That clerk and I are important to Jesus, and he reached out and touched us both in that encounter. And I don’t know what occured within the clerk, but I do know a little of what happened to me in that moment. I paid attention. I listened to God instead of me. I got to spend time with an interesting person. And somewhere inside me, Jesus and his Kingdom grew and expanded a bit more through me into the world.
And to think, that was one of the more important things that happened in the world that day. Indeed, that is what this life is all about.
.jpg) Carmen Andres is a writer, mom and wife who lives in Virginia and blogs at intheopen.blogspot.com.
Stock photos and illustration from Dreamstime.com |
Ordinary Attempts