Every now and then as we go about this task of planting a new missional community its nice to have a reminder as to why it is we are doing it. When the weight of ecclesiastical popularity is still with the ‘successful’ movers and shakers of the church growth movement, why would anyone want to do anything different?

Last Sunday I had an experience that whispered to me again “keep going – keep going… There are people out there who don’t know me, and never will if the only flavor is vanilla”

Here’s what happened…

In the process of leaving my last pastoral position and starting the new work I have not been participating regularly in any congregation, however last Sunday I decided to visit my parent’s church – the church I was a youth pastor at for 5 years and a member of for 14 years. I had intended to nip in just before 10:00 a.m. and out fairly quickly after.

It was a nice idea but…

First off I had to give an elderly lady a lift – her car had broken down and she phoned mum and dad (just after they had gone) to ask for a ride. So I stopped by and picked her up – easy done. Then when I arrived in the foyer I saw my mum animatedly pointing at a big guy who had his back to me and saying ‘he wants to talk to you!’ My first thought was ‘but who the hell is he?!!?’

When he turned around I recognised Geoff (not his real name) who I had first met when he was a kid at our youth group about 10 years ago. Geoff is a very intelligent, deep thinking guy who I got to know and introduced to Jesus. I used to meet with him regularly for discipleship – but I knew that in spite of our good relationship, he was always struggling with faith questions and I had a sense that after I left the church he didn’t hang around long.

That was fairly true – this was his first time back in around 5 years – his first time in any church in that time. Nice coincidence! I sensed maybe God was up to something…

We walked in together and milled thru the small crowd – there were 50 there today (I counted) – and found a seat. Like most Australian churches Vanilla Baptist’s Sunday morning attendance has been in steady decline for many years.

Friendly people greeted both Geoff and I – two wanderers returned home for a bit. Geoff had graduated as an engineer, worked in the field for a while before returning to complete a diploma in education and become a teacher. He is now 24, and in his first year of teaching out in the goldfields of Western Australia. He had returned home for school holidays and thought he might come to church…

We took our seats on the old jarrah pews.

I found myself wondering – how will Geoff find this experience? He is somewhat familiar with church culture, but given his recent absence from the church environment how will he feel?

I found myself very conscious of him and his reactions. On one level the time ‘in church’ that morning was very engaging – and on another it gave fuel to my questions about our forms and practices and our hope of connecting with people like Geoff.

With all the musicians having left Vanilla for some reason, the church is now working with ‘canned music’ in the form of CD’s. Not a good idea! It’s hard enough to stay in synch with musos who are physically present let alone a CD where there is no flexibility. That was the low point of the morning – glitches galore made the ‘praise and worship’ experience one I was glad to see come to an end. Geoff laughed occasionally at the shambles we called ‘worship’ but didn’t seem too worried – I guess if you don’t laugh you cry.

Rob from Baptist Care did a presentation on their work in W.A. It was a longish presentation, but as Geoff said tactfully ‘very thorough!’ There were the usual announcements – ‘don’t park here’ – ‘rosters are out’ yada yada… and then came communion…

This’ll be interesting I thought…

The worship leader read the passage of scripture that finishes with:

1 Cor 11:27-29  Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. {28} A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. {29} For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.

I wondered how Geoff was feeling – a long time ‘gone’ and looking at a communion table after hearing that passage read – a passage I think we have misused all too often.

He must have read my mind because as it came time to go and out and get the wine and bread he asked ‘What did he say? What was that last bit?’

‘You mean the bit about eating in an unworthy manner?’ I said.

‘Yeh – what’s that about?’

‘Are you worried?’ I asked

‘Yeh.’

What would you have done?…

I found myself saying ‘You’re cool mate – join us. You know Jesus – that’s what matters’.

Perhaps on reflection I should have taken the time to talk more with him right there. It was a ‘teachable moment’ – but not one that I felt we could explore in the context of the service. The need to keep things moving so we could be ‘out on time’ meant that a conversation of that nature was completely impractical. I wondered…

When did we start needing to finish ‘on time’?

And who gets to decide what that time is?!…

When we were done with communion the offering was collected. Geoff contributed and I didn’t. Why did Geoff put money in?…

Just wondering…

During the offering I asked him if he wanted to have lunch – I wanted to explore more with him what was going on in that moment of anxiety. Obviously it was significant to him and it raised serious questions in his mind. I was concerned that the reading of that passage without some explanation had made this ‘prodigal’ feel inappropriately unworthy. Then again maybe it was healthy because it had forced him to confront his own deviation from Christ’s path. The next best solution to talking it through then and there seemed to be a conversation afterwards.

Then came the main act – the sermon – this is a Baptist church! By now we were already running about 15 minutes behind time and the preacher was stressed. He promised to be brief – he looked at his watch – he commented on how hungry we must be feeling… Really?… I hadn’t noticed any of this until he made me aware!

He began with the Bible reading – Revelation Ch. 15/16. My heart sank. Geoff returns to church and the first sermon he hears is about seven headed beasts and dragons and frogs and… This is going to be a disaster I concluded!

I was very wrong. Geoff, like so many of his generation, seemed to really enjoy the focus on the abstract and metaphorical prophecies and what they may mean for us today. We explored the meaning of ‘Armageddon’ and the ‘application’ the preacher drew was about the need for Christians to be ‘in the world’ rather than cloistered away. With all that was churning around in my mind I can’t remember how he got there, but I liked where he finished up!

To his credit the speaker did a decent job with a difficult passage and Geoff seemed very engaged. He borrowed my ‘book’ a couple of times to check on what was being said. I heard him groan and sigh several times – sounding like he had questions he wanted to ask – and by the end he was shaking his head – not impressed. ‘That can’t be right’ he said. ‘This guys missed it!’ I thought it hilarious that Geoff would see himself as quite competent to interpret the imagery in Revelation when I (with my theology degree and 13 years of experience) have so often seen it as too hard.

Straight after he began to ask me questions about it all – particularly about the call for the church to stand against evil in the last days.

“How can anyone determine what is evil?

“Isn’t that judging?… and didn’t Jesus say ‘don’t judge?’”

Lunch was going to be the place to dump all these questions. We both hung around for morning tea renewing acquaintances, drinking cheap coffee and eating even worse biscuits.

Why?…

Geoff bumped into another person from his past life and we invited her down to lunch with us. From some of Geoff’s throwaway lines I could already sense a deep philosophical conversation about to happen – something I am always up for.

And I was not disappointed! Once we had shared where our lives had been for the last 5 years I asked him what was happening for him during communion. It sparked a conversation between the three of us that lasted nearly 90 minutes and got pretty feisty at times. I sometimes think in the past I have been too soft and accommodating with people who disagree with me, and while I think ‘gentleness and respect’ is vital, I have come to a place now where I’m a bit more likely to confront and disagree strongly. I can listen well but I also have strong convictions and I have seen that it is increasingly important that I put them out there – because others will.

Geoff had obviously bought into a fair bit of Buddhism and was trying to reconcile this with the teachings of Jesus – “maybe Nirvana and the kingdom of God are the same thing?… Anyone who believes that theirs is the only true religion is arrogant, deluded and dangerous…” And then back to the issue he had with the preacher – “How can anyone make a judgment on what constitutes evil?”

When pushed, Geoff conceded that evil probably did exist but what he really objected to was someone making the decision on behalf of others as to where the bar should be set. “Who are we to judge?…” he would ask.

In short he is a fairly typical 21^st Century pluralist picking and mixing bits of different religions to try and create something that works for him.

We went at it pretty hard and dug into some very deep stuff. It was great to have Sue – a very sharp thinker – sitting across the table because there were times when I was struggling to keep up!

The end result?…

I think we all came away challenged. I don’t think we had a ‘winner’ and ‘loser’ but I am hopeful that we heard each other. I am hopeful the discussion will continue – I am hopeful that Geoff will find his was back to Jesus.

But if he does I’m not convinced he will fit too well in church as we know it… 

That morning raised for me yet again, the question of how to engage Geoff and others of his generation who are genuinely thinking, genuinely seeking, who are not just willing to buy the party line and who want to engage in dialogue.

Is Sunday morning the place?…

The voice still whispers “keep going – keep going…”