People Are Where You Find Them

Happy Easter all! This past Easter weekend was a personal highlight. Worshipping in a full sanctuary with other amazing people, all singing worship and praise to the King, and proclaiming the greatest news ever… “Jesus is Risen from the Dead!”  It was incredible!  Thank you to all the volunteers who served to make Holy Week possible. You are appreciated.

I also wanted to thank you for all the inviting you did.  I met many of your guests on Sunday and I’m impressed by your reaction to my call to action, “Invite, Invite, Invite.”  I’m sure there were at least as many people who declined as accepted, but great job inviting.  We can trust God brought to worship exactly who He wanted there.

As I looked out upon the faces of all gathered on Easter, it was sobering to realize every person I saw was burdened by the plague of sin. Yet it was also encouraging to realize each person was also living in the freedom of the resurrection. To be honest, I got a little too distracted wondering about the lost and found. I began wondering how do we bring the Hope of the Resurrection to those who aren’t in worship somewhere?  Then I realized I had messed up enough for one Sunday and should probably turn my attention back to preaching God’s Word.  

Wondering where people are in life and faith has been a common reflection for me over the last year. I’ve been wondering how do you bring Jesus to people who aren’t coming to 5675 Field Street?  I’ve been pondering questions like: What are the obstacles that hinder us from bringing Jesus to those who need him most?  What self-limitations keep me from sharing at my children’s sporting events? What fears limit our witness to Jesus?

I think these are the kinds of questions we need to explore together as a congregation.  I think we need to spend time exploring and experimenting with a “Meet People Where They Are” approach to ministry.

Jill Schroeder Dorn, our Director of Music Ministry, introduced me to a branch of Anthropology I had never heard of, Ethnography.  After a brief internet search, I found out Ethnographers study specific cultures and peoples. This brief study led me to a quote from an Ethnographer, Margaret Mead, who said… “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”   I’m not sure about this quote in a wider context of Anthropology, but it is certainly true of the Christian Church.  The gospel has almost always spread one at a time in love, when committed followers bring Jesus to where people are.  There is no short cut; there is no magic bullet.

The endeavor of bringing Jesus to where people are is a little bit like an old elk hunter saying I learned my first elk hunt, “Elk are where you find them.”  In so many ways, I believe this is true for our mission from Jesus to “Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them to obey.”  Where are all the people who need Jesus? They will be where we find them. And I don’t think they will be nearly as hard to find as elk, but only time will tell.  May the Lord bless our trek down this ministry road, both as a congregation and in our own lives. 

In His Grip, Pastor Guy Roberts