I’ve discovered, over the past couple of years, something consistant about the people who walk the road less traveled. Most of us that do it are considered “different” or outsiders. We are thinkers, creative people, the ones who always thought there was something different about this life than what we saw laid out in front of us. We are optimists at heart. We aren’t tired or frustrated with our faith. Our faith is what leads us to this place. We aren’t disenchanted with God. We’re disenchanted with people who think God really cares about 3/4 of the stuff that is keeping organized religion so organized. Alot of us (not all, but a good chunk) are the people who were problem children in church. We don’t always play well with other kids. Why? Because we think.
These are the types of people that you find when you really choose to engage something new. They are refreshing, challenging. They make you think about what you believe and why you believe it. I was always told to stay away from them because they might cause me to doubt my faith. What I’ve realized is that any doubt would have been caused by my own insecurities, not because someone told me that they believed something new (or didn’t believe at all) about Jesus Christ. I have encountered hardcore Christian believers who would die for thier faith. I have met practitioners of metaphysical arts who challenge the very questions that I ask. I have cohabitated with liars, cheaters, smokers, drinkers, strippers, prostitutes, athiests, buddhists, hindus, agnostics, gnostics, fundamentalists, liberals, hippies, freaks, and fools. I’ve joined in prayer with a Mormon and spent nights of sitting in my living room letting them question me endlessly. I have encountered a plethora of types who don’t walk the same road that I used too and I’ve realized that they are the same as me in so many ways. We have similarities, but there is one thing that ties us all together. I realize that we are all loved.
Why do I refer to this group of people in the way that I do? Let me explain it with a quick story:
Back when I was a worship pastor in a more traditional church I was pulling double duty. Sunday’s and Wednesday’s I was leading worship for the congregation, but in between I was working as the youth director. It was a situation of taking two full time jobs and slapping them together, which is something that happens quite a bit. The teenagers I was working with were really great kids. They were inquisitive, talkative, loved to throw ideas around, and they actually accepted me. (Not an easy thing to do being I was the age of most of their parents) The group was growing numerically and that seemed to be the strategy that the church wanted. “Grow the youth and the parents will follow” was the unwritten motto.
One day I was talking with one of the pastors about the group and he was expressing his concern about the youth group. There had been some discussion from some of the older folks in the church that we were attracting some of the “wrong type of kids”. They were noisy, even a bit unruly at times, but I figured that was just being a teenager. It came with the territory. Other folks didn’t share my optimistic eye. They were concerned about the clothing that was being worn and the way the kids talked. They even made some comments about the “type” of kids that were being attracted by our ministry. The concern was that these kids had too many problems and weren’t representing the church very well. As I sat there with this other church leader and listened to his concerns I heard him make a pivotal statement that would effect the rest of MY ministry. In the midst of all the discussion he sat back in his chair, looked at me with his head tilted to the side, and said the words “Andy, we’re just starting to attract the weird kids to our youth group and I don’t want to see the normal ones stay away because they don’t feel comfortable.” Wow. That hit me like a ton of bricks. The conversation went on to state that most of the kids were dressing in black or they had alot of problems and that we needed to try and reach out to some of the more mainline teenagers in the school to help balance this out. In other words our kids and thier lives weren’t presenting the image that was consistant with our church.
I’m curious at what point church and religion became about demographics. When did we all start thinking that we needed to pinpoint who we minister to instead of walking side by side with all types of people? When did we need to stop “attracting the weird kids”? It was about the time that we lost sight of Christ’s original message and ministry. I really have trouble imagining Christ sitting there with His disciples and saying “We’re attracting too many weird people. If we’re going to get anywhere we need to start focusing our efforts to reach the people with influence. That’s how we’ll grow this thing!”
This is why I’ve encountered the people that I have on this journey. They aren’t comfortable in “the church”. Thjat organization has guidelines and a look that is relatively consistent. When you become a part of it you either start to fit in or you become an outsider. I’ve met alot of outsiders. They are great people. They think amazing thoughts. They ask amazing questions. On top of all that many of them breathe deep the glory of an amazing God and pursue Him with a beautiful irreverence that can’t be seen anywhere else.
They……….WE……….are beautiful.
Continued in Part 4
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