We Are Now Part of the Show
The stage of the Indiana University Auditorium in Bloomington, Indiana.
Every week, two or three of the guys in my house church eat breakfast at an inner-city McDonald’s to pray for the lost, talk accountability, and discuss what we’re reading in the Bible.
Because this is a McDonald’s of the inner-city variety, there’s always something entertaining going on: The janitor walking out of the bathroom reacting to the mess he’s found inside, some kind of fight breaking out in the lobby, or a guy on a hover board riding back and forth through lobby while never buying anything. We’ve come to call our Sunday McDonald’s experience “dinner and a show.”
What’s happened as we’ve continued to meet there week after week is we’ve become some of the regulars. Not only that, but we’ve found if we make ourselves available, we regularly have chances to share Jesus with the men and women who come to McDonald’s on Sunday mornings. As you might guess, most of the people who are there at that time aren’t believers.
So a few days ago we were sharing the Gospel with a new friend at McDonald’s. We weren’t yelling by any means, but because of the close nature of the building, you could hear what we were saying pretty clearly if you wanted to. I was sure others heard us. And I realized something: We had become part of “the show.” We are the guys who are always sharing Jesus in the midst of this already unconventional restaurant. We had become part of the unusual cast of characters that gather here.
This isn’t a bad thing. Quite the contrary, Jesus called us to be “salt and light,” (Matthew 5:13-16). Salt, in addition to be a preserving agent, is also something we use to bring out the flavor of our food. We actually make things better and more interesting as we live out our lives a salt and light. Instead of blending in or hiding, my friends and I are starting to embrace the drama we’ve been called to be a part of. We’re the Jesus guys at McDonalds on Sunday morning. My point is that instead of blending in in this environment (whether people like it or not) we stand out. Our hope is we not only get to be salt, but that in time our light will break through the darkness and people will be changed.
How about you? Somewhere, in your life, you are called to be salt and light. Neither salt or light go unnoticed. They don’t blend in; they stand out. They change the environment they enter. Aren’t you tired of sitting in the seats watching? Somewhere, it’s time for you, in your own way, to become part of the show.
Will you join me?
Photo Credit: Indiana University Auditorium Stage by Joey Lax-Salinas
19 responses to “We Are Now Part of the Show”
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Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 
I think this is great. Me and a friend of mine used to meet at a McDonald’s too and we’d talk about spiritual matters and church stuff. Because we could easily be overheard, people would often come up to us and introduce themselves. At a coffee shop that I frequent, the staff know me there as a pastor (and call me such) even though most of them don’t believe in Christ. And I’m often praying to God for them.
Thanks for stopping by! I’ve been called a pastor at Mickey D’s and what we’ve been doing has been called church. I think its huge when people see Pastors and Christians as accessible and real. Thanks for sharing your story. Your blog looks great, too.
Great post. More believers need to be part of the show.
Aaron, thanks for the encouragement. I agree. Stopped by your website tonight and I love your story. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Travis I appreciate that
Amaizing post…. http://www.misskymmiee.com
In the past I had someone at the table next to us at MacDonalds ask a friend and I what we were talking about. We invited them to our conversation. It was a really good way to engage with others. Best part we were just talking and did not intend to share Jesus. It just happened naturally.
Dave
Thanks for stopping by. Good to see you again! Isn’t life on mission fun when it’s Spirit-led and not forced? I just keep praying it happens more and more.
I can relate! I used to spend a lot of time at one city McDonalds when I lived in the US. I knew half the people who worked there too. I can remember people being healed there several times, including one of the employees while she was working.
Love it!
Did you ever read anything by Ed Silvoso? I recently re-read one of his books, and he talks about pastoring your neighbors, pastoring the people in a business, etc.
Here in Brazil, I often go to a snack bar to buy soup and pray for people. Several people, including the owner, have been healed at the snack bar. I’ve been thinking a lot about Ed’s attitude that we should be pastors to our neighbors. I’ve decided I want to “pastor” the people at the snack bar.
I have read some of Ed’s stuff. It’s definitely been awhile, but I totally feel like that within the mission context the Lord has given me. There’s definitely some wisdom there. I’m constantly trying to learn from different practitioners, simply because it seems there are different strategies that reach different people better.
Real quick, it seems like healing has been a significant door-opener for you. Do you find that people are finding Christ after they get healed? My experience has been mixed.
Yes, our neighbor came to the Lord after he was healed twice. But a lot of the people here are really religious but they mix spiritism and other stuff with their Christianity. Healing is the easiest way for me to share the gospel with people, and helps me to explain the difference between the supernatural power of Christianity vs things like Macumba, spiritism, New Age, etc.
There are places where most of the Christians came to the Lord through a miraculous healing. This is a bit of a different dynamic here, because it’s often not as if people didn’t believe in healing or didn’t believe Christ could heal. Many people do believe that Jesus heals, but they are mixed up with all kinds of religious ideas, salvation by works, and syncretism of Christianity with witchcraft, etc.
Healing helps me to speak the truth into a lot of those areas. One of the biggest strongholds in people’s minds has to do with tithing. When the blessing or curse hinges on the tithe, in all practicality, righteousness comes by tithing. Many people think they have to believe, tithe, be good for God to touch them. It’s about works. When I minister to people, it’s not about their faith or their works. Here, many people need to know the difference between receiving from Jesus and sacrificing a chicken in a Macumba ritual.