A Lifetime of attending church, Sunday School classes, and weekly bible studies; and yet I learned more about living as a Christian in three encounters at McDonald's than in all those church activities combined.
OK, maybe there's more than a little hyperbole there, but check this out. One day I'm eating lunch and this homeless guy abruptly plops himself down at my table. His story/sales pitch was good. He had me hooked from the first sentence with just the right blend of hard luck mixed with pulling oneself up by the bootstraps. I really enjoyed talking to the guy and gave him the cash in my wallet to help out.
Fast forward three days and I am eating dinner after a long day at work at the same McDonald's ( I know, my wife rags me about eating there too). Suddenly the same homeless guy walked in and sat down at my table. He launched into the exact same spiel as before. I finally got a word in edgewise and dismissively told him that I'd heard the pitch before and that he'd already hit me up for cash once that week.
When I said that, he jumped up and stormed across the lobby mad as heck. Over his shoulder he yelled, "Maybe you heard it before, but it don't change the fact that I still need help and that I'm still hungry!" I felt awful.
Encounter Two: One month later I was ordering breakfast at different McD's drive through on my way to church. I was the worship leader that morning and running really, really late. The woman taking my order wouldn't pay attention. I had wait forever to be acknowledged and then I had to repeat my order three times (a sausage biscuit) before she got it. I was mad and got super sarcastic with her. I did my best to put that woman in her place. As she handed me my food, she simply said, "Why you so dressed up? You belong to a church? I can tell." Ouch. I really advanced the Kingdom that morning.
Encounter Three: A few weeks later at yet another fine McD's lunch I was interrupted again. This time it was a well dressed middle class guy. Let's call him evangelism guy. He had been lying in wait watching me eat and sensed the Lord telling him that he should come sit with me, tell me about Jesus, and pray for my lost soul. Obviously he'd just graduated from the Wednesday night evangelism class at his church. He was visibly relieved when I let him off the hook and he made a quick exit out the side door. I guess he'd fulfilled what ever requirement he needed in order to pass the class. But my encounter with him got me to thinking about how he was just following a script/program and not really concerned with me as a person.
Intellectually I understand Jesus' incredible love for the people he met during his lifetime. He modeled the importance of relationships, community, and loving your neighbor. But I fear that as much as I disdain what the evangelism guy did, I'm not much different. I'm guilty of reducing evangelism to some type of program: three sure fire steps to winning the lost, free bottled water or the speech that conquers all objections.
The McD's encounters have given me a real sense of freedom. I am realizing that the "structured evangelism" I learned over the years caused me to miss the point most of the time. Instead of winning souls or conquering the lost I need to slow down and just love people in the small moments of my day. Maybe as I love in the little things doors might open for bigger encounters down the road. Or maybe not. Either way, it's in these little moments that the imprint that Christ has on our hearts has a chance to become visible
A Lifetime of attending church, Sunday School classes, and weekly bible studies; and yet I learned more about living as a Christian in three encounters at McDonald's than in all those church activities combined.
