Blessings?

As Christians we know we are supposed to be witnesses. But most of up don’t really want to stand on soap boxes and some of us find it difficult and uncomfortable to work the four spiritual laws into casual conversation. So we find other ways to testify for our faith like saying “God bless you” when somebody sneezes, “bless you” also counts and perhaps you could say “Jesus Bless you” for bonus points. We also might say “God bless you” as a closing greeting of a conversation. The great thing about blessings is that they’re so positive almost nobody will be offended. But when they are dropped in casual conversation they also communicate loud and clear “I am a Christian and would love to tell you about Jesus, if you want, but I don’t want to pressure you or be confrontational (unless we are talking about homosexuality or abortion)” At least that is sort of what I hear. It’s also a great test phrase, kinda like drawing a fish in the sand. If the other person is already a Christian they can now feel comfortable telling you which church they go to or sing a verse of their favourite Matt Redman song (stuffchristianslike.com). Of course it’s also kind of awkward because you know they just kinda tried to witness to you and perhaps you don’t want to discourage them so you don’t do anything and just smile encouragingly.

This is what happened to me: I was driving the ice cream truck...

And I stopped for a nice family who was buying their child ice cream for the first time. I am wearing my big colourful “cat in the hat” style hat that I always wear selling ice cream. Since it was the little boy’s first ice cream truck experience I wanted it to be a good one. So after delivering the ice cream into his hands I performed a quick but impressive juggling routine. In response, the mother tipped me and said “God bless you!” I responded “Thank you, you too” and sung a little “Blessed Be Your Name” in my head. What made it a particularly good witness was the tip, a small but immediate and tangible blessing, symbolic of spiritual blessings.

The only thing better would be a blessing instead of a tip at a restaurant. I don’t know if people actually do this but I feel like sometimes we attach a cash value to blessings. It’s like we think we can spend some of the treasure we know we are storing up in heaven with all our witnessing on credit and let God settle up the bill. It’s like if we say “God bless you” instead of giving spare change, we are sure that YHWH’s reign of shalom is going to pour down from heaven bringing healing and abundance to that homeless person’s life, not necessarily immediately, or we might wait to see it happen, but sometime while we have moved onto our other important errands. We also have just offered to talk about Jesus to that person (if we ever see them again) and we have an amazing testimony to share at our life group. Don’t get me wrong, I think blessings can be important and powerful but, precisely because they are, let’s not use them as a cop outs.

Is the phrase “God Bless You” effective in witness?

Why is it difficult to talk about our spirituality?

Have you ever received “spiritual help” when you needed physical help?

Has Soul Cravings given you a format that helps you relate your faith to life in a way that makes it easier to talk about?

Showing Up and Slowing Down

This past year I realized how deep within the Christian bubble I have become. I was going to Columbia Bible College and I was involved and South Abbotsford. Both my family and my wife's family are Christians. I make friends slowly and cautiously, so the list of people I know that are not Christians is short and of that list the number that I have regular contact with is even shorter. This summer I began working part time the very heart of Christian sub culture - the institution of church. But I also started driving an Ice Cream truck. Driving the Ice Cream truck has brought me into contact with a lot more people. And while I have not started giving away Soul Cravings books I have been learning to love people. (Not because they buy ice cream...)

A few years ago I'm not sure I would have been able to say that I like people, let alone have deep compassion and love for them. I saw mostly negative things, both in Christians and non Christians - selfishness, ignorance, greed, violence, pride, arrogance. I was cynical about the church and cynical about the world - I was cynical about people. Somewhere in the past few years I have felt more deeply my own loneliness and longing for connection, as well as encountered it in others. Somewhere in the past few years I have become fascinated by the unique, complexities, and dynamics of people. We are all different and changing, and yet we are all the same.

So much of life is just showing up and being there - sticking things out. I try and be a person who shows up. I think in the end showing up is way more important than saying the right thing. So I'm thinking and praying about how I am going to intentionally show up in the world. Am I going to join a gym, a sport, lessons? go regularly to a coffee shop? to the library? Can I slow down my book browsing in order to see people?

I think the question "Can I slow down?" is a good one. Can I slow down for people? Can I slow down for people to buy ice cream? Can I slow down for people who won't buy ice cream? Can I slow down what I'm doing and how important it is to me to see other people? Can I be there with them? Or am I just there for me? And simultaneously also calculating all of the other bazillion things I need/want to do? Do I end up barely being there at all?

Questions:
Where do you show up?
Also I'm interested in ideas for where I could "show up"...