Little Stuff

One of the things I struggle with is the lack of "pizazz" in our ministry. I have this urge to do things to hype the church more--years of programming, of looking around to see who's getting attention, have made me uneasy about our quiet approach. We gather in people's homes in various neighborhoods in the community...big deal, I fear people will say. Where's the show? The flash? The lights and sound? But in the middle of that struggle, I'm beginning to see little things happen. They might have gone unnoticed, but they are the seeds of neighborhood life and I'm having fun watching them grow. These things remind me that things of eternal consequence don't always make a big splash...at first, anyway. Let me share a few with you.

Pleasant Interruptions
Our new group has gathered at our house the last two Sunday afternoons. It's been a great experience to share meals with everyone and just spend time getting to know each other. "Coincidentally," both meetings have been "interrupted" by neighbors coming over to the house. Kids from the neighborhood have joined us for our meal and stayed to play with all the kids in the group; parents have come by to ask a question or just to say hello. We've invited some to come back and join us at the next table, and I know it's only a matter of time before it works out and they come. Unplanned contact with our neighbors is a daily occurrence now, and our relationships with neighbors and "church friends" are beginning to intersect. The more it happens, the more I realize this is how I want to live.

This is Church
One of our group members wasn't feeling well this week and couldn't make it to the table...but she brought over dessert anyway! Even cooler than that, though, was her son's response: he asked her if they were "going to church tonight," referring to our group, and cried when he found out they weren't going. Priceless. It's so difficult for us adults to overcome so many years of conditioning, but it's natural for this little guy to view our table gathering as "church." I don't have a crystal ball, but I can tell which way the wind blows. Thousands, maybe even millions, of young people think about church this way. It is entirely possible that this will be the dominant mental picture of church in the world in our lifetimes.

Talking About My Generation
We took our first shot at inter-generational discussion last night: we mixed up kids and parents at the table and talked to other kids besides our own; the kids told us what they liked best about their parents, and the parents talked about what they liked about their kids. Nothing especially earth-shaking happened, and the kids didn't hang with us for long, but they did it. Kids talked with adults around the table. The fact that this is such a novel thing only illustrates how deeply pop culture and marketing have separated us into groups that don't know how to communicate with each other, and therefore can't learn from each other. Do you want your kids to be exceptional? Teach them to be able to have a conversation with an adult.

Small Talk That Isn't Small
After our "catch and release" of the kids, we sat around the table over dessert and talked about raising our kids, baptizing our kids, differences between boys and girls, and the demands of parenting in a commercial culture. We learned how our kids view us from what they said at dinner earlier. It was "just conversation," but it was more than that. Little lines of communication about important things--like raising our kids--are being constructed that may come into play in critical times later on. We're building community, building a culture where people truly know each other and have a place to go when they need something.

There were no fireworks at the Springs this weekend. I ended my day hunting frogs and lizards in the yard with the boys and looking at the moon and the stars with a little girl in the group. It was better than fireworks. It's all little stuff, but it has big potential.