Church Lessons from the Camino (part 2)

Image source: sabbaticalsayings.blogspot.com

Last year Robin and I walked the last 140 miles of the Camino de Santiago in Spain (the medieval Catholic Pilgrimage immortalized in The Way).   We chose the Norte route through the mountains because less "pilgrims" travel it.  It provided us a lot of time to pray and reflect.   The scenery was beautiful, the people were welcoming and the food and coffee were delicious!  It really gave us some time to confirm that God was truly directing us to move back to the US after 13 years of training and coaching leaders, teaching in Bible schools and planting churches in secular Europe.

There were a few lessons we learned on our trip that apply to churches.  If you haven't noticed, our culture is rapidly moving from postmodern to Post-Christian.  Christianity, believers and churches are rapidly losing their influence in society.   But there are some things we can do to create a larger footprint for the Kingdom of God.  In this series of blogposts I'll cover a few of them that are pertinent to North American church leaders.

If North American churches want to connect with an unchurched Post-Christian audience they need to:

2.  Teach their people to listen

Church Lessons from the Camino (Part 1)

Church Lessons from the Camino (Part 3)

As I wrote recently, if you truly believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven, you have a responsibility to tell as many people as possible.  Unfortunately too many people fulfill this responsibility irresponsibly.  They treat everyone they meet as an "opportunity to preach."

Tweet: Too many people share their faith irresponsibly. @jonperrin #evangelism #faith #justbenormal

Although we prayed that God would use us to invest in the lives of others along our Camino journey, that was not our goal.  We went to hear from God personally.  We chose to listen rather than just talk. And it opened a LOT of doors!

We struck up conversations with our fellow Caminantes (Camino "Pilgrims") as we walked, as we ate together and as we settled in for the night at pilgrim hostels.  We asked a lot of questions.  It was fascinating to hear people's life stories.  We learned that one of our fellow travelers dealt with severe depression.  Another had a devastating divorce.  One guy was taking a much-needed semester break from college.  A couple was contemplating beginning a new life in another country.  A couple of friends had been hiking together for 20 years.  Two of them told us their fathers expected them to carry on the family business, but they didn't want to.

As we truly listened, we heard stories of great joy and great loss, of pain and progress.  We laughed a lot.  And our hearts broke for the hurts people carried.  But the very act of listening itself opened the door for us to be able to share our story.  I spoke with a young man one day as we walked, and we had the most amazing conversation.  He told me he had been studying the Law of Attraction.  He was trying to get his life back on track and he felt this was a positive way to do so.  I explained that many of the principles of the Law of Attraction are actually found in Scripture.  I was able to share about my experience with God's love and His mercy, and how this had radically changed my life.  It was a dialogue that would have never taken place had I used our walk to launch into a monologue.

People will usually open up if you’ll first listen.  Remember: Sow first what you want to reap.  Do you want people to listen to what you have to say?  Then you have to listen to what they have to say... and do so without an agenda!  Don’t preach… start a conversation and build a relationship.  You have to earn the right to be heard.

God desires to use us to influence the world around us.  But a lot of times we screw up God-given opportunities with people.  Commonsense people skills can help us tremendously in this area.  In his amazing book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey says we need to, "Seek first to understand; then to be understood."  What would the world look like if we really did this?  I believe we would see a LOT more opportunities!

Church Lessons from the Camino (Part 1)

Church Lessons from the Camino (Part 3)

Join the conversation... What other advice do you have for church leaders that want to help their church members be more effective in sharing their faith?

Church Lessons from the Camino (part 1)

The Camino de Santiago outside of Sobrado de Monxes (image source: desnivel.com)

Last year Robin and I got to walk the last 140 miles of the Camino de Santiago in Spain (the medieval Catholic Pilgrimage immortalized in The Way).   We chose the Norte route through the mountains because less "pilgrims" travel it.  It provided us a lot of time to pray and reflect.   The scenery was beautiful, the people were welcoming and the food and coffee were delicious!  It really gave us some time to confirm that God was truly directing us to move back to the US after 13 years of training and coaching leaders, teaching in Bible schools and planting churches in Europe.

There were a few lessons we learned on our trip that apply to churches.  If you haven't noticed, our culture is rapidly moving from postmodern to Post-Christian.  Christianity, believers and churches are rapidly losing their influence in society.   But there are some things we can do to create a larger footprint for the Kingdom of God.  Over the next few blogposts I'll cover a few of them that are pertinent to North American church leaders.

Having been involved in numerous church plants in secular Europe (planting and pastoring the last one we were involved with), we learned how to effectively minister in this environment.  If North American churches want to connect with an unchurched Post-Christian audience they need to:

1.  Prepare their people to welcome visitors

Church Lessons from the Camino (Part 2)


As we walked I think we stopped at most of the coffee shops along the way.  The coffee served in Galicia, Spain was the tastiest I've EVER had!  Most of these cafés were very inviting to "pilgrims," serving great coffee, "pinchos" (tapas) and tasty sandwiches.  But one experience was drastically different.

In the middle of nowhere during an exhaustingly steep 30 mile leg of our journey we found a rickety shack that advertised drinks and snacks.  Thank God we could finally get a cup of coffee!  But when we went inside there were a half dozen unwashed tables covered with dirty plates, coffee mugs and shot glasses.  The black mold on the ceiling and walls had creeped all the way down to the floor in some areas.  And there was no one inside.  After a minute or two a very old lady came out of the back room to wait on us.  She was sweet, but her place was DISGUSTING!  I was desperate for a caffeine boost, so we ordered a Café Cortado to go (which turned out to be powdered Nescafé).  Needless to say, it was a very disappointing experience.

Compare this to our experience a couple of days later.  We stopped for lunch at a café with some people we had met as we walked.  The café owner was dancing to the Caribbean music as she waited on tables.  As a matter of fact, she offered free homemade specialty drinks from her village to everyone at our table.  And instead of rubber stamping our "pilgrim passports," she hand-drew the stamps.

One café was welcoming.  The owner went out of her way to make it a fun, inviting experience.  The other café appeared as if they couldn't care less whether we showed up or not.  The owner of the dirty café was sweet, but the atmosphere wasn't inviting.  We instead wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Sending mixed messages (source: scoopnest.com)

How many times does a similar thing happen in our churches.  An unchurched person works up enough courage to actually visit a church service.  They search online to find a church with a nice looking website and decide to come.  But in the parking lot there are no signs pointing to the entrance.  When they do find it, there are friendly people shaking hands at the door, but after the visitor comes inside he or she is alone again.  There are no signs to the main service room, Kids Church or the restrooms.  People smile when they see them and maybe say hi, but don't really engage them in conversation.

The music, customs and language of the service are strange.  The pastor's message makes references to Bible characters and stories but gives no background (i.e. "It's just like David in the Cave of Adullam... he only cut off the corner of Saul's robe instead of killing him.").  To a visitor it seems as if everyone else in the service is familiar with the story the pastor is referencing, but he or she is clueless.  The message is probably doctrinally sound, but contains no practical application.  The visitor walks away deciding the church has nothing to offer them.  The church has unintentionally given the same message as the dirty café  We want your business; but we don't want to work hard enough to keep it.  The whole experience doesn't draw the unchurched to Jesus; it repels them.

Tweet: To a church visitor, it seems as if everyone else knows what's going on except them.

When we visit a new group, we want to feel welcomed.  We want to feel like we belong... that the people wants us there.  So do our visitors.  Visitors from previous generations came to church when they had a glaring problem.  In an Post-Christian culture people are often just curious.  Yes they may have a need, but they often don't even realize that their lives are messed up.  It's the welcome factor that makes our churches "sticky" (shuts the back door).

There are some simple things you can do to improve your church's welcome factor:

* Train your people (staff, volunteers, members and regular attenders) to welcome people by engaging them in conversation.  I'm not just talking about before the service, but after it as well.  Visitors observe how you treat them before the service to see if you have anything to say to them.  What they experience after the service tells them whether or not you really believe what you're saying.  Pastors: you have to model what you want to see in your church.

Tweet: Visitors size up your church before the service. After the service they determine if you are for real. @jonperrin http://bit.ly/1EDYGqa

* Use adequate signage throughout your facility (and not the kind that look like a handmade garage sale signs).

* Monitor the condition of your facility regularly.  Keep it clean and orderly.  This means the Kids Church and Nursery rooms are clean and orderly, the restrooms are clean, the musicians don't leave their cases laying around on stage and the mic cables on stage don't look like a plate of spaghetti.  It also means mowing the grass and painting the building when necessary.

Pastors, I believe we have a message worth sharing.  And in a secular climate people are interested in spiritual things.  But if we want to have the platform to share the life changing message of God's grace, we have to make some changes.

Join the conversation... your comments can help pastors and church leaders as well.  How does your church intentionally welcome visitors?

Church Lessons from the Camino (Part 2)

Sharing your faith

Image source: iamedward.com

If we truly believe that Jesus is Lord of all people at all places in all times, and that after this life a person either goes to spend eternity with Him or apart from him, we are compelled to share our faith with those around us.  It's not that we're better than the people we share it with.  Rather, it's a sign that we care.  We call this "evangelism."  But Christ-followers often get so focused on results in this area that they forget about the process of someone coming to faith in Jesus.

When it comes to evangelism, many Christ-followers focus on the wrong thing.  They only define success in evangelism as actually "praying the sinner's prayer" with someone.  That's just not true.  Take a look at the graphic below:

The "Seed" referenced above is the truth of God's grace and love.  As long as we make a positive connection or impact on a person, we have been successful.  Every time I have a positive interaction with someone who knows that I am a Christ-follower I have "pushed the ball up the field."  I have just made it easier for the next Christ-follower to share their faith with this person.  They have opened the door of their heart a bit wider.  This takes the pressure off of us when we do share our faith.

This is exactly what it says about the Church in the early years after Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection:

They praised God and were liked by all the people. Every day the Lord added those who were being saved to the group of believers.

    - Acts 2:47 NCV

As this group of believers gained respect and were liked by the people around them, new people committed their lives to following Jesus every day.  It will be just the same for us.  We may not be the one that prays with a person to commit their lives to Jesus.  But as long as we're doing our part, God's will is accomplished.  Everyone has their part:

I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it. But God is the One who made it grow.

    - 1 Corinthians 3:6

Something to consider: Older believers need to keep in mind that just as younger generations see the world differently than they do, they will also come to Christ differently.  I've spoken with some young believers who can't name the place and time they committed their lives to Christ.  One guy told me he was investigating Christianity and started hanging out with an on-campus Christian group.  Somewhere along the way he started following Jesus for himself, even though he couldn't put a date on it.

So let's ask God to use us in the process of helping people discover His grace and mercy!

Our fiercely protective God

Image source: liekearends.com

A friend of ours told us the story yesterday of what happened to her husband's puppy.  While her husband was at work, she and the puppy were enjoying some time in their yard.  Then the neighbor lady let her dog out.  The neighbor knew that her dog - a Pit Bull - was aggressive, and had promised to never let the dog out when our friend's puppy or son are outside, but because of her dementia she sometimes forgets things.  The two yards yards are only separated by a low, flimsy chain-link fence.

Our friend's dog is very curious, especially of the growling Pit Bull next door.  As the dog went to investigate, the barking Pit Bull reached through the fence and grabbed the puppy by the neck.  He started to yank the other dog violently.

At this point our friend started shouting to the neighbor and tried to separate the two dogs.  Nothing worked.  Because of her failing health, the neighbor was also unable to do anything about her dog.  As the Pit Bull continued to yank, our friend's dog started to slide under the fence.

Finally in desperation our friend jumped the fence and got on top of the Pit Bull.  She squeezed with her knees so the dog couldn't breathe.  When that didn't work she tried to choke him out.  The Pit bull was absolutely unfazed continued to yank viciously.

At this point our friend had had enough.  She started punching the Pit Bull in the face until it released her dog.  The amazing part of this story is that our friend is about 5' 6" tall and 120 lbs. soaking wet - not a big girl by any stretch of the imagination.  The Pit Bull could have eaten her for an afternoon snack.  But at that point, all that mattered was protecting her husband's dog.

What a perfect picture of the heart of God.  Look at what David said about Him:

The lord himself watches over you! The lord stands beside you as your protective shade.

The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.

The lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.

The lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.

   -  Psalm 121:5-8 NLT

... and in another verse, he writes:

The angel of the Lord camps around those who fear God, and he saves them.

   -  Psalm 34:7 

No matter what you're going through or how bad things seem, you are not alone!  God is watching over you.  Yes, there is a devil who hates you and wants to take you out.  But if you'll pursue God with all your heart and trust Him to deliver you, you'll see Him do amazing things.  You can't earn His love.  And you can't do enough bad things for Him to not love you anymore.

We've seen Him come through for us over and over.  But even if our experience were to differ from what these verses state, it doesn't change who God is.  He is faithful and He can be trusted.  Run to Him, not from Him.

For all you animal lovers out there: Don't worry... our friend's dog is fine.  The wounds were superficial, requiring only a few stitches.  And the Pit Bull is fine too.

PS. If you don't believe in the devil, that's okay   You're entitled to your beliefs.  But Jesus obviously believed in him, and taught about him often. (See Matthew 13:19, 36-43, 12:24-28; Luke 10:18, 11:18; John 8:43-44, 10:10, 12:31-32, 14:30, 16:11... and this isn't even a definitive list).

Lost sheep

Image source: beccastevens.org

Jesus sent out these twelve, instructing them as follows: “Do not go to Gentile regions and do not enter any Samaritan town. Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Matthew 10:5-6

During my devotional time this morning I realized something.  Jesus' first ministry assignment for His disciples is to go to the lost sheep among their own people. Only later does He send them out to the whole world.

It is much easier to go overseas than to go next door.  In some aspects it's much easier to tell people about Jesus in a foreign culture.  The expectations are lower.  If you are unsuccessful you can always use the excuse: "Oh well... I'm just a foreigner."  You don't have to fit in there.  You will automatically stand out.  It's not as embarrassing, to some extent.

But where does Jesus begin training His disciples?  Where is the first place He sends them "on mission?"  He sends them to their own people.  Why does He do this?  Sharing God's message of love and grace is often more difficult in your own context.  You know what is socially acceptable; what is considered "normal behavior."  You know "the rules" of what a polite society does and doesn't do.  And to go against the rules makes us uncomfortable.  It makes us stick out in a place where we shouldn't stick out.  No matter how much we value our individuality, we all want to fit in.  Maybe not with some groups; but at least with our own.

But Jesus knew something: If you can't learn to minister to people that share your culture (your traditions, customs, language, food, etc), you won't be nearly as effective among a people whose culture is vastly different to yours.  Courage is better developed HERE than THERE.  Having served as a missionary to Europe for 13 years, I can honestly say it's much easier to represent Christ THERE than it is HERE.  But if HERE is where God has you, then it's HERE that He wants to use you.

Cross-cultural mission trips are vitally important. But don't discount the value of ministry among your own people. Jesus is concerned about the lost sheep among YOUR people - this includes your neighbors and your family.

My encouragement to you today: Pray for courage.  Pray for boldness.  Pray for opportunities: that you would recognize them and take advantage of them.  And pray Philippians 2:13: "For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him."