Chito and the Man
I have a friend and colleague named Chito. That's not his real name, but everyone knows him as Chito. Chito comes from a world that is very different from mine. He is about 340 pounds of Hispanic gruffness until you get to know him. He has been involved in gangs. He has been behind bars more than once. We are as different as night and day, but the other day I felt it to be a great compliment when he said I was just like him. But let me back up.
I first met Chito several years ago when I sang at a wedding held at a premiere home in Abilene. He was the groundskeeper. This meeting was very brief and he did not even recall that meeting when he came to my office several years later for our next meeting. This time, I was a loan officer at a local bank and he was looking for someone to give him a chance. I made him a loan and he never disappointed me.
Eventually, our paths crossed again when we actually came to work for the same employer. We see each other daily and in the mornings we often meet to plan out his day. One morning last week, however, our conversation touched on other matters. He told me he had seen "The Passion of the Christ" for the first time and it had really impacted him; to the point that he had even cried. I asked him to tell me more. He said that it was just amazing to see how He was treated.
"I felt sorry for 'em," he said. I thought he meant he felt sorry for "'im" so I commented that He did really suffer.
"No," he said. I mean, I did feel sorry for Him, but I felt sorry for the guys doin' it."
"He went though that for them, too," I said.
"Yeah, but that's just some bad guys, there."
"There are a lot of bad things going on these days, too. Hussein, Hitler, others. If He could forgive the guys doing that to Him, what does that mean to us? What does that mean to you?"
"I know," Chito said. "I really believe that, too. But I just kinda do my own thing. I've been to church and grew up going to church (before he left home at age 14) and my mom made us listen to that stuff. But I quit goin' because it's more about money and I don't go for that stuff."
"Even if people have made church about money like you say, Jesus isn't about money."
He said he knew that, but that he had still been disappointed in "churchy" people. He told stories about how he had been introduced to people who went to my own home congregation, Highland. "They are all nice to me here but if I see them away from here and they are with friends they act like they don't know me."
"That does stink," I admitted. "But that's not Jesus either. In fact, that's another reason why Jesus went through what you saw in that movie." I went on to apologize for the way he had been treated and told him to let me know if he ever felt slighted by me. It was then that he paid me a great compliment by saying that I wasn't like that but just acted like I was no better than him or any of his friends. We went on to discuss faith for at least another 20 minutes or so even after another friend, Ismael joined in. Chito had to interpret much of this because Ismael is a Mexican national who speaks little English. I don't know how far all of this will go. I do know I told the guys that I would pray for them whether they liked it or not and with them whenever they wanted. They thanked me and said they knew I prayed and they thought that was cool.
It was a neat exchange and I learned some things because of it. First, I learned that living out things in front of guys like this go much further than preaching down to them. I know that we would never have had the kind of genuine conversation we had otherwise.
I also learned that "religious speech" has a very limited appeal to people outside our normal "churchy" circles. In fact, it does more to turn them off. This says a great deal about the types of worship services we currently cling to and just how effective they are beyond the point of "preaching to the choir."
Basically, all of this is a commentary of how evangelism in a postmodern world has a much different face than what we may be used to. Chito is not the only person with whom I have had conversations like this. But the most impactful and promising conversations have been those that resulted from a more casual approach rather than simply saying "let me tell you about Jesus." In McLaren's model of belong, believe, behave it is obviously addressing belonging first. I really think there is something to that. Therefore, my prayer is to that I will never elevate myself above others but instead form relationships with them where they are and then let the Spirit work. Try it.
I first met Chito several years ago when I sang at a wedding held at a premiere home in Abilene. He was the groundskeeper. This meeting was very brief and he did not even recall that meeting when he came to my office several years later for our next meeting. This time, I was a loan officer at a local bank and he was looking for someone to give him a chance. I made him a loan and he never disappointed me.
Eventually, our paths crossed again when we actually came to work for the same employer. We see each other daily and in the mornings we often meet to plan out his day. One morning last week, however, our conversation touched on other matters. He told me he had seen "The Passion of the Christ" for the first time and it had really impacted him; to the point that he had even cried. I asked him to tell me more. He said that it was just amazing to see how He was treated.
"I felt sorry for 'em," he said. I thought he meant he felt sorry for "'im" so I commented that He did really suffer.
"No," he said. I mean, I did feel sorry for Him, but I felt sorry for the guys doin' it."
"He went though that for them, too," I said.
"Yeah, but that's just some bad guys, there."
"There are a lot of bad things going on these days, too. Hussein, Hitler, others. If He could forgive the guys doing that to Him, what does that mean to us? What does that mean to you?"
"I know," Chito said. "I really believe that, too. But I just kinda do my own thing. I've been to church and grew up going to church (before he left home at age 14) and my mom made us listen to that stuff. But I quit goin' because it's more about money and I don't go for that stuff."
"Even if people have made church about money like you say, Jesus isn't about money."
He said he knew that, but that he had still been disappointed in "churchy" people. He told stories about how he had been introduced to people who went to my own home congregation, Highland. "They are all nice to me here but if I see them away from here and they are with friends they act like they don't know me."
"That does stink," I admitted. "But that's not Jesus either. In fact, that's another reason why Jesus went through what you saw in that movie." I went on to apologize for the way he had been treated and told him to let me know if he ever felt slighted by me. It was then that he paid me a great compliment by saying that I wasn't like that but just acted like I was no better than him or any of his friends. We went on to discuss faith for at least another 20 minutes or so even after another friend, Ismael joined in. Chito had to interpret much of this because Ismael is a Mexican national who speaks little English. I don't know how far all of this will go. I do know I told the guys that I would pray for them whether they liked it or not and with them whenever they wanted. They thanked me and said they knew I prayed and they thought that was cool.
It was a neat exchange and I learned some things because of it. First, I learned that living out things in front of guys like this go much further than preaching down to them. I know that we would never have had the kind of genuine conversation we had otherwise.
I also learned that "religious speech" has a very limited appeal to people outside our normal "churchy" circles. In fact, it does more to turn them off. This says a great deal about the types of worship services we currently cling to and just how effective they are beyond the point of "preaching to the choir."
Basically, all of this is a commentary of how evangelism in a postmodern world has a much different face than what we may be used to. Chito is not the only person with whom I have had conversations like this. But the most impactful and promising conversations have been those that resulted from a more casual approach rather than simply saying "let me tell you about Jesus." In McLaren's model of belong, believe, behave it is obviously addressing belonging first. I really think there is something to that. Therefore, my prayer is to that I will never elevate myself above others but instead form relationships with them where they are and then let the Spirit work. Try it.
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