The Crowds and the Curious

As a church and churchgoers, particularly post-Easter weekend, who are you trying to reach?

Who are you speaking to? The crowd or the curious?

Can you share personal stories of how you’re engaging the individuals in your town or are you telling the stories from years ago or from second-hand experience?

I only ask because I’ve found Jesus among the curious and it’s delightfully refreshing and radically convicting. Not only me, but even our youngest son, Asher, has a story to tell!

Teaching to 70 people last Sunday at our in-person gathering at Epic Church.

Here’s my curious story from the week: I made a new somewhat local friend over Instagram and we met up for lunch. Before we had ordered our food, I asked how she learned of Jesus. She told me she grew up Buddhist and no one had ever told her about Jesus and His incredible love for her. She found herself alone with not many friends in a new place far from family. One of her clients invited her to church via text. He told her that there would be a BBQ on Father’s Day and she should come. Father’s Day? If you’re thinking what I’m thinking, why would a young girl show up at a church for the first time ever on Father’s Day? We do strange things looking for Jesus! (More on this idea in the video clip below!) She went. She kept coming. She found community like she had never known. She decided to follow Jesus. This happened just down the freeway from us at one of Epic’s partner churches. This is why we invite! This is why we give generously! 

Asher’s story is amazing, too! He was playing basketball at our neighborhood park and struck up a conversation with a kid his age. He learned where he went to school and his age. They shared about their religious backgrounds and spring break plans. Asher invited him to our church’s student group and they swapped email addresses. Asher shared his story with the in-person gathering at church last week and he told everyone that this one conversation has given him confidence to have more!

If stories come from individuals, how do we engage the crowd and the curious in 2021?

As I reflect on the past year and the pandemic that is still in effect, I’m amazed, really, at how our church was positioned for the initial pivot. At Epic, we were already online, so we went straight to care calls when our city was given the first Shelter-in-Place order in the United States. In hindsight, this brought us closer to individuals and away from crowds. Of course, the pandemic forced this phenomenon upon us.

I’m incredibly delighted we are returning to church gatherings. I just don’t want us to forget our neighbors and others who won’t be joining us yet.

Yes, Jesus has compassion on the crowd. 

Matthew 9:36: When Jesus saw the crowds he had compassion on them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus was headed to Jerusalem when on Palm Sunday the Sunday crowd would praise Him and by Good Friday, the same crowd would shout crucify. This is the very crowd who saw Him perform miracles, give sight to Bartimaeus where they praised Him for it and change Zacchaeus’ life where they complained about it. Patterns of praise and grumbling form in the crowd. Stories don’t come from crowds. Life change doesn't happen in the crowd, it happens in each of us, in individuals.

Jesus spoke to the crowds. He spoke to individuals. You and I do the same. Our crowd might be on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, a classroom, a boardroom, a stage. But if you do one well, let it be how you speak to individuals. That’s what Jesus did. He didn’t let the popularity from the crowd keep Him from engaging the individual. Where do you spend a bulk of your engagement? 

However, Jesus connects with the curious.

The definition of curious is: eager to know or learn something; also means strange; unusual. Of course it does! Remember the strangeness of Zacchaeus climbing a tree as a Chief Tax Collector? 

Curious people do strange things according to the crowd’s perspective. Zachaeus was curious. He was looking for Jesus. His heart was softened. When Jesus saw Zacchaeus, God had already been at work. 

The curious show themselves in the chat. The curious show up in a small group. They write you an email. They ask hard questions. The curious can be quiet. The curious do much internal processing. They attend online before they attend in person.

Curious people ask questions, search the internet for spiritual answers. Curious people will come to church with an invitation. Curious people come to Alpha! Curious people climb trees - they get to a place where they can figure things out and learn. 

My challenge for us here in this space is to ask God to lead us to the curious. To strike up conversation about returning to church or the vaccine or opening season of baseball or the new construction in town. And take the opportunity to invite them to your church. Online or in person.

My friend’s life is eternally changed because someone invited her and she went out of curiosity.

Let’s be the kind of people who give our time and attention to listening and engaging with individuals because they matter most.

I might not have a crowd in heaven accompanying me, but when Jesus asks, I will be able to tell Him the personal stories of how we met.

Cheering you on this week!