Join the Club

Just up the road from my home, there’s a place that specializes in helping young women make decisions about how to raise a family. Every Wednesday, just outside that same location, there’s a group of people who specialize in helping young women understand the importance of their decision and who offer other perspectives on raising families and the eternal significance involved with that decision.

The thought has occurred to me that, from a strictly numbers perspective, the folks outside the clinic aren’t making much progress. However, here and there I’ve heard of a few victories. And for those few women who decided to hear another perspective, I think the folks are ok with pushing on.

Now I don’t know why, but in my neighborhood there’s really only one church and one age group from that church who show up every week. The age where you can spend your entire day standing around, praying, and holding up signs. Trust me, it’s way after college.

Recently I’ve been plagued with the questions, “Why don’t I join in? Why haven’t I taken the initiative to join in on a cause that I believe in and ask, 'Hey, can I lend a hand?’” I know why: because it’s an inconvenience to me and my schedule. And, quite frankly, I don’t feel like I fit in. But what reasons are those to not join in on something that I think is a great cause and one great opportunity to reach the lost?

Every time I drive by I say to myself, “I should join that group of people in their cause.” But I never do. There, I’ve just made my apathy public. Crap. I know what I’m doing next Wednesday morning.

All across our campus are clubs and organizations filled with people who are different than us, who meet at inconvenient times, and who are excited about some of the same things we are excited about or could be. So many times our movement has spent weeks planning an outreach event where we engage total strangers, share the gospel, and then never see them again. It takes about as much inconvenient time and energy and engagement with people different than us as it would joining a new club or organization and meeting total strangers - who very well could become our very best of friends and who, just like us, very much need the gospel.

Last year, my friend Tiff joined the Water Polo team: one, because she likes water polo; two, because there were friends who need the gospel on her team. Why not have the best of both worlds? (By the way, water polo sounds no fun to me whatsoever. You tread water constantly trying to avoid being dunked. Pools were meant for chilling out in. But I digress.)

This year she’s foregone leading a bible study to continue pursuing her friends on the team. Tiff was an incredible small group leader. But she made a choice to extend out to a group of people she had a common interest with who need to see and hear the gospel from her life. This decision is bearing fruit in Tiff’s life. And I’m absolutely sure it could in yours.

This year, join the club. Take a step of faith and inconvenience yourself to join some other club or organization of total strangers during a different time of the week and enjoy some common ground together. Ask God to bring opportunities your way to talk about Jesus. Ask him to help you adjust to a new schedule and way of doing life. Ask him to guard your heart and keep you connected with other believers and to Jesus. I’m sure he’ll be pleased to accommodate you. “Without faith, it is impossible to please God…” Hebrews 6:11

Next Wednesday I think I might need to walk on down the road and engage in something I believe in with people I don’t know at a time that’s not really all that convenient.

I think I’m going to join the club. How about you?

Check out the Community 2:8 strategy for more thoughts on how to see evangelism as a process, your life as a resource, and how to extend into areas on campus that need the gospel.