In Our Midst...

A couple of days ago, my little brother sent me a story that has continued to run through my mind for two days now.  I wanted to share it with you.  Here is the recap:

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand   of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

        Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

        A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

        A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. 

        The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

        In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. 

        No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

        Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

         Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

As I read the story (the full story can be found here), I couldn't help but think about the neighborhood where I live.  You see, I don't ride a subway everyday, or commute on a bus.  I live in a suburban neighborhood and I drive a couple of miles to work each day.  After this, I wonder who and what I miss everyday because I have succumbed to the routine of the familiar.  I'm not wondering what celebrities I miss, but I am wondering what incredible person lives 5 houses down from me.  I only know 4 down.  Am I missing a great friend or an inspirational father!  What about the person checking out groceries at the Kroger by my house?  Is she a student working her way through school planning to do mission work overseas?  

This is one of the reasons why we are more committed to being the church than going to church.  There are incredible people living next door to us, working in the cubicle over from us, sitting in the bleachers with us, pumping gas on the other side from us and we miss them everyday.  I want to live with my eyes open.  I want to stop and listen to the music of life being played out in that cashier's world.  I want to stand in awe of that dad who is swinging his kid at the park.  I want to notice.

TK Chapter 14 :: Leaving

[Leaving is] about replacing personal or Christian activities with time spent building relationships with people in the surrounding culture.” (p127)

When you think about some of the most intiamate activities believers can do together, you might list prayer, worship, leadership development, fellowship or communion.  All these are things “believers” do.  Yet, when you look at the biblical story, we find believers doing these activities in the midst of sojourners or “outsiders” all the time. (p128)

If we are going to get the fullness of this book...the fullness of the missional life, we must understand that Leaving is the first step in this incarnational process.  If we are going to be the body of Jesus in our communities, we must take this step.  For many people, this is the most difficult step to take.  It's easy to read a book, easy to read these blog posts, easy to talk about being tangible, incarnational and missional.  It's not so easy to actually "leave."  In fact, when I first read the quotes above, I had a sinking feeling in my throat that made me nervous.  Halter goes on to say that 99% of the miracles of Jesus and the disciples were done outside the church.  That alone begs the question, "Why did He set it up that way? And how does that translate to us?"

If being missional is about being more like Jesus was when he walked this earth, then I must do what I have to in order to be more comfortable being "out there" with others.  Over the past 7 years, I have grown more intentional in this process, even though I'm nowhere close to where I should be.  A few weeks ago, we were in Fort Worth picking up our daughter from the grandparents, and we went to one of our favorite restaurants.  We got there and one of the waiters we had gotten to know several years back was still working there and we got her section.  We enjoyed dinner with a friend serving us - it was awesome!  More recently I have gotten to know Lee at Burger House in League City.  He has become a friend because of the time I invested when we first started eating at his restaurant.  I try to be intentional about meeting neighbors outside by the mailbox - just last week, I visited with some new neighbors.

You may be saying, "Whoopee, this isn't that big of deal," and you'd be right.  It's not.  In the end, my intentionality helps me get to know some of the people around me.  I want to know what makes them laugh, cry, jump, shout, ponder, wonder, hope, fear, celebrate and dance.  Why?  No reason other than that they were made in the image of God and when I see them I see Him, when I listen to them, I hear Him, and when I serve them, I am serving Him.  And that stirs my soul.  I'm not keeping one eye open for a chance to "share the gospel presentation" with them...I am keeping both eyes open and attempting to be the Church wherever I am and whomever I am with (or whoever, also).  You see, for me, there is no church Brad or work Brad or whatever Brad...I'm just me everywhere.  

How easy is it for you to "leave" the comforts of your everyday routine to meet new people or invest in relationships right in front of you?  Is it easier for you to invite someone to "church" or to invite them to come alongside you in your life journey?  Our "class" seems to be struggling about this time of the summer...don't give up...push through...keep the conversation going...if not here, in your own life with people you care about and who care about you...be the church!