Person of Peace

In Luke chapter 10, Jesus sends out 72 disciples to go into the towns and villages and prepare his way. He tells them to be on the look-out for "persons of peace." "When you come to a house," he says, "first say 'Peace be upon this house.' If a person of peace is there, your peace will remain with him, but if not it will return to you." And then, Jesus says, you're not to press the matter, you just move on. It's not the right time.

Watching for persons of peace is a critical skill for Christians these days. We need to be attentive to those who are open to talking to us about faith, and learning more.

My son is getting married in the summer, and he and his fiance had a pre-wedding party at a local watering hole last week. I struck up a conversation with a guy and his girlfriend. Let's call them Tim and Melissa (not their real names.)

Tim remarked on the great weather and said he'd love to go fishing. I asked him about fishing, and he told me it's one of this favorite passtimes. Then he said something that kind of surprised me. He said fishing is the thing that makes him most thankful, that arouses in him the greatest sense of gratitude. I always knew people went fishing to relax, but I'd never thought of it as a way to encourage thankfulness. "So, it's a kind of spiritual experience for you?" I said, and then he launched into an animated description of the spirituality of fishing.

His girlfriend chimed in, and began to talk about her faith. She was raised in the church, her parents are regular church attenders, and while she is deeply respectful of them and their practices, she doesn't find church to be the place where her faith is nurtured.

"How is it nurtured?" I asked. And then she went on to tell me about volunteering at Out of the Cold, and the deep and meaningful connections she has formed with some of the people who go there to eat. She said, "You know the guy you see around town pushing the shopping cart full of junk? I've had the most amazing conversations with him. He's a remarkable person."

"Spirituality is about connectedness," I offered -- and that opened up a whole new area of discussion. She told me about her work at a hair salon, where people (usually women) come in stressed and upset and she sees it as -- she didn't use the word, but it would have been appropriate -- a ministry.

This is the very moment when I am trying to find people who are interested in forming Jesus-centred faith communities that don't carry all the baggage people traditionally associate with church -- and these two young people would have stood and talked all night about the many ways in which they live out their spirituality and faith.

They were persons of peace. I've asked them if we can get together again to continue the conversation.

I'm realizing that identifying and connecting with persons of peace is a gift and a skill that we have largely forgotten. I grew up in a church where you didn't have to seek out persons of peace because they came and found you. But it's not the same any more.

Each time I have a conversation like I had with "Tim" and "Melissa" I pray that I will gain confidence and skill in connecting with persons of peace.

Convers[at]ion

One of the most interesting discoveries I have made in the last couple of years is how closely related the word "conversion" and the word "conversation" are. It's one of those things that, when you realize it, you wonder how you ever missed it. Of course, they're practically the same word.

But it was a big breakthrough for me because it hit me -- our conversations have the potential to convert us -- to change us. If you read the Gospel of John, what you see Jesus mostly doing is talking. Schmoozing. Chatting. Having conversations. They're extremely deep and holy conversations, but he spends way more time talking to people in John than he does healing them or preaching to them. Philip and Andrew. Nicodemus. The woman at the well. The man paralyzed for 38 years. His disciples. Talking. Conversing. Jesus is the Word made flesh, and John portrays him bringing salvation and transformation through this words.

Reggie McNeal writes a lot about the massive changes that churches are undergoing because of the changes in society. He says we need to "change the scorecard" -- the things we count that tell us how effective we are. For generations, churches have counted things like how big their building is, how many show up on Sunday, how much money they raise -- "buildings, butts, budgets." McNeal says we have to start counting different things -- like how many lives are changed.

I see a downward trend in those traditional scores of success. But that might mean we have to start counting different things. And one of the things I think we should start to count is the number of truly significant, God-led, life-impacting conversations we have, both inside and outside the church -- the number of interactions we have where God is clearly there.

The other day I spent some time with a family that is going through one of those gut-wrenching crises with one of their kids who is very ill. I was just so deeply moved by their courage, their vulnerability, their incredible love and support for one another. I don't know if I helped them, but they sure helped me.

Yesterday, I met with two young women who are preparing to be confirmed. They're older than the usual teen confirmation class, so we've been meeting on Wednesdays to talk about faith, God and the church. Yesterday we met over iced tea and coffee at Starbucks. And I am blown away by the maturity and depth of their questioning and their insight.

Last night, I met with two young couples who have started to come to church and have asked about baptism for their children -- and in the case of one of the Moms, baptism for herself. We talked about "kairos" moments in our lives, those times that are filled with significance and meaning, and that have the potential to change us. I thought we'd skim over the surface because we were meeting for the first time as a group. But the immediate level of trust was so high that they were able to share things about themselves at a level that just really amazed me. At the end of the evening, I was sure God had been among us.

I wonder if we create enough space in our churches for significant conversations? Everyone's so busy. How can we intentionally help people to enter into those conversations where God has a chance to show up?