so I've been reading Shane Claiborne's book "Irresistible Revolution: living as an ordinary radical" since Christmas break...started it on break, and then haven't really picked it up again until now, but I can see how that timing was/is divine. Back during Christmas break, I had already decided that I was dissatisfied with the campus ministry that I had been going to during first semester, and knew that I was going to be looking for a new place to fit when I went back to campus - either a campus ministry, a church or both. And then I started reading "Irresistible Revolution", and it prompted a revelation of sorts that clearly defined what I was looking for in a prospective campus ministry/church: a group of people whose sole focus was loving God and people, and doing what Jesus taught.
So I went back to campus knowing what I was looking for, but didn't find it right away. I visited one campus ministry that I got all excited about at first - which is my way - but when I stepped back to consider it from all angles, I realized that it would really be a problem that I sat during the speaker's message disagreeing with just about every other word. :) I visited two other campus ministries after that, but they were both the same as the one I attended first semester and the one I visited: same format - what the Western church likes to call "worship" which is a tragically narrow definition of a word that is supposed to express the whole of a Christ-follower's life; a pretty mediocre message that I often found inapplicable because I had heard the same simple teaching so many times before; and announcements for Bible studies and fellowship gatherings for group members...same people - in a word, pretty cliquey...same activities - weekly meetings, Bible studies, and scheduled hang-out times for people who already knew each other...all-in-all, ministries very much focused on meeting the needs of people already involved in the ministry, and evangelism that centered on sharing your testimony to bring people in so that they could conform to the standards of Western Christianity - something that I'm starting to think bears little resemblance to the life Jesus lived. In short, after attending one campus ministry and visiting three more that were very well-meaning but didn't resemble Jesus very well at all, I was beginning to get frustrated.
Enter a sign on a....TRASH CAN....(think about that one for a minute) outside the Student Rec Center, reading "Harmony Church: no judgment, no hypocrisy, church as Jesus intended it, Dr. Unk's Oasis"....and I think Well now! I think I might go just to see if they can back up these claims...especially since it's in a bar...should be interesting. But I was also thinking that if Harmony could back up the claims with actions, God had just shown me the place I was supposed to be.
But that divine appointment with a trash can wasn't enough for God...no, He took me on a joy-ride on the Minges bus to find a place that wasn't where I thought it was, just so He could put a postcard that Miranda had left in the little bus stop shelter in my hands. The postcard had more info on Harmony, like where Dr. Unk's was (because I had forgotten the intersection by this point) and just more stuff that completely made up my mind that I was going. This was the end of January, right before Harmony's first Sunday morning meeting at Dr. Unk's. So I went, found nearly exactly what I was looking for, and it's been awesome ever since. I've grown so much from the conversations that we have had about theology, and I have found brothers and sisters in Christ that are very special to me. Truth be told, for the first time in my life, I have wanted to NOT be at home...and that is on Sunday mornings when I'm wishing I could be at Harmony with my family there.
So that's the story... :)
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2 comments:
Cool story Becca....Who would ever think that putting a flyer on a trash can would capture someone's attention....
Becca, first let me tell you that we are blessed and thankful that you listened to the call on your life that day. Harmony would not be the same without you. Your story really excites me. It leaves me thirsting for the hundreds, millions; of other people that God has already chosen to be apart of what He is doing in Greenville. Some may be impacted similar to the way you where, on the other hand some story could look very different. Whatever the case, I just can't wait until it is time to read their story.
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