Lessons from a Puerto Rican Hillbilly (Part 2)

I'm in Israel and so I'm having a guest blogger - Kevin Colon. He's one of my favorite people but, more importantly, started a church in what may be the most difficult place in the United States - Boulder, Colorado. Kevin is the real deal and we can learn a lot from him. Here's Kevin:

So if you’re in for the long-haul, if you’ve found your place, your people, than what? How do you make an impact on people that may never step foot into your church?

Lesson 2: The message that resonates is Jesus (and Jesus in you)

When we moved to Colorado, Amy and I would take the grill out every other Saturday to the pool next to our apartment and we would grill burgers for anyone that would want one. They would say…”Hey why are you guys doing this?” And we would just let them know…”Just new here…wanted to meet some people.” They didn’t need to know we were pastors, we were starting a church, or that we were anything else than people. I wanted people to know me as Kevin first. I wanted them to judge me as a guy that was a Christian that just happened to be their neighbor.

And so amidst the burgers, the beer, the half-naked women and the colorful language we began to make friends. My first friends here were an ultimate fighter, a car mechanic and this hot, hot girl that turned out to be a man (kidding…totally kidding). Anyway…it was a bunch of guys…and we started playing Texas Hold ‘Em poolside and talking about life…chomping on burgers. Little by little they came to know about my faith…but since they got to know Kevin first, they were cool with that and they were cool with my perspective on things. They eventually started asking questions, and on several Saturdays I’d say we were having church out there as I won all their money because they were so distracted by my fancy theology. (no…just kidding again…I’m against gambling…unless you have it in your entertainment budget) Ok…moving on.

Here’s the deal. People want to see if your faith is real and they’re OK with it if it’s real. They’re OK with the Jesus talk if it’s real and if it’s truly about something that will work for them….instead of work for YOU. The minute they catch a sniff that you are trying to get them in for your gain….your done. Let me explain with another story.

We started a Bible Study…our first one. And about 5 people in the group were nonbelievers and 5 of us were Christians. We were going through the book of Mark and it was just smoking hot. It was awesome. . .great conversation, great revelations, incredible connections. And then one day, I decided that it would be good to share a little vision about the church that would someday be here. And so I took a whole Sunday night and with great passion shared The Vision! I nailed it, too. After the meeting, one of the non-Christian couples came up to me and said, “Hey Kevin…we really came here to hear about Jesus and if this is going to turn into some kind of rally to start a church….well….we’re not so sure we’ll be back.”

I nodded and smiled but it took me a while….and then it hit me….of course….Jesus….that’s why I came here. Right! I get it.

The next Sunday I apologized to everyone. I assured them that Sunday nights were reserved for Jesus and if anyone wanted to hear about the church we would have another meeting at another time.

My non-believing friends kept coming and they crossed the line of faith a few months later.

Phew….close one!

- featured on newchurches.com