6.5--Dirty Feet Evangelism: Belong

During the summer of 2007, I had the amazing opportunity to take part in a month-long immersion experience in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to go check out a different part of the world, and I was going with a small group full of some of the friends I had made during the first year of college. I could not have been more psyched, and the city lived up to all of the hype that I had placed upon it. The architecture was beautiful, daunting, and old. The people talked funny and had interesting quirks. The food was amazing.

Now, when my wife, Jessica studied abroad, she went to Argentina with the hopes of bettering her Spanish. I went to Prague because it sounded like a neat experience. This led to a number of culture shocks and cultural barriers. First, I did not know a lick of the language. I was completely dependent on the native speakers who also happened to know English, which is about a third of the population. Second, this was my first time outside of the country. I had no idea how loud we Americans are in pretty much every situation! We would go into a restaurant to eat and people would move tables to get away from the “loud Americans.” We stuck out like a sore thumb those first few outings. The thing that shocked me the most, though, was the outlook that most people had on what was and was not acceptable in public. Now, it is not a rare or outrageous sight around here to see a couple walking down the street holding hands. One might even witness a quick kiss now and then. Anything more than that, though, and the barriers that are in place between private and public come crashing down. In Prague, this was definitely the case.

These are just three examples from a long list of why I felt like I stuck out in Prague. I did not know anything about this city’s culture or her people, and even though I loved being there and would absolutely go back in a heartbeat, I never really felt like I belonged there.

Have you ever felt like that? Like you could not figure out where the piece that is you fits in to the puzzle that is the society or group that is around you? We have all been there before; we have all felt that way at times. And I’m sure that, maybe unbeknownst to us, we have contributed to someone else feeling that way as well.

This week, we finish up our conversation about what it means to be a dirty feet evangelist. Two weeks ago, we talked about how we are called to go out into the world and share the Good News of Christ’s victory over death with everyone we can. The first part of being a dirty feet evangelist is being willing to go. Last week, we talked about how Christ calls us to welcome to the table those strangers and visitors that he places before us. The second part of being a dirty feet evangelist is being willing to welcome. Today, we are going to talk about how we are called to help people find their place of belonging within the church and within the world around them. The third part of being a dirty feet evangelist is being willing to belong.

What does it mean to belong? In the Disney movie, “High School Musical,” a person belonged when they were a part of a group comprised of like-minded individuals. The student’s identity was wrapped up into this clique, and any attempts to leave it upset the status quo, which was simply not allowed. In my home church, you belonged once you had been a member for about a decade. Until then, you were still considered a new-comer, or even a visitor. In ancient Israel, one belonged to the people of God only if one’s ancestors traced back to Jacob and Abraham. If you were not a member of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, you were welcomed, even tolerated, but you were never going to truly be a member of the people of God.

So it seems that belonging is at least in some way wrapped up in the identity that one gives him or herself. I belong if I feel that I fit in. I fit in if I understand myself to be in some way affiliated with or tied to others.

In his book, The Search to Belong, Joseph Myers talks about how Christ calls all to find their identity in Him but that the ways in which people belong to a group might be completely different than one would expect. Especially when it comes to the church, it is very possible that our understanding of how one belongs misses the mark for those around us, and because of this, we need to be sensitive to others and not impose our sense of being upon them.

Myers lays out four different “relational spaces” in which we live our lives: public, social, personal, and intimate.

Public belonging “occurs when people connect through an outside influence.” Though they are rarely hailed as such, “these relationships carry great significance in our lives.” Social belonging “occurs when we share ‘snapshots’ of what it would be like to be in personal space with us.” Most of your daily interactions are with people in this space. When we share personal belonging, “we share private experiences, feelings, and thoughts.” People in this space are your close friends, maybe most family members. Intimate belonging happens when “we share ‘naked’ experiences, feelings, and thoughts.” These are the people that know you through and through. Only a small handful of people will be in this space with you.

As Christians, we teach the need for a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. The Lord of Creation, Creator of the universe, knows us completely, our comings and goings, our inmost thoughts, and yet in spite and despite of this, He loves us and longs for a relationship with us at the inmost level. But this does not always mean that this is how we interact with the Body of Christ.

Like the centurion who sends others to Jesus and never meets Christ himself, some people interact with the church in a public way, finding belonging in what might be considered by others to be outermost spaces. This might be the person who attends our Roast Beef Dinner twice a year but has never otherwise set foot in the church.

Others might interact in a more social way. Like the many Jews who would gather in the synagogues and the Temple to hear Jesus preach when he was in the area, some people find belonging in other ways such as attending weekly worship services. They do not really need anything more.

The personal space is similar to the relational space that the disciples found themselves in with Jesus. This might be a small group or Sunday school class where the individual feels more comfortable opening up and sharing personal aspects of his or her life with those in the group. The one who finds belonging in this group might not even attend worship on a regular basis, but never misses an opportunity for small group discussion and growth.

Finally, the intimate space might be the relationship held between two or three people. Just as Jesus had an inner circle even among the disciples—Peter, James, and John—it is not uncommon for a couple of people to share their intimate faith struggles and experiences with each other. This might be an accountability group or a mentoring relationship.

Which space do you find that you belong to? Which are you most comfortable with? Which space are you least comfortable with?

Part of being a dirty feet evangelist is allowing those around us to experience God and engage the church however they best can. It is allowing belonging to happen and not coercing someone into a relational space for which they are not ready. Our goal as a church should be to make sure that the invitation is open and that each relational space is offered to all who come seeking.

So may you remember that fitting in at church is not just about finding the perfect pew to sit in. May you remember that God encounters different people at different relational spaces. And may you, as you encounter God in one space, help the church as a whole allow others to encounter God in whatever space they need to, so that all of us might come to find not only identity, but a place to belong in Christ and in His church.

Amen.