The Northwest Young Adults have been going to McAlister’s Deli every other week after church for the past few months this year. We’re a pretty decently sized group, and we take over a small section. Over time, we have become regulars, and the employees there have come to recognize us. (We’re not Cheers yet…, but they know my order.)
After a few weeks, one of the employees … asked us where we were coming from. I said that we go to church and come to McAlister’s for lunch after church. Since then, he has told us “God bless” when he gives us food and when we leave.
On March 20th, three Young Adult guys went to McAlister’s (technically the off-week). It was a nice day, so we sat outside, and [the same server] came to serve us our food. He asked me, “What church do y’all go to?” I admit there was part of me that felt a bit awkward, but I said we go to Northwest Bible Church. There was a pause, and I asked him if he goes to church at all. He said that he didn’t, but he believes and is “Christ-conscious”. I asked him what does Christ-conscious mean, and [he] gave us a short explanation about he doesn’t believe in religion or rules, but how we need to have the spirit of Jesus inside us and make our decisions like He would make them. I probably missed an opportunity to go further, but I genuinely thanked him so much for sharing with us what he believed and being vulnerable. I also thanked him for really serving us and other people well.
It made me realize that we can have intentional conversations in the places where we are regulars – not just with our friends or at our divine platforms – but wherever we happen to interact with people. Also, it was really fun to have an intentional conversation that was not necessarily initiated by us, but just answering questions and just showing interest in people to engage. It was spontaneous. Who would have thought that lunch after church would generate curiosity or build a relationship that could start a surprisingly easy to start conversation about Jesus, and hopefully lead to more?!