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Vol 4: Principle Two In Action: Take Your Ticket For Your Health
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| It's me Pastor Ant |
Hi fellow travelers,
It’s your boy Pastor Ant reporting from the trail. In my last communication we discovered three more principles for Evangelizing the African American community:
3.We must acknowledge our fear as evangelists.
4.We must trust the image of God in Black men.
5.We must acknowledge the ways we distrust the image of God in Black Men.
This brought our total principles for evangelizing the African American Community to five.
We mined these principles by answering these four questions:
In this volume, I want to tell you about a discovery I made about myself by applying principle number two in my own life: Our passions and interests tend to be an inexpensive ticket into relationships with unchurched people. My discovery about myself has implications for myself and implications for you too. Let us explore this discovery together and grow as evangelist.
I am 6’3 inches. As a tall man, many assume that I played basketball. In my case this assumption proves true. Not only did I play basketball, I played it well enough to earn a full scholarship to Covenant College to play NAIA D-II basketball. Basketball means a lot to me. Basketball gave me the opportunity to have discipleship from two African American male coaches, who taught me that I could go beyond my limits and push myself. Basketball also gave a tall nerdy African American male entrance into community and camaraderie during my high school days. Basketball paid for my collegiate education and opened the door for me to obtain a Masters of Divinity at Covenant Theological Seminary. Brothers and sisters, when I consider what the game has allowed me to accomplish, I must conclude that basketball is a passion of mine. In light of our second principle, basketball gave me the opportunity to start building relationships with unchurched people. In other words, basketball served as my ticket into relationships with unchurched people.
Here’s How!!! I recently started playing basketball at a community rec center in my neighborhood. Upon entering the gym you will see African American men ranging from ages 21-60. Many of these men have pierced ears and pierced eyebrows. These men have tattoos that cover their whole bodies, including a prevalence of face tattoos. As a matter of fact, I am the weird guy in the gym, because I do not have tattoos or a piercing. As you enter the gym, you will also smell marijuana on them as they enter the gym, as if it’s cologne. The sound of the ball hitting the floor and returning to the dribbler's hand will creep into your ear. The shoes squeak on the court as if they were a well rehearsed string quartet. Curse words bounce off the gym walls the way popcorn bounces off the walls of a kettle. The smell of gym sweat, which would normally repulse my nostrils, gives me a familiar safe feeling. I am back home around the game I love. I am enjoying my love with people who do not go to my church or any other church. It’s my suspicion that our church constructs would not know what to do with these black men even if they came through the doors of our churches. Yet, my passion for basketball has helped me rub shoulders with these unchurched African American men.
Fam, as a pastor, I can sanctify my being in the Christian bubble as faithful ministry. The bubble has a gravitational pull, because, let's have honesty, it's comfortable and safe. In this bubble, people give me a lot of affirmation for the use of my gifts and talents. In this bubble, my assumptions about the world do not get challenged. In this bubble, no one threatens to fight me for playing solid defense in basketball. Brothers and sisters, make no mistakes. Comfort and safety have their place in our world, but I find that I atrophy emotionally and spiritually without connection with the unchurched world. I do not know all the reasons I spiritually atrophy in the Christian bubble. I just know I atrophy. How do I know I have atrophied? It feels like a breath of fresh air after I am in a space not defined by Christian habits. Consequently, I have discovered my spiritual and emotional health as a Christian and a pastor depends on taking my ticket into unchurched spaces. I believe I am not the only one.
I have a twinkle in my heart, that many pastors and ministry leaders experience this atrophy, because they have disappeared into the Christian bubble. They know something is missing, but they can not put their finger on it. In addition, I hypothesize that many Christians presently experience this atrophy, but can not put a finger on it. They are unhappy with the Sunday to Sunday Christian rhythm, but cannot put words to it. Are you one of them? I want to suggest that the Great Commission calls us into the unchurched world and that thing missing in our hearts is a longing to pursue the mission of Christ to make disciples, which creates a longing in our hearts to connect with the unchurched world. The Holy Spirit hard wired the Great commission in our hearts and we long for it. We tend to put the Holy Spirit in a cage through perfecting our Christian bubbles. However, the Holy Spirit is a wild panther, we can not keep him in captivity. We must remember , in the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit’s wildest works happen on unchurched territory. The call of God will not be stopped or be suppressed in our hearts. This call causes the dissonance and the atrophy we feel. In other words, the dissonance is The Holy Spirit desperately breaking out its cage. So what do we need? Permission to leave the bubble and set the Spirit free!!!
Our Christian construct tells us to stay inside the bubble and contribute to its maintenance. We do not need to pop the bubble, but many like myself need to hear the statement: you have permission to escape the gravitational pull of the Christian bubble. The Holy Spirit in you longs for time in unchurched territory. Its job is to reclaim ground and it can’t gain ground in already conquered territory. In other words, you have permission to take the Spirit in you into the unchurched world to make friends, make mistakes, make discoveries and maybe even enjoy yourself in the process.
Fam, remember God has given us a mission: the Great Commission. In addition, God has given us a ticket into the destination: our interest and passions. Unchurched people build sanctuaries around us all the time and our ticket into those sanctuaries is our interest and passions. The LORD is using basketball as my ticket into relationships with unchurched African American men. What’s your ticket into our unchurched brothers’ and sisters’ sanctuaries? Is it art? Is it music? Is it pottery? Is it running? Is it whiskey? Is it crafts? Is it beer? Is it cigars? Is it comic books? Is it anime? Is it cosplay? Is it fashion? Is it video games? Whatever it is, take your ticket!!! Set the Spirit free. My brother or sister, your spiritual and emotional health may depend on it.
Signing off for now,
It’s your boy Pastor Ant reporting from the trail. In my last communication we discovered three more principles for Evangelizing the African American community:
3.We must acknowledge our fear as evangelists.
4.We must trust the image of God in Black men.
5.We must acknowledge the ways we distrust the image of God in Black Men.
This brought our total principles for evangelizing the African American Community to five.
The first two principles were:
1.Unchurched African Americans are around us all the time: See Them!!!
2.Our passions and interests tend to be an inexpensive ticket into relationships with unchurched people.
1.Unchurched African Americans are around us all the time: See Them!!!
2.Our passions and interests tend to be an inexpensive ticket into relationships with unchurched people.
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| Image by wirestock |
We mined these principles by answering these four questions:
- Where do unchurched African Americans hang out in my community?
- Why don't I hang out with unchurched African Americans?
- What are the tattoos that I am noticing on the African American canvas?
- What are the shoes that I am noticing in unchurched spaces?
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| Image by krosha nastya |
In this volume, I want to tell you about a discovery I made about myself by applying principle number two in my own life: Our passions and interests tend to be an inexpensive ticket into relationships with unchurched people. My discovery about myself has implications for myself and implications for you too. Let us explore this discovery together and grow as evangelist.
 |
| Me in my college days |
I am 6’3 inches. As a tall man, many assume that I played basketball. In my case this assumption proves true. Not only did I play basketball, I played it well enough to earn a full scholarship to Covenant College to play NAIA D-II basketball. Basketball means a lot to me. Basketball gave me the opportunity to have discipleship from two African American male coaches, who taught me that I could go beyond my limits and push myself. Basketball also gave a tall nerdy African American male entrance into community and camaraderie during my high school days. Basketball paid for my collegiate education and opened the door for me to obtain a Masters of Divinity at Covenant Theological Seminary. Brothers and sisters, when I consider what the game has allowed me to accomplish, I must conclude that basketball is a passion of mine. In light of our second principle, basketball gave me the opportunity to start building relationships with unchurched people. In other words, basketball served as my ticket into relationships with unchurched people.
 |
| Not me but, what I used to do lol image by freepik |
Here’s How!!! I recently started playing basketball at a community rec center in my neighborhood. Upon entering the gym you will see African American men ranging from ages 21-60. Many of these men have pierced ears and pierced eyebrows. These men have tattoos that cover their whole bodies, including a prevalence of face tattoos. As a matter of fact, I am the weird guy in the gym, because I do not have tattoos or a piercing. As you enter the gym, you will also smell marijuana on them as they enter the gym, as if it’s cologne. The sound of the ball hitting the floor and returning to the dribbler's hand will creep into your ear. The shoes squeak on the court as if they were a well rehearsed string quartet. Curse words bounce off the gym walls the way popcorn bounces off the walls of a kettle. The smell of gym sweat, which would normally repulse my nostrils, gives me a familiar safe feeling. I am back home around the game I love. I am enjoying my love with people who do not go to my church or any other church. It’s my suspicion that our church constructs would not know what to do with these black men even if they came through the doors of our churches. Yet, my passion for basketball has helped me rub shoulders with these unchurched African American men.
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As I played and waited to play, I discovered this gym did not serve as a place merely to play basketball. It functioned as a sanctuary for these men. These brothers have built a sanctuary for themselves apart from the church and the church does not seem to have a presence in their sanctuary. Basketball gave me an opportunity to enter their sanctuary. Currently, I am not an insider in this sanctuary. However, I am hoping my continued presence and competent basketball play will build the trust needed in this sanctuary to care for it well. Brothers and sisters, this trust will not happen overnight. I must keep using my passion for basketball as a ticket into this sacred space I hope to call my own one day.
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| Unchurched neighbors make sanctuaries all the time Image by freepik |
Fam, this sanctuary at the rec center does not represent a unique occurrence in our world. I want to suggest that unchurched people build sanctuaries around us all the time. Yet, I believe that we miss out on these opportunities to connect with our unchurched neighbors in their sanctuaries, because we live in Christian bubbles. The Christian bubble engulfs us when a majority of our relationships, the pursuit of our passions, the pursuit of our hobbies, the places we shop, the places we drink coffee, etc., happen on Christian real estate. We find ourselves operating on Christian real estate, when we function in places and relationships defined by Christian culture and habits. The fact that many of us can live in a way that makes it so we shop at Christian stores, drink Christian coffee, play in Christian sports leagues, and do many other Christian things apart from the unchurched world demonstrates we can make Christian bubbles for ourselves. For many of us, our day job could be the only time we spend time in unchurched spaces off of Christian real estate. While having a connection with Christian community contributes to our spiritual health, I discovered in myself that an oversaturation of Christian everything can actually atrophy my spiritual growth and my emotional health. It makes me wander Could this oversaturation have caused many raised in Christian homes to burn out on Christianity as adults?
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| The bubble pull is gravitational especially for pastors image by freepik |
Fam, as a pastor, I can sanctify my being in the Christian bubble as faithful ministry. The bubble has a gravitational pull, because, let's have honesty, it's comfortable and safe. In this bubble, people give me a lot of affirmation for the use of my gifts and talents. In this bubble, my assumptions about the world do not get challenged. In this bubble, no one threatens to fight me for playing solid defense in basketball. Brothers and sisters, make no mistakes. Comfort and safety have their place in our world, but I find that I atrophy emotionally and spiritually without connection with the unchurched world. I do not know all the reasons I spiritually atrophy in the Christian bubble. I just know I atrophy. How do I know I have atrophied? It feels like a breath of fresh air after I am in a space not defined by Christian habits. Consequently, I have discovered my spiritual and emotional health as a Christian and a pastor depends on taking my ticket into unchurched spaces. I believe I am not the only one.
 |
| Many experience the atrophy Image by DCStudio |
I have a twinkle in my heart, that many pastors and ministry leaders experience this atrophy, because they have disappeared into the Christian bubble. They know something is missing, but they can not put their finger on it. In addition, I hypothesize that many Christians presently experience this atrophy, but can not put a finger on it. They are unhappy with the Sunday to Sunday Christian rhythm, but cannot put words to it. Are you one of them? I want to suggest that the Great Commission calls us into the unchurched world and that thing missing in our hearts is a longing to pursue the mission of Christ to make disciples, which creates a longing in our hearts to connect with the unchurched world. The Holy Spirit hard wired the Great commission in our hearts and we long for it. We tend to put the Holy Spirit in a cage through perfecting our Christian bubbles. However, the Holy Spirit is a wild panther, we can not keep him in captivity. We must remember , in the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit’s wildest works happen on unchurched territory. The call of God will not be stopped or be suppressed in our hearts. This call causes the dissonance and the atrophy we feel. In other words, the dissonance is The Holy Spirit desperately breaking out its cage. So what do we need? Permission to leave the bubble and set the Spirit free!!!
 |
| Caging The Holy Spirit is like caging the black panther Image by Darshan Ganapathy |
Our Christian construct tells us to stay inside the bubble and contribute to its maintenance. We do not need to pop the bubble, but many like myself need to hear the statement: you have permission to escape the gravitational pull of the Christian bubble. The Holy Spirit in you longs for time in unchurched territory. Its job is to reclaim ground and it can’t gain ground in already conquered territory. In other words, you have permission to take the Spirit in you into the unchurched world to make friends, make mistakes, make discoveries and maybe even enjoy yourself in the process.
 |
| We need you to heed the call of the spirit Image by cookie_studio |
Fam, remember God has given us a mission: the Great Commission. In addition, God has given us a ticket into the destination: our interest and passions. Unchurched people build sanctuaries around us all the time and our ticket into those sanctuaries is our interest and passions. The LORD is using basketball as my ticket into relationships with unchurched African American men. What’s your ticket into our unchurched brothers’ and sisters’ sanctuaries? Is it art? Is it music? Is it pottery? Is it running? Is it whiskey? Is it crafts? Is it beer? Is it cigars? Is it comic books? Is it anime? Is it cosplay? Is it fashion? Is it video games? Whatever it is, take your ticket!!! Set the Spirit free. My brother or sister, your spiritual and emotional health may depend on it.
In volume 5, I will attempt to tell you about tattoos. Yet, discoveries may come up before that, who knows? While you wait for Volume 5, please join the adventure team by subscribing to this blog by clicking "Subscribe Today!!!". We release content quarterly. You can also join by continuing to notice tattoos and shoes on the black canvas just like me. Also, try putting the 5 principles to work. You can tell me all about it by sending me an email to ajohnson@ncfstl.org. Another way to join the team is pray for the work. Lastly, please join the team by supporting my work financially as I head out on this adventure to become a faithful evangelist amongst African Americans by giving toward my Evangelize Today residency. Follow the instructions on this link and remember in the additional info section for online giving please put "Gift Toward Anthony M.A. Johnson Residency 'Adventures of A Clueless Evangelist' ”
Signing off for now,
Pastor Ant
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