Say What?

Outside my office building there is a courtyard where the smokers convene in one corner. Theirs is a sub-culture that non-smokers observe with curiosity (and sometimes with disdain) as the regulars gather every couple of hours at a preset time.

Lately, I’ve been visiting this smoky gathering. Not to light up, but to talk and share and be part of their world.

Rather than push me away, they have encouraged me to join them. They politely blow their smoke to the side, cautious that it doesn’t invade my airspace. Common workplace issues are often solved – deals are cut between drags,workload is distributed and problems are fixed. The discussion centers on wives, husbands and children. They share the joys. They share the struggles. I was surprised by how easy it was to assimilate into the group.

It’s a church of sorts, only with ashbins.

During a few of my visits with the smoking crowd, I have noticed a similar gathering of three deaf girls who regularly get together and sit on the bench near the street. Unlike the smokers who are herded into their own designated place, the deaf girls purposefully congregate so they can be with each other.

Their world is so different than ours. They flash their signs, rapidly forming letters and phrases and symbols that have no meaning to most of us. They laugh and they frown and they even chortle at times. But unless you speak their language, you probably won’t have a clue as to what they are conversing about.

It seems that Christians have more in common with the deaf girls than we do with the smokers.

We gather together in our places of worship. We have special Christian schools and clubs and colleges. We play together, we laugh together, and we worship together. Even at work, we seek out other saints who will commiserate with us, thinking that only other Christians will truly understand our brand of frustration with the world.

Our Christian camaraderie is just like that of those three deaf girls – others look at us and they don’t understand what we are talking about.Is it possible that Christians have it all wrong? We’re trying to convince the lost that we have an answer that will provide salvation but the problem is that nobody can understand our “Christianeze” – our indiscernible version of the English language not too different from the technical jargon you might hear in a hospital operating room or spaceflight command center.

If we are to reach the lost souls who surround us successfully then we will need to find a better way, a deeper approach – one that is based on building meaningful relationships with other people. One of the critical elements required is to effectively communicate with them. We need to meet them where they are, in the heart of their dark world, using language that is relevant and accessible.

We need to move into the inner circle, close enough to smell their smoke and feel their beating hearts.

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