I once found myself in a bar called The Last Chance Saloon. It was during the year that I walked across the United States and I was just west of Helena, Montana and was about to cross the Continental Divide. It was well over 90 degrees in the shade, I had already walked for half a day, and I was running short on water when The Last Chance Saloon appeared like an oasis in the desert.
When I walked through the doors I noticed that there was only one bar stool left and it was at the far end of the bar. I made my way to it and sat down and even though I was trying to be discreet I was a spectacle without even trying. I was a stranger in town, I was carrying a 50 pound backpack and I’m pretty sure The Last Chance Saloon had never been listed in a tour guide as a warm and welcoming space for outsiders.
I asked the bartender if she would refill my water bottle and I ordered a soda with lots of ice. “You’re not from around here are you?” she said as if she were clairvoyant and had just offered an incredibly insightful revelation. “No, just walking through. I’m on my way to Helena and I’m hoping to get to the top of the divide by the end of today.” I knew the question that would follow and so I just continued on with the answer, “I’m walking across America because I read in the Bible that anyone who claims to follow Jesus is supposed to walk like Jesus did and I’m just trying to learn."
The guy on the stool next to me said, without looking up from his beer, “That’s so *#@x!?* stupid.” I was a little taken aback but the bartender quickly came to my defense. “Most people who know about God go and help people in other countries and she chooses to stay here with #@*x!? like you, you should be grateful.”
The guy on the stool next to me then went into a detailed list about why he didn’t want to know God, why he didn’t trust Christians and why he disliked the church. It was a sad montage mostly because there were some legitimate griefs included in his list. I listened without being defensive and then in an attempt to move from outsider to insider rather than defend God, Christians or the church, I joined him in his lament. In the conversation that followed I sought to distance myself from other Christians and soon the church became a mutual punching bag for the both of us.
By the end of the conversation and another glass of soda I had convinced this man that Jesus was still worth following even if he didn’t believe his followers were worth much of all. I left The Last Chance Saloon feeling rather proud of my ability to stay in relationship with someone who thought I was *#@x!?* stupid. But within a few steps I knew that God was not amused by my tactics. I don’t know how you hear from God, but occasionally a phrase runs through my head that I know is not my own and there have been times when I am confident that it has been God. The phrase that ran through my head as I walked out the door of the saloon was, “You will never again bring down the church to bring up the good news.”
I know it has become common practice to pick apart the particularities of the church and even after a direct word from God I can still fall into this trap. But I’m wondering what it would look like for us to avoid the bandwagon of bashing the church and allow ourselves to be touched by the fact that Jesus calls the church his bride and his beloved.
About a thousand miles later I was walking through Mitchell, South Dakota and I met a woman who had some serious mental challenges. As she treated me to coffee at the gas station she asked where I was headed and I told her about trying to walk like Jesus. She listened and then said, “Some people don’t like the church because the church has hurt them. When they tell me they hate the church I tell them, “If you and I were the only two people on the earth Jesus would have still come for us and maybe I would have believed first which would make me the church. I’m wondering if you could forgive me since I am the church.”
I wept when she told me this story. I wept because this woman who many would categorize as challenged, challenged me to love the bride of Christ so much that I would take on all of her shortcomings as my own. And on that day I learned a bit more about how to walk like Jesus walked. May God use you to proclaim good news today, no matter what stool you find yourself sitting upon.
