I’m a fan of PBS. Sorry, don’t hate me. Several years ago they had a show entitled, “Moveable Feast.” Every week these cooks, including chef Pete Evans, would take you on a culinary journey by taking you to a different location and then do a pop-up feast using local ingredients.
We were blessed to take this concept and throw Jesus into the mix. Once a week we gathered with others in a low barrier, neutral, informal setting, shared a specially planned meal and looked at God’s Word together. This pop-up discipleship event has always been one of the best things we have ever done.
I have never watched it but actor Stanley Tucci has a new show called, “Searching for Italy.” Mr. Tucci travels across Italy pursuing the tastes of the land and sea, trying to find what they call the “delights of the country’s regional cuisine.”
I’m not sure how I can take this idea and redeem it for the Kingdom of God but it has me thinking. If someone was dropped off in our community and was searching for Jesus could they find Him the way Tucci hopes to find “real” Italian cuisine as he travels through that country?
This show reminds me of the Dr. Seuss book, Are You My Mother? In the book a baby bird goes searching for his mom. The bird bumps into other animals and asks the pertinent question, “Are my mother?”
So back to my crazy idea, if someone was dropped off in our city could they find Jesus? Our town is covered up with church buildings but very few are open to the public Monday through Saturday. If this hypothetical person started asking around where they could find Jesus, would the local convenience store clerk be able to let them know where He could be found? Would they know someone who knows Jesus?
It doesn’t matter what I think, but I think this person, like the baby bird, would get bounced around, going from the convenience store clerk to maybe someone filling up their vehicle at the gas pump to Dairy Queen and they would probably hear lots of different ideas of where Jesus could be found but at the end of the day this person might be frustrated that Jesus was nowhere to be found.
I want to be like Jesus. What I mean is I want people to see me and see Jesus.
The Apostle Paul mentions reflecting Christ in Galatians 2:20 when he wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
How can I live my life in such a way that the convenience store clerk, the guy pumping gas, the woman who makes my Blizzard at Dairy Queen could tell others, go see Ken (or go and see you), that guy lives like Jesus? He can tell you all about Jesus and he can introduce you to Jesus.
How do we get that reputation so that as soon as this person searching for Christ told the first stranger they met what their mission was they could be told to go straight to your house?
We might not be their mother but we can be Jesus to others can’t we? We can have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). We can live a life that is so different from the culture that people will know we have been with Jesus (Acts 4:13) and hopefully that will give us the opportunity to share Jesus with as many people as possible. Let’s go, we can do it!
He told me to tell you that.
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