Last night was New City's first opportunity to serve the downtown community - the folks at the Capitol Theater asked if we could put some volunteers together to help with the Rush of Fools concert (I had a great time having lunch and spending the day with the Fools). We had 7 volunteers. The Fools having 2nd Street Pizza The people at the Capitol were thrilled - this was (I believe) their 1st Christian band and the turn out was really good - everything was going well and then it happened. The Capitol sells alcohol - they have a bar. A woman at the concert approached the bartender (who was working her butt off selling cokes and waters) and told the bar tender that she could not believe that they would have beer in their glass doored coolers at a Christian concert. The bar tender (as I am told) was dumbfounded and then hurt. She pulled one of the Capitol's board members aside and told him what had happened and asked if SHE had done something wrong. One of our volunteers was in the area and overheard the conversations that followed.
Here is a great example of a NON missional, NON incarnational moment. A self-righteous "Christian" who has a great opportunity to BE Jesus Christ to a likely unchurched and unsaved bar tender blows it by being outspoken on something that clearly Scripture is NOT outspoken on! Or maybe I misunderstood the 1st miracle of Jesus - maybe he actually approached the wedding party, condemned them for drinking wine and then turned the wine into water!?!?!? Is that WWJD in action?! Needless to say, I was angry and sad. Angry that the bar tender was hurt. Angry that this woman would say something without regard for the person that she spoke to. I was angry that our churches teach such crap! And all of that made me sad - sad for the state of Christianity. Sad for the unsved and unchurched who have to see and hear this false gospel called idiotic legalism. I made sure that before I left I thanked every bar tender and server at the Capitol for their hard work and I prayed for the bartender and others who heard the conversation. This morning I pray for the woman who has such a sad misunderstanding of the gospel and what it means to follow Christ.
