WWJD – with awkward people?
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008I have recently acquired a new neighbor. What kind of neighbor, you ask? One of the homeless, street evangelist persuasion. How do I know? Because last week, he spent 15 minutes trying to convert me to Christianity. I played the devil’s advocate, thinking that he knew that I was just playfully testing his witnessing skills; however, he actually believed me to be a lost soul.
You can imagine how awkward it was when I had to come clean: “Um, I actually DO believe in Jesus. I’m even a pastor’s daughter. I’ve gone to church practically every Sunday for 25 years now. I own a copy of the NIV, the NLT, and the Message. I can recite the books of the New Testament in order. I know about “Psalty” and “McGee and Me” and “Superbook.” I am well-versed in Charles Wesley and Fanny Crosby and Oswald Chambers and Rick Warren and Rob Bell and the awful 700 Club. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you, may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. Amen.”
It was a very uncomfortable moment.
This man has taken up residence on my neighbor’s couch – the nice boy across the courtyard offered him his couch until he finds a place of his own. He came to Nashville from a sinful city in the west in order to win souls to Christ. I have run into him several times, and each time I have felt more and more uneasy. He is pushy, and invades my personal space, and consistently requests that he be included in whatever I am on my way to do: go downtown (“Can I come with you?”), pick up friends at the airport (“Maybe I can ride along?”), or last night, go to the gym (“I’ve been wanting to work out – I’ll go change.”).
Typically, I have a clear head and a quick mind. But for some reason, this man totally rattles my brain, and I have had a hard time coming up with appropriate ways to decline his company. I’m freaked out. I don’t think that he’s dangerous, but I do think that he is abnormally assertive and socially inappropriate. Last night, when he wanted to come to the gym with me and presumptively went inside to change…
Y’all. I ran and got in my car and left without him.
I DITCHED him. With no explanation.
I am a terrible, awful person.
So I am wondering: what would Jesus do with awkward people? People that just bug the bajeebis out of you, and can’t take a hint, and stare you unwaveringly in the eye? People who invite themselves on your errands? People who encroach on your personal time, and push back when you say no?
Because I’m pretty sure that Jesus wouldn’t run in the other direction.
Then again, Jesus wasn’t a young, single girl living alone in a city full of potentially dangerous people.
Then again again, Jesus was willingly crucified.
Today, it is abundantly clear to me that although I know my “church stuff,” that doesn’t necessarily mean that I know anything.
