“So, Herb, what do you want to do with the rest of your life?”
It was working. It took six months, but my zip code evangelism strategy (go to the same people in the same places in the same area all the time) was working.
I’m a creature of habit. I go to the same McDonalds for a $1 soda, the same grocery store (almost daily), the same bank for deposits, the same Starbucks for my tall pike, no room…you get the picture.
I didn’t plan it to happen this way at first, but one thing I’ve noticed about the rutted life is that you get to know people this way. And since all people are spiritual, eventually things turn to spiritual topics.
Take, for example, the teller in the bank I used when Patti and I lived in Broomfield, Colorado. It didn’t have a drive through because it was in our local grocery store. So every time I made a deposit, I used the same employee. It took years, but eventually we got to know each other. Then, one day, it happened. We were chatting as she typed in my account number on her computer, when she began to tear up. She reached across the counter, grabbed my hands, and said, “Will you please pray for me?”
And right there, in front of her fellow workers, everyone standing in line behind us, and everyone across the way at the registers in the grocery store, I prayed for her.
And then there was the jovial, rotund woman at our local McDonalds. “Just call me ‘Catherine the Great!'” she joked one day when I couldn’t remember her name. We got to be good friends. Mostly I ordered my $1 large diet Coke inside. But sometimes I’d go through the drive through. Her outgoing personality made it easy to tell when she was the one taking orders. And if she was, I would say something like, “I’ll take a large diet Coke, hold the onions, please,” “Oh, it’s you, Herb!” she’d say through the raspy speaker. And then she’d laugh and laugh.
Eventually she found out I was a Christian and one day she said, “Someone invited me to go to Bible Study Fellowship. Do you know anything about that organization?” I told her it was a fantastic Bible study and that she should go. And she did go.
A while after that I walked into the McDonalds, expecting to see my friend. Instead, I saw a memorial on the counter: a tidy arrangement of flowers, balloons and a picture in the middle. I looked closer and discovered that it was a picture of Catherine. Turns out she had been killed in a car accident a block away from the store.
And that brings me back to my local Starbucks, which doubles as my office. I tell people I work from home, but I do much of my work from this Starbucks (where I am right now). Actually I really do work from home. I just don’t only work from home. If I did, I would go stark raving mad.
I start my workday at Starbucks, usually around 5:30 am. and stay until around 9:30 am. It’s my most productive time of day. I accomplish all of my writing and much of my organizational work while I drink my tall pike, no room followed by one free refill that I get on my membership app.
I’ve done this for months: just showed up, minded my own business and worked away. But eventually the employees here haven’t been able to stand it. They want to know who this guy is who walks in when the doors open, types away, and then leaves four hours later.
Here’s the ongoing conversation I’ve had with the manager, along with the amount of time it took to get to that point.
4 months – Manager: “I apologize. I see you every day and I’ve never introduced myself. My name is (I’ll call him Fred). What’s your name?” Me: “My name is Herb. Nice to meet you, Fred.”
5 months – Manager: “So what do you do, Erb?” Me: “Actually, it’s Herb, not Erb. As in ‘Him,’ ‘Her,’ ‘Herb.’ I run a non profit that helps widows and single moms.”
6 months – Manager: “So Herb, what do you want to do with the rest of your life?” Me: “I want to serve as many widows and single moms as I can.”
See where this conversation is going? Just by being present on a regular basis and without initiating anything, the conversation is heading toward spiritual things. It’s only a matter of time. Why? Because all people are inquisitive. All people have a history and if we see each other over and over again, we want to learn that history. It’s basic human nature.
If I had known this truth earlier in my ministry, when I was a pastor, I would have done all of my sermon preparation in public.
And that, my friends, is zip code evangelism. Just being present on a regular basis makes people want to find out who you are. And when they ask, we can share with them who we are…in Christ.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
How about yourself? Have you had any experience with “zip code evangelism”?
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