Alright, so a couple weeks ago I promised a fun blog about Culvers and Jesus and Chelsea. Finally, I'm delivering.
Every Sunday night after church, a group of us college kids go to Culvers to hang out. This Sunday as we were cleaning up after the church service, our pastor double-dog-dared us to ask if we could pray for our server. I smiled and accepted the challenge.
I'm terrified of doing things like this. As it is, I'm a pretty shy person, but throw etyvangelism in the mix and I go to jello. But this time I got excited too. I mean, my goodness, I'm going on the World Race! I can certainly ask a friendly Culvers server if I can pray for her.
So we get to Culvers and I'm getting more and more nervous and excited at the same time. I kept trying to get others to join me in the dare, but they decided it was too awkward for them and that I'd be flying solo. I get up to the register and order my cheese curds, then hand over my credit card with shaky hand. The cashier thanks me and tells me to enjoy my food.
"Wait!…can I pray for you?"
"What?"
"Can I…pray…for you?"
"Um, sure" and then a smile spreads across her face and catches onto mine.
"Uh ok, Chelsea, right?" I glanced at her nametag.
"Yep"
"Ok" and then I ran away.
It probably would have been a good idea to actually have a conversation with Chelsea and ask her how I can be praying for her, but I had such a rush just from the short convo we had. Next time.
Conveniently, training camp gave me the opportunity and challenge to evangelize in a similar way. These two experiences have been such eye-openers for me and made me wonder why I didn't do this sooner? Everyday we are surrounded by people that we do not interact with. We treat a trip to the grocery store as a transaction, a function to get what we want. But there are PEOPLE behind the register.
So I double-dog-dare YOU to have a real conversation with the next person you interact with at the store, restaurant, etc. Go beyond the standard "how are you?" "ok, how are you" "Ok. Have a nice day" "you too." and treat the person as a person. If you want an extra challenge, bring up Jesus. Why not? As a Christian, Jesus is the best thing we have going on in our lives, so why wouldn't we want to talk about Him? It can be as simple as asking someone if you can pray for them.
Please leave a comment if you take me up on this dare! I'd love to hear your stories 🙂
Father, I ask for boldness for everyone who reads this. Give them an overwhelming desire to talk about You today.
