Seven Bucks Can Change a Life

I’ve written before about the importance of a rainy day team: that stalwart group of volunteers who will pull on their galoshes (do we still say galoshes? Discuss.), zip up their rain jacket, and grab a golf umbrella in order to make sure our guests stay dry on their way into church.

Not long ago we experienced a couple of rainy Sundays in a row, and because I had no other obligations that day, I had the chance to join the umbrella brigade. It was a reminder to me that seven bucks can change a life.

I was able to meet people whom I’d just previously seen across the lobby. Catch up with people I haven’t spoken to in a while. Check in with people whom I knew were going through some crazy life circumstances. A few dozen 90 second walks across the parking lot yielded a few dozen 90 second conversations that drew us a little closer.

I know of at least two stories in the last 20 years of unbelievers who showed up to our church, and it was the umbrella team’s service that caused them to lean in closer when the gospel was presented. Our routine became their remarkable. They were so overcome by a stranger’s service to them, it forced them to ask more questions about what those crazy dripping-wet evangelicals actually believed.

Now, a huge caveat is in order here: I hope that we know each other well enough that you know that I know that an umbrella isn’t a declaration or presentation of the gospel. Only the gospel is the gospel. A seven dollar umbrella doesn’t literally change a life. But that seven dollar umbrella can certainly be a big flashing neon sign that points to the life-changing gospel:

We’re removing all distractions so you can clearly hear the message of Jesus. We’re serving you in this insignificant but practical way so you can sit in a dry seat and hear scripture proclaimed. We’re displaying this act of hospitality to walk outsiders inside, which is a teeny-tiny sliver of a figment of a shadow of a representation of Jesus taking rebels and making them sons and daughters.

So invest in some umbrellas. Pull them out when the skies open up. You might just find that it creates conversations you haven’t otherwise earned, and kick starts transformation your guests weren’t otherwise expecting.

That ain’t too shabby for seven bucks.

photo credit