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It was Christmas Eve. I was delivering a basket of food and toys to a family that our church was sponsoring. And I drove by it again. There was the Nativity scene – Mary, Joseph, the angels and shepherds, and right in the middle, the baby Jesus – sitting serenely on the roof of the strip club.
The first time I saw this was two years before, and I laughed at the sight; it just didn’t seem to fit. The second year I wondered what the owners were thinking that they would do this. And on this Christmas Eve I just had to find out.
I noticed that the door to the club was open. It was around 3 in the afternoon, and I parked my car and walked to the door, glancing nervously over my shoulder. What if someone saw me, a pastor, walking into this den of sin in broad daylight? Would anyone understand? Would my career be over? I peeked inside, wondering what I would find.
To my relief, the club was not open and there was a Christmas party being held for the staff…with everyone fully clothed! I asked for the owner, and a woman around 60 years old approached me. I introduced myself, and I said how much I admired the Nativity scene on her roof. She began to tell me about her belief in God, and how much she needed the Lord’s help in her life. I hadn’t planned what I was going to say, and I didn’t feel the Lord prompting me to preach to her in any way about the obvious disparity of the scene.
I told her I was a pastor and I encouraged her to keep on talking with and listening to Jesus. She told me that she had tried to go to church before, but she just didn’t feel like she belonged there, and she knew what they would think of her if they ever found out what she did for a living. I told her she was welcome at our church anytime. After wishing each other a Merry Christmas I turned to leave. She thanked me for stopping in, and she told me that she had never really talked with a pastor before.
As I drove away, the strip club Nativity scene in my rear view mirror, I suddenly realized just how much it fit – Jesus didn’t come to the world to stay away from sinners (myself included), but He was born right into the middle of the filth, pain and longing of humanity. He loved sinners, they loved him; he lived with them, touched them – they were the main reason he came. It was in the religious world that he didn’t fit.
I wish I could say that the owner of the club came to church and was transformed that Christmas (then I could have written a book that would sell!) but I never saw her again, and the club was soon closed. As I prayed for her that day I realized that our meeting was for my benefit.
If Jesus came again today for the first time, where would he be found? In a beautiful church? Or in a place that at first would shock us and not seem to fit? In my mind I heard Him saying to me, “I really do love the world… “Go and do likewise...”
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I think I might like to come by your church sometime also. Thanks for the reminder of who Jesus came for.
Amen. I love stories like this.
As an aside, people aren't transformed just because they start coming to church and stop owning a strip club -- sometimes people who come to church get acculturated into learned gracelessness. A strip club may be more alive with God's grace than a church, precisely because once people go to church they are "supposed" to be transformed and as a result many operate according to the gospel of "should" which sucks grace out of the people of God. I imagine you work hard to help keep the windows open and the fresh breeze of God's grace flowing in your church :)
I think it's wonderful that you crossed the threshold and walked into that strip club, and also that you realized that the meeting was more for your benefit than for the woman you met. I'm sure God transformed you both that day - she got not only to meet a pastor for the first time, but one humble enough to walk into an "unsavory" place and listen to her heart.
good stuff. Its easy to forget that Jesus was born into a world infested with depravity...
Oh how I hate how easily we fall into the "traps" of thinking holiness = sorting out others sins....
To Richard, I want to thank yo for your comment on m article on theooze.com! Then I want to thank you for your blog...Jesus gave us all an "A" , then he give us the strength and grace to live up to it. I loved the article. My Dad was a teacher...he was loved by the students...they all got A's! He said it was hard to teach student when half of them were high and falling out of their chairs, and some were pregnant, etc, on and on...He regularly got into troble with the school administration, but when there was a problem with a student, he was the first person they turned to for help! I think this was the embodiment of the Gospel...I just try to live up to his example... Peace! Jim Black
Thank you all for your kind comments...it's good to know we're in this together! Peace for Christmas! Jim Black
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I think I might like to come by your church sometime also. Thanks for the reminder of who Jesus came for. Posted by Richard | Posted at 12/02/2007 12:08 PM
Amen. I love stories like this.
As an aside, people aren't transformed just because they start coming to church and stop owning a strip club -- sometimes people who come to church get acculturated into learned gracelessness. A strip club may be more alive with God's grace than a church, precisely because once people go to church they are "supposed" to be transformed and as a result many operate according to the gospel of "should" which sucks grace out of the people of God. I imagine you work hard to help keep the windows open and the fresh breeze of God's grace flowing in your church :)
Posted by Jemila | Posted at 12/02/2007 7:14 PMI think it's wonderful that you crossed the threshold and walked into that strip club, and also that you realized that the meeting was more for your benefit than for the woman you met. I'm sure God transformed you both that day - she got not only to meet a pastor for the first time, but one humble enough to walk into an "unsavory" place and listen to her heart. Posted by Anne | Posted at 12/02/2007 7:22 PM
good stuff. Its easy to forget that Jesus was born into a world infested with depravity...
Oh how I hate how easily we fall into the "traps" of thinking holiness = sorting out others sins....
Posted by M.joshua Cauller | Posted at 12/05/2007 7:29 AMTo Richard, I want to thank yo for your comment on m article on theooze.com! Then I want to thank you for your blog...Jesus gave us all an "A" , then he give us the strength and grace to live up to it. I loved the article. My Dad was a teacher...he was loved by the students...they all got A's! He said it was hard to teach student when half of them were high and falling out of their chairs, and some were pregnant, etc, on and on...He regularly got into troble with the school administration, but when there was a problem with a student, he was the first person they turned to for help! I think this was the embodiment of the Gospel...I just try to live up to his example... Peace! Jim Black Posted by Jim Black | Posted at 12/05/2007 11:20 AM
Thank you all for your kind comments...it's good to know we're in this together! Peace for Christmas! Jim Black Posted by Jim Black | Posted at 12/05/2007 11:22 AM