Radical Reformission Quote #13

From chapter 1, eat drink and be a merry missionary: imitating the reformission of Jesus. See the previous three quotes for background.

As I left the bar, God convicted me of my proud addiction to morality and my attempt to look like a decent guy so that others will like me. I was so insecure that I feared not only that my Christian friends would see me walking out of a gay bar with queer cowboys but also that the queer cowboys would reject me for being a Bible thumper who, deep down, believed they were running to hell in their cowboy boots. I cared more about how I appeared to people than about whether I shared the passion of Jesus for those who are lost.

That night, I learned that reformission requires that Christians and their churches move forward on their knees, continually confessing their addictions to morality and the appearance of godliness, which does not penetrate the heart and transform lives. In the end, I learned that God's mission is not to create a team of moral and decent people but rather to create a movement of holy loving missionaries who are comfortable and truthful around lost sinners and who, in this way, look more like Jesus than most of his pastors do.

Radical Reformission Quote #12

From chapter 1, eat drink and be a merry missionary: imitating the reformission of Jesus.

[Mark goes to a gay rodeo committee meeting upstairs from the bar. See the previous two quotes for background.] The meeting started with introductions, everyone giving their names and vocations. [...]

When it came to my turn, I tried to avoid the inevitable conflict and lied to them by saying I was a spiritual something-or-other, hoping the queer cowboys would smile, nod, and ignore me. But one of the cowboys asked what my religion was. So I came out of my closet and told him I was a Bible-thumping, old-school Christian preacher, causing some of the guys to laugh, thinking I was kidding. [...]

[After the meeting] One of the guys asked if I was actually a real pastor and began explaining how his lover and many of his friends had died of AIDS. Actually, he began discipling me, articulating with great pain the loneliness and death that filled his community and explaining why he feared death. [...] I sought to relate the gospel to his life: sin causes death, but Jesus is God who became a man and died -- when he was about the same age as this man -- in order to rise from death, forgive sin, and give eternal life to those who repent of sin and trust in him.

Radical Reformission Quote #11

From chapter 1, eat drink and be a merry missionary: imitating the reformission of Jesus.

My friend took me to the bar and introduced me to a number of his gay buddies, who were drinking -- of course -- light beer. Feeling like I was wearing someone else's underwear, I stood there and tried to be inconspicuous, praying that no one would recognize me. Then someone I had graduated from high school with approached me with a surprised look. She asked, "What are you doing here?" And I quickly blurted, "I'm married to a woman and here with a friend, but I'm not a gay guy, so please don't tell anyone I'm a queer." She laughed and we chatted for a few minutes until a song she obviously liked came on, and she then shuffled off to the dance floor with her girlfriend.

Then a guy introduced me to himself and hit on me. Stunned, I did not immediately respond but instead stared at the poor guy, trying to figure out why he looked so familiar, how he could mistake me for a gay guy, and if I was really good looking. It then hit me and I asked him, "Are you my mailman?" He replied, "Yes, I am a mailman." Suddenly, I wanted to kill myself and never get mail again.

Radical Reformission Quote #10

From chapter 1, eat drink and be a merry missionary: imitating the reformission of Jesus.

I got a phone call from an old college friend whom God had used to bring me to faith. [...]

Over lunch, he informed me that he had been a closet homosexual throughout college, had joined the military after graduation, and had recently been discharged for having sex with fellow soldiers. He was presently frequenting public bathrooms throughout the city and having anonymous sex with various men. He shared that he was wrestling through whether he believed that he was a sinner and whether he still believed in God. When I invited him to attend church with me, he declined, saying it was unfair for me to expect him to come into my Christian subculture since I was unwilling to go with him into his homosexual subculture.

And he was right. So, feeling convicted to be like Jesus, I told him I would be happy to go into his world if he would come into mine. Seeing an evil dervish grin emerge on his face, I knew I was in trouble. He invited me to a gay country and western bar he frequented.