Last week, Carlos was busy swooshing foam and mixing mochas when some young adults from your church came into the cafe.
Photo By Copy Editor (talk) at en.wikipedia [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
When the young adults came into his store, they didn’t treat him as a servant. Instead, they engaged him in conversation while giving him room to work. They showed him appreciation and encouragement, and when they left, one of the guys came back and asked Carlos if he’d like to come to church on Sunday.
From Carlos’ perspective, these kids were his age, and one of the girls was simply rockin’. The thought of seeing her again got his blood pumping, so he agreed to join the group on Sunday.
Carlos doesn’t live at home. He has a revolving group of roommates, four of them actually pay rent. When he isn’t working, Carlos is studying, trying to make it through university without too much debt.
When he went into school, he was fairly certain he would get a great job upon graduation. Today, he’s wondering if he will be at the coffee shop for quite a bit longer. Jobs have dried up, and the hope of establishing a future seems distant. With hope and stability deferred, many in Carlos’ circle live in the moment. They consider sex safe, with proper precautions, mentally separating intimacy from sexual release.
Since they were young, they’ve seen commercials that promise that you can find your perfect match through an online questionnaire and dating service and TV shows that solve interpersonal conflict almost magically, avoiding the pain that is evident in all real relationships.
Carlos is building a foundation for his future in every area of his life – relationships, finances and yes, his spiritual life. Will your church provide him with the tools he needs to learn how to maneauver relationships with love and grace? Will you be able to show him how to make a difference in life even if he isn’t making the paycheck he thought he would? Can you give him perspective on those staggering education loans?
Before Carlos even gets to your discipleship department, he is going to have to hear what you say this Sunday. His eyes will be on that pretty girl, but his needs remain the same – significance, intimacy, intrigue, and the ability to give to others.
Can you show him that Jesus died so that God could be intimately involved in his life?
Will you show him that God put him on earth for a purpose, and his greatest joy in life will be discovering and living to that purpose?
Can you introduce him to Jesus?
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The people in this “Coming to Your Church This Sunday” series aren’t real. They are a compilation of people we have known, read about, heard of and heard from throughout the years. If you see yourself in them, you just have a lot in common with the rest of the human race.
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