City Influencers, Part 2: The Power of the Open Mic
This year, we are including a series of stories shared by leaders and influencers around the Metro who are committed to seeing our city filled with the presence of Jesus. This week's story was shared by Lance Burch, Lead Pastor of Reality Church in La Vista, NE.
Most people who know me now realize that I worked for awhile as a comedian. Before you gasp in awe...I wasn’t that good. But, during that time, I came to appreciate the value of the open mic.
See, when you have new material, you don’t know whether it works or not, and you go looking for opportunities. If you believe in it, you step up and deliver it. Sometimes, it isn’t that good, even if your wife laughed at it. But at the open mic you present the things you’ve been thinking; things that have struck you or made an impact on you. Ideas that need a voice.
Open mics are the opportunity to work out what is inside of you.
All you really need is one true thing. They say that comedy equals truth. Usually truth that people have noticed but no one has spoken about yet. Your observations grow into the kernel of an idea. You develop an awe for those ideas and want to give them a chance to live. The bigger the awe, the more necessary the share. But, there is this one hurdle between you and the open mic and the crowd. Fear.
Studies have been done on what people fear the most. Social phobias top the list. People fear public embarrassment more than death. Things like fear of losing relationships, being accused of believing in fanciful fairy tales, being called naive keeps us from doing all sorts of things. But, for believers, it keeps us from telling people the best thing they could ever possibly hear: the gospel.
It’s not like we don’t have the courage to share unpopular perspectives. We follow our favorite teams with reckless abandon. We can hate on Brady or Mahomes and we don’t care what backlash we get from the trolls. When it comes to restaurants, movies, or doctors we can share opinions with ease! What if we could reallocate that courage to talk about everything from sports to politics toward a culture that desperately needs God?
What if God could empower you to do what you don’t think you can do?
That’s why I’m investing this time to encourage you. This is our chance. The mic is open. Just like it has been since the church first began.
I believe that we are seeing a unique opportunity to speak into our culture. The world around us has had a chaotic year. People are asking some pretty big questions. Where was God during the pandemic? Why is death a part of life?Who am I and what I am doing here? All of this forms an open mic opportunity for us.
The spotlight is shining down on an empty center stage. So, as you are taking that long walk up to the microphone, keep these three goals in mind:
#1: Create question marks in people’s minds
One of my favorite verses about evangelism is 1 Peter 3:15, which says…
“Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.”
We should live a life that demands an explanation. A life that is abiding in Christ has a hope that looks really strange in a pandemic. Jesus' Lordship produces a love that looks out of place in a culture of racism. A citizen of heaven responds to political upheaval in a much different way than someone who has placed all of their hope in a candidate or a party.
For such a long time we (the church) have been explaining things no one is asking about. The first step in gaining the audience is to be interesting. We should do relationship, tragedy, conflict, marriage...well, life differently. No one is going to buy in unless you are bought in. They don’t want a Toyota salesman that drives a Ford. They want to know if you’re smokin’ what you’re sellin’. And when the questions come, we can move on to the second goal at the open mic.
#2: Say one true thing about Jesus
If I had to pick my favorite person in the New Testament (besides Jesus), I would choose the man healed of blindness on the Sabbath. The cultural power brokers of the day were getting upset that this Jesus wasn’t playing by their rules. One thing that had them exceptionally miffed is that he continued to heal on the Sabbath. So, the pharisees and religious rulers sought to discredit the miracle by calling into question the formerly blind man’s identity. Then, they attempted to drag Jesus’ reputation through the mud. They repeatedly attempted to call the now clear-visioned man to testify about the healing.
Now understand, this poor guy knew almost nothing about Jesus. The pharisees asked him where Jesus was. He replied, “I don’t know.” When they asked who he thought Jesus was, he said, “I suppose he’s a prophet.” They asked so many questions that the healed man theorized that they were wanting to become Jesus’ disciples!
But my favorite part of the story by far is when this newly sighted witness boiled it all down to one true thing when he said:
“Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” John 9:25
He was a powerful witness, not because he had a theology degree, but because he had had an undeniable encounter with Jesus. An experience that taught him one true thing about Jesus. So, he stepped up to the open mic and dropped that truth bomb directly onto his interrogators. I was blind. I now see. That guy over there did it. Now you guys have to deal with it.
Remember, open mics aren’t really for the professionals. They are for amateurs to work out what is inside of us. So, create question marks in people’s minds, say one true thing about Jesus, and...
#3: Be Surprised
God is all about surprise. We are usually about safety and comfort. But, if we'll lean into Jesus, he will take us places and show us things that will shock us to our core. All we have to do is step up to the mic and leave the results to God.
I’m sure that Philip, one of the first evangelists to reach someone outside of Jerusalem, didn’t wake up one day and think, “I bet I’m going to baptize an Ethiopian eunuch today!” But, as sure as the Spirit leading him, he did.
These stories, stories of ordinary amateurs being used by God to reach the world, can and should give you the vision to see that Omaha and the world as Within Reach.
Most people around you are craving some community. Most people have big questions about the meaning of life. Most wonder if they are missing out on something important. People, that’s an open mic.
What if you could be a part of changing their life?
You can live a big life that creates question marks! You can use that opportunity to say one true thing about Jesus. And as you do, you'll be surprised by how God is using you.