Three Not-Particularly-Religious Paths to Jesus

I love the church and I love it’s traditional forms of worship, it’s liturgies, it’s playbook (the Bible), it’s pantheon of heroes new and old, and, most of the time, I even love my fellow Christians (ha ha). I came to know Jesus in one of the more common ways…at a Christian summer camp called Woodleaf (YoungLife). But I want to tell you about three women who came to know and love Jesus Christ in three not-particularly-religious ways that will make you smile.

First, there is Jane. She is analytical, rational, logical, and methodical. The smallest errand to the gas station is plotted, planned and calculated. Not surprisingly, Jane was a great student from the get-go. In fact, school was the place she shone most brightly.

Growing up in church, Jane was taught to read, believe, and follow the Bible, but she was never a devotee of the Bible and had trouble believing many of the stories. From her viewpoint, it wasn’t logical or orderly and didn’t “compute”.

Then one day, Jane was enjoying a cup of coffee and looking out her kitchen window when she noticed a spider spinning a web. All of the intricacies of the process, from the measuring of each length, to the design itself, to the material created within the spider for the webbing—it all flooded her mind and she was amazed at the complexity and orderliness of God’s creation.

And at that specific moment she became a Christian. She knew an accident couldn’t have brought about such detailed design, only God could.

Then there is Roberta. She loves fashion. She loves, loves fashion. Throughout her childhood she would fill sketch books with dresses and outfits she imagined. She cultivated fabrics and designs that caught her eye, and envisioned herself becoming a fashion designer one day.

Yet she is raised in the church where fashion magazines like Vogue and Elle are not on the approved reading list. She becomes resigned to the idea that as a Christian, a career in fashion would probably not happen. She discards those dreams, and senses that a little part of her has been discarded as well.

As a 20-something, she starts attending the young adult group at her large church and meets Deedee. Deedee is a self-described “fashionista” who loves Jesus. The two of them connect on a deep level and Roberta begins to realize that maybe fashion is not bad or sinful, but is the artistic way she is naturally wired. And she plunges even deeper into her faith.

Finally, there is Anna. Anna works in Hollywood and is not a Christian. One day she goes to see a movie called “The Last Temptation of Christ” (which the church establishment, if asked, would tell her is blasphemous in its depiction of Christ). When she sees Jesus the carpenter working in his shop and sweating, she has a flash of revelation that God became an actual man. He was a flesh and blood person who lived on earth! It was the moment she says that she became a Christian.

I believe the bottom line is that God is waaaay bigger than the boxes we assign Him to. He will use movies, spiders, fashion, and so much more to reveal His love to our hearts. Is He trying to speak to you? Maybe it’s in a way you’d least expect:-)

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