Keep Austin Weird

Yesterday, I walked into a room full of men hell-bent on changing their city.  Correction:  my city.  This passion mixed with their unabashedly unashamed willingness to promote a plan not their own floored me.  And, the weird part is how completely different each one of these men seem to be.  Different backgrounds, different appearances, different church affiliations. . .  you name it.  And, even more weird is the fact that they do not appear to be the least bit territorial.  They seem to grasp the fact that alone, they cannot even convert a neighborhood, much less a city.  Think about it. . . how many different kinds of people live in your neighborhood.  Could you meet all of those needs?  Or, relate to each of them?  So, Austin IS weird.  Where else in America do you find a city where the so called Church actually works together?  Not in words, but in action.  The gospel is about making disciples of ALL men and women.   Who cares if you ‘look’ good, or have the most members?  As far as I can tell, looking good and counting people have nothing to do with spreading the good news.  Promoting the gospel at any cost—even a cost to you and/or your own congregation—shouldn’t be weird, but sadly, for many churches in this country, it is unheard of.

So, I hope and pray that I can do my part to keep Austin weird!