“I’m OK with God, but it’s Jesus who freaks me out.”
Sarah serves coffee to church planter Gary Morgan at a local shop on a regular basis. One day–after many random conversations about life, hair dye colors, etc.–she opened up to Gary about a tough situation and gave the pastor of Mosaic Nashville a chance to be a “spiritual consultant.”
Sarah was planning an international trip when her passport turned up missing, and she didn’t understand why God would want that to happen. This gave Gary a chance to share about a girl who trusted God in the midst of hard times, and suggested Sarah read a chapter a day of the book of Ruth.
As Sarah interacts with Gary on a regular basis, she feels comfortable enough to ask about spiritual matters, and has opened up about her feelings regarding God and Jesus.
“There’s this need for spirituality that people are longing for,” Gary said. “They’re not going to a formal gathering to find it, but they might bump into me at the coffee shop.”
Gary said these encounters are what Mosaic Nashville, a 6-year-old church plant, is all about–being the presence of God in daily life and seeking opportunities to be missionaries through what some consider the mundane.
“The Gospel thread is woven throughout Scripture,” Gary said. “It’s how relationally we are living out the mission of God. At first it doesn’t seem that sexy or cool, but we want it to be woven into people’s lives.
“Some of these things which seem so ‘vanilla’ are the foundation of what we’re about.”
With 85 percent of Nashville remaining unengaged with the Gospel, despite the city’s approximately 800 churches, Gary said reaching out locally and relationally is foundational.
“Presence is a key. We gotta be with people who don’t know the truths of Jesus,” he said. “Listening is big. Ask questions before you talk (about what you think).”
Such communications skills came into play when Nicole moved to the area.
A young businesswoman with a commanding personality, Nicole relocated to Nashville from California about two years ago. She found an apartment online and moved in with a woman who is a member of Mosaic.
Nicole had never before attended a worship gathering. She said she heard the Easter story once in high school, but her mom made the person who was reading about Jesus leave their home. Nicole eventually visited Mosaic after her Nashville roommate invited her, and afterward joined a group of other young women for lunch.
There the conversation turned to political matters, and included Nicole “cussing out” the others in the group. While some of the women felt highly offended, Gary saw it as a testimony of meeting Nicole where she was.
Although a few ladies were caught off-guard by Nicole’s use of language, it wasn’t a big deal for the non-believer. She kept coming to church and the women kept hanging out with her.
Gary recalls one evening at a large party when he went out on the front porch and found a multigenerational group of women, including Nicole, talking. Soon he was told he had to leave.
“I asked them why, and they said, ‘Because we’re talking about sex,’” he said.
Nicole was asking if married women enjoyed sex and wondered how God views the activity. Gary let the ladies in the group handle the conversation, but said later they told him how they shared about God’s take on sex and the value of women in His eyes.
Nicole has since become a member of Gary’s small group. One week she attended while many others were absent. Nicole responded, “I’m rearranging my life to follow Jesus and study Scripture. Where is everybody else?”
While Nicole has not yet made a public declaration to follow Christ, Gary said he sees signs of the Holy Spirit working. This past Sunday after the service she told him, “It’s like you’re in my head, Gary. We’re reading Scripture, but it’s like it’s already in my head.”
Gary said Nicole sees herself as a disciple. She does everything 100 percent, and isn’t going to jump into a relationship with the Savior. She doesn’t want anything watered down, but wants to really know what it means to follow Jesus.
In Gary’s eyes, Nicole’s steps toward Jesus began with people meeting her on her level.
“There’s a great mistrust and caution toward the church for those who don’t know Christ,” he said. “Christians are just a strange sub-culture to them. Presence is so important.”
Written by Natalie Kaspar. Natalie is a freelance writer for The Upstream Collective and lives in Texas. She served as a missionary writer based out of Prague, Czech Republic, from 2007-2009, and plans to return to full-time international mission work in a few years.
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