Culture Clash

I haven't blogged for what seems an eternity, but this one was too funny not to share. My friend, Gary Lamb, who pastors a fairly new church in the Atlanta area (I met Gary when he pastored a church in Ames), had an absolutely hilarious post on his blog that I just saw today.

To give you a little background - Gary's church is convinced that if you reach men, you'll reach the whole family. Studies have shown Gary to be right.

So that's why Gary is crazy enough to launch a teaching series called "DRIVE" with a NASCAR theme on Mother's Day. He figures some guys who don't normally come to church will come with their wives on Mother's Day to make them happy. And if the husband comes back to church the next week, the wife won't mind that "her" day had a NASCAR theme instead of a flower theme.

So to get ready for the new teaching series, Gary and his team thought it would be creative to get some "man on the street" interviews at a NASCAR race. So they headed two hours away to a big race. And that's when the culture clash happened...

While the filming didn't come out exactly as Gary had hoped, I'm still proud of him for stepping into that culture. Are you willing to step into a different culture? Are you willing to befriend those different than you? Are you willing to extend a handshake to a stranger?

One of the reasons I think Gary's church is doing so well in only it's second year of existence is because he and his church are willing to befriend anyone. Even NASCAR women with rings. :o)