Seriously … Interrupt Me!

by

Special to United Methodist Insight | December 3, 2024

Recently, one of my students at Candler School of Theology came to class with a sticker on her computer that read, I’m a Pastor, Ask Me Anything, Seriously Interrupt Me! My first thought was this is a bold and perhaps dangerous invitation. I have served in pastoral ministry long enough to know such an invite could lead to any number of conversations, from the courageous and beautiful to the angry and bizarre. Opening oneself to such vulnerability is indeed a risk. I also wondered if anyone would even be willing to cross that courageous unknown and ask for such a conversation with a stranger, particularly a pastor. I didn’t reveal my questions and concerns, though. It was time for class to begin, so I simply made a comment to the student about liking the sticker. To my surprise, a few days later she brought one to me, for my computer.

This is where the story becomes introspective. As I write, I still haven’t put the sticker on my computer. It is sitting on the table next to me. Why? I could say it is because I don’t want stickers on my computer, but the Wendell Berry and John Wesley stickers already there reveal the fallacy of that reasoning. Maybe I could put it on my home sticker wall, the one in the basement that contains an assortment of stickers collected along life’s journeys. There it will have a long life, not getting scratched and scraped by the rough and tumble life of a laptop computer. The problem is that this goes against the very claim the sticker is making. I would only be inviting conversation with a safe, known, and small group of people who go into the basement. Perhaps it is out of a hesitancy announce my station as a pastor, skeptical of those who put such out there to get attention or fringe benefits like discounted coffee or free parking. I am not entirely clear.

Still, I am curious about my reluctance. I am also certain this is about more than a sticker. It goes deeper. I wonder, as a pastor, if I really want to be interrupted. Am I afraid to enter the wild and unknown space that the sticker invites me to step into? Am I settling for a faith that is predictable and comfortable? Would I rather talk about God from the safety of the pulpit or the podium? Am I willing to be interrupted by God?

At the beginning of the book of Acts, the risen Jesus tells his remaining followers that the Holy Spirit will be poured upon them, and they will be his “witnesses” in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). I used to think this passage was about the early church spreading globally (and maybe at some level it is), but now I see it runs deeper. The risen Jesus is telling his followers, then and now, that they should prepare to be interrupted, to enter deep and maybe hard conversations with curious people, in out-of-the-way places, to make God’s love visible through their care and attention. By doing so, this movement would grow and take hold across the world.

To be interrupted doesn't mean I have all the answers, or enough simple explanations to make it seem like I do. It means I am simply willing to take time and show up with humility; to have deep conversations, and not just to talk “at” people, but to listen and to learn. It means trusting the Holy Spirit to fill the space and gently sow seeds of grace. It means more than conferring information or recruiting to my point of view. It is a commitment to learning, growing, thinking deeply, considering perspectives different from my own, all in the name of Jesus.

In this humility, the interruption holds the possibility of beauty. The future of meaningful evangelism and mission will not be found in our attempts to exert dominance or to convince others of our way of thinking in the battlefield of debate or apologetics. No, I believe it will be in our willingness to be interrupted, to engage and to be in holy spaces and conversations, trusting the Holy Spirit will bless the interaction.

Not long ago, I participated in a “debate,” – it was more accurately a conversation – with a professor from the philosophy department on the question Is God Real? My conversation/debate partner, an atheist, would argue from the perspective that God is not real, while I would argue the opposite. The idea was to model civil and thoughtful debate. My opponent and I met a couple of times before and I found him to be kind, thoughtful, and willing to listen. He was articulate in his positions and respectful of mine.

 Still, as the day approached the busyness of the season left me wondering why I agreed to this event in the first place. It was an interruption. I wondered who would even show up. Would we be talking to an empty room?  It seems that fewer and fewer people are interested in the topic of God and religion. Maybe there would just be a few present and we could go home early.

I was more than a little surprised when I arrived to find the auditorium packed with students, far more than I ever imagined would attend. They arrived early. We both articulated our point of view and then opened the floor for questions. It was plain to see by the sheer number of hands that went up that an hour only scratched the surface. Students asked thoughtful, honest, and engaging questions. My debate partner and I both stayed after the closing to address the line of students who had further questions and insights.

I wonder if this is what it means to be interrupted, to become available for the hard conversations about God, life, humanity, and the universe. Is it about stepping out of the safe and comfortable places we often call faith, to meet people in real and sometimes difficult conversations? I am more convinced than ever that the work of pastors, of all Christians, is more than simply waiting for people to show up at church, more than trying to conquer the world through apologetics, convincing why we are right, and others are wrong. It is stepping into the uneasy space of complex conversations with a willingness to learn, share, and grow, going as witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to all the world.

Do I have the courage to say to the world, seriously…interrupt me…ask me anything? I hope so! For this is about more than whether I put a sticker on my computer or not. It is about whether I have the intention and courage to walk into the wild, difficult, and beautiful landscapes to which the risen Jesus sends me.  

The Rev. Dr. Brett Opalinski is assistant dean of Methodist Studies at United Methodist-related Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. He is an elder in the Florida Annual Conference.