I have so many conversation with folks that start with the theme “I don’t want to be part of the institutional church”. Sometimes it is because they have been hurt by the church, sometimes it is that they feel they don’t fit in or will be judged, and a lot of time it is that people see the behaviour of those who attend and realize their words say one thing but their lives and choices say another. Folks don’t want the hypocrisy.

I get it. The hypocrisy is real. That is why my work is increasingly outside the institutions. I like to call it Church Beyond Walls. The downside is the institutions have the money, so doing what I do doesn’t pay the bills. The upside is authenticity and meeting people on their spiritual journey. In fact the earliest Christian missionaries worked outside walls because those walls did not exist until Rome took over the Christian faith after 320 CE. Paul and Priscilla are just two people we read about in the Bible who spent their time outside with people, talking to and teaching them about faith in Jesus.

People talk about the church being ‘God’s House’, but in all honest the best part of our faith happens outside the walls, were the institution is not reinforced by the limits of a building.

If we sit for a minute to review our day, and put it through the lens of “spiritual encounters”, we can often see the opportunities that have presented themselves. They can be simple conversations with someone on the street, encounters at work, or family moments before the day gets hectic or afterwards when everything is winding down for the evening.

When these encounters are conversations they might be about faith, but most likely will be about something else entirely. Sometimes the spiritual moment is just watching as someone feels seen and acknowledged. This is especially true of marginalized folks like homeless people or the elderly, people who seem to fade into the background and rarely get spoken to as an equal.

Sometimes it is merely eye-contact and a smile.

And the encounter will be transformative.

We meet God in those moments where we share part of ourselves or make ourselves vulnerable. Often there is a feeling of compulsion that goes along with the moment, an urge to say or do something. I once felt a strong push to tell a young mother that she had a gentle touch with her two small children, and that it was a joy watching her. Her smile was radiant. No one had ever told her that before, and she had been wondering if she was any good at the job. We presented God for each other.

Jesus pointed out in scripture that whenever we do for someone else, we are doing for God. With that in mind, keep looking for spiritual encounters through your day. It will surprise you how many you have, and how many times you have met God in ordinary places.