Faith For Exiles By David Kinnaman And Mark MatlockSample

Day Six: Practice 5—Curb Entitlement and Self-Centered Tendencies by Engaging in Countercultural Mission.

Scripture: Romans 12:2, I Corinthians 9:22-23

Thinking back to an experience my family had during a hiking vacation at the Grand Canyon, I can’t help but believe that Christianity is meant to be at odds with purposeless, going-through-the-motions life. 

Our daughter Emily forgot to pack a jacket, so our only immediate option is the hotel’s specialty retail shop. Sometimes Barna research pops into my head at weird times, and this moment is one of them. As the associate Shannon shows us overpriced jackets, I visualize the statistic that 52 percent of adults think praying out loud in public for a stranger is extremist.

Noticing Shannon’s limp, I ask if she is okay. 

“No, my leg is really sore. I went on a long hike yesterday and hurt it.”

Despite the risk of social awkwardness, I feel compelled to pray for her. With my 12-year-old son Zack standing next to me, I say to Shannon, “I know this may sound a little strange, but would you mind if I pray with you—for your leg?” 

She looks at me with the kind of head tilt that dogs do, and I feel the what-are-you-doing-Dad stare from my then-twelve-year-old son, Zack, standing beside me. Still, she was willing, so I speak a simple prayer: “God in heaven, would you please help Shannon to feel better? Her leg is causing her a lot of pain, and we know you can heal people. So I am asking you to heal her and to take away her pain so she can work today. I pray this in Jesus’s name, amen.”

I open my eyes, she smiles and thanks me. As we walk away, Zack half whispers, “Dad, we really believe this stuff, don’t we?”

Although most people think praying for a stranger in public is religious extremism, we have an obligation and an opportunity as Christians to be the right kind of extreme. 

Keep Christianity weird.

This leads us to our final practice: engaging in God’s countercultural mission.  This means living as a faithful presence by trusting God’s power and living differently from cultural norms. Countercultural mission is the outward-facing expression of all the other practices—what we do together as the body of Christ for the sake of the world. God intends to love with us and through us. What an extraordinary invitation, privilege, and responsibility.

How might you engage in a counter-culture mission today? If this question causes a slight rise in fear, ask God now to give you discernment, strength, and an increasing love for the lost.