What is an “Ordinary Attempt?”

Ordinary Attempts are stories chronicling a very non-traditional approach to evangelism — ordinary activities that you’re already doing. Not a program, pitch or presentation, but a simple shift in how we view the people formerly known as lost.

This belief is based on what Jesus said “If you give a cup of cold water to a little child because you are my disciple you won’t lose your reward.” Matthew 10:42.

Our culture’s equivalent of a cup of cold water is attention. OA’s are free attention giveaways. God counts, notices and works with our smallest efforts (including praying behind peoples back or even noticing them) to carry people along toward himself.

OA’s have been borrowed by others who don’t care about evangelism but simply want to participate in free attention giveaways and intentional acts of kindness in order to make the world a better place, or someone’s day a bit brighter. We welcome this practice as well and don’t see any conflict of interest regardless of what motivates people to OA — it is better than not OAing.

How would you respond to this? “OA’s – a nice idea but not the way the Bible tells us to share our faith.”

They have read the script (actually only part of the script), but they definitely have not watched the movie. No need for much bible exegesis here. Simply watch Jesus’ life as if you were watching a movie and notice the number of “conversations” he has (122 for those who are counting) and notice that only 8 of them were in the Temple . Pay attention the his small interactions and notice what he doesn’t do. Also notice that he lived and ordinary life for 30 years before going public in order to send a message to all of us ordinary types that having an ordinary life works for him. He only gave 10% of his time here on earth away to what we would call ministry–a standard most of us could aspire to, even with day jobs.

What does an OA look like? How do I tell my story here?

There are three spiritual practices we call “ordinary attempts”, and we’re hoping to get your story about how you practiced one or all of these.

Notice: When you are in the grocery store, pay attention to someone around you. It might be the lady checking your groceries. What does she look like? How old do you think she is? Does she look tired? Is she enjoying her job?

As you tell your ‘noticing’ story, share what you noticed about someone. Tell us where you were, what was happening, and what it felt like to you to spend these few moments paying attention to someone else.

Pray: When you notice someone, sometimes you’ll feel like you should pray for them. Pray behind their backs (unauthorized prayer). Pray for whatever comes to mind, silently. Don’t stare. Don’t close your eyes. Make it quick.

As you tell your prayer story, tell us what you felt led to pray for. Where were you when this happened? How did you decide to pray for this particular person/people? What did this do to YOU? How did this practice change the way you felt about THEM?

Listen: Sometimes, when you see the same people over and over again, you want to say something to them. Here’s what to say: Make eye contact, lean in a little and say, “How are you?” and then be quiet. Wait for them to speak. They’ll usually tell you how they are…and often a LOT MORE. You can ask other questions as well to spur them to share their story. Just listen to them. You can ask clarifying questions, but don’t offer your own opinions unless they ask you for one. Say “Wow” a lot (especially when they share those really bizarre things you weren’t expecting).

As you tell your listening story, give us the background. How did you encounter this person? Where? Why did you feel led to speak to them? What did they say? How did you feel about what they were saying? How did it feel to you to not express an opinion or offer advice?

Tell your story in your own words. Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation or grammer. I’ll edit it a little (without losing your voice). Keep it as short as possible. If things are unclear, I’ll email you for more information. JUST SEND US YOUR STORIES! We all learn from each other and get encouraged to keep practicing ordinary attempts when we tell our stories!

DE Thoughts are longer articles about evangelism in general, and other random stuff for consideration (or enjoyment). If you have an article you’d like to submit for this page (either yours or a link to someone elses you think would fit our site), use the same process as submission for an OA story, or just email it to randy at doableevangelism.com and I’ll take a look. Thanks!