The Blue Room is something every Christian is meant to do: living out our faith amongst the people God has placed near us.
Meet Kev. Kev is like all of us: he knows people in the local area. Kev is involved in various community and sporting groups. On Sunday, he goes to church and is equipped through a better knowledge of the Scriptures. But during the week, Kev wanted to serve and live out the faith he professes. The answer for him was the Blue Room.
One of Kev's passions is model trains. Kev has transformed his back shed into a huge model railway city, complete with tracks, lights, roads etc: a big boys dream! Kev started inviting mates over from his various community and sporting groups to drive the trains and chat.
As those relationships grew, the men and women who came to Kev's shed started to talk about life's challenges and ask about Kev's faith. The conversations had such an impact that they would call and ask to come over to hang out in the shed and play with the trains (i.e. code for "chat about life").
These people even gave the place/concept a name: "The Blue Room" (because when you are blue/feeling down you go to the model train shed to talk and be prayed for by Kev).
Kev would get the call, "I need some Blue Room time." Kev is not a trained counsellor or pastor. He is just someone who cares about his mates and loves to be there for them and chat. Kev also likes model trains. For him, the equation was simple: God has given me these friends, these trains and the skills to listen and pray.
The Blue Room concept taps into some ministry gems:
1. Providence – God is in control. He has brought people across our paths for a reason. Kev's circle of mates were not just random friends, but gifts from God whom he wanted to serve.
2. Living out our faith – anyone who takes church on Sunday, Bible studies and one-on-one discipling seriously knows what it means to be equipped to serve. The Scriptures help us to live out our faith. At worship services, Kev learnt about a God that cares, that saves, that reaches out to lost humanity. As a result, Kev wanted to serve this God.
3. Incarnation ministry - Jesus came to us to save us. Kev is going outside the walls of the church to minister to people in need. He is out there with the people.
If you walked into the Blue Room you would just see a shed with a lot of model trains.
The heart of the Blue Room is a love for Christ and love for people. Kev used his passion for model trains to reach out to his mates. We all have our own "Blue Room." For some it is fishing, others craft, others bush walking, others computers, and others working on old cars.
All these passions can organically grow into opportunities to minister to the friends and family God has already placed near you. Why not chat with your Minister or Elders about being better equipped and living out your faith in an intentional way and create your own Blue Room.
Jeremy Dover is a former sports scientist and pastor of mooraboolchurch.org
Jeremy Dover's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/jeremy-dover.html