“You can’t be serious. Why would a Christian go there?”
I should have been ready for this kind of reaction to my posts about going to an 18+ anime convention, but I wasn’t. I had invented this fantasy in my mind where our community members would flood my con post with praises like, “Right on!” and “That’s awesome that you went” or more inquisitive comments like, “Were the temptations you faced really extreme?” or “What was it like ministering there?”
This conquering hero mentality faded really quickly when I posted a reel showing (tame) footage of the event. The comments were few and, like the one quoted above, mostly judgmental in tone.
I admit that my initial reaction to these responses wasn’t great. I sulked a little. I got a little angry, too. And then I did what I should have done in the first place: I turned to Jesus.
In the Book of Luke, Jesus is often found at large gatherings, like the convention I went to. In fact, it’s been said that most of the Gospel of Luke is set on the way to, at, or just after a party. One such instance is described in verses 27-32 of chapter 5:
After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Levi, also known as Matthew (and the writer of another of the Gospels), is called by Jesus to leave everything and become his disciple. And what’s this tax collector’s response? Levi not only goes, but he throws a lavish party to celebrate his new path in life, inviting all his tax collector friends, with Jesus at the center of it.
The Pharisees, as legalistic as they were, gave the expected response: they approached Jesus’ disciples and asked why their teacher was cavorting with sinners. The tax collectors, after all, were among the worst of the worst in Jewish society. They were considered unclean before the Jewish law and thus unable to go to the temple to receive forgiveness for their sins. In fact, they were so unclean that Jews threw their tax money at them rather than risk touching them. This is all on top of their position as working for the hated Roman occupiers (and thus being traitors) and making their living by skimming off the top, robbing their fellow Jews.
Jesus treated Levi and his friends with love and compassion, though—these are the very people, he explains, that he’d come for (v. 32).
I felt that type of kinship with the attendees at Ecchi Expo and other such conventions (I’ve been to four 18+ cons over the past two years). These are the lovely and broken people that I want to minister to, that I hope to connect to Beneath the Tangles. My desire is to develop meaningful friendships with many of them and to show them the hope that we as Christians know.
But judging by responses I received (and presumably much more left unsaid), not all Christians buy into this idea. Why? Pharisaism may certainly be one reason. Judging by how non-believers often view Christians, it’s as rampant now as it was in first-century Palestine. Other reasons may include not knowing scripture very well, which can lead to substituting an emphasis on tradition and conservative values for faithfulness to the heart of God, or simply living in disobedience, justifying avoidance of discomforting situations that Jesus requires us to enter.
That last possibility sticks with me most because it’s one that I know most intimately. For even if I’m being obedient to the call to go where non-Christians are in these particular cases, I wouldn’t say that doing so is my daily lifestyle. In so many ways, I’m not living a sold-out life to Christ. I continue to conform to many of the patterns of this world by setting my faith aside in everyday activities at work, play, and home, instead of letting Jesus and only Jesus determine how I live, like the times I pass up developing deeper relationships that could lead to spiritual conversations at my workplace or when I find myself turning my head to the indigent rather than looking them in the eye and giving them my spare change and a little bit of conversation.
But thank God that this life is a journey and I have the chance to grow and learn! Our Father sent Jesus to forgive me where I fall short and the Holy Spirit to transform me. Bit by bit, I can make changes that allow me to move forward in obedience and love. And a part of that moving forward is to get out of my comfort zone, to move away from having only like-minded friends, and instead purposely seek out the people that I might not be loving the same way Jesus did, those that I might instead be judging or dismissing.
How does that look in a real-life setting? It means evaluating your talents, gifts, and skills, and thinking about the type of people that God has specially placed on your heart. Do you have a heart for the orphans? The homeless? Teen mothers? The incarcerated? Fellow geeks? Start there and investigate how you can be among them and befriend them. That friendship part is especially important: to share the hope you have, you must first love them; to love them, you must get to know them; and to know them, you must be among them.
I’ve also discovered some additional tips in my visits with otaku at anime conventions that may offer wisdom across a variety of settings:
- Plug into an already-existing ministry if you can. Jesus Otaku, for instance, has the kind of experience and passion in outreaches to otaku that I can’t match, and might be a good resource for West Coasters.
- If you’re going somewhere that is heavily tempting to you, don’t go it alone. A partner offers accountability, security, and encouragement.
- Follow up with your contacts. I’ve known Christians who are passionate about proselytizing but then end their encounters with just the conversation and a tract, thinking that the next steps are now “up to God.” All conversion is up to God, frankly, but are we justifying “leaving it up to God” because it’s scriptural or because we feel uncomfortable or unwilling to go further? Following up isn’t just smart—it’s a demonstration of love, modeling ourselves after a God who pursues us passionately. The people you meet are worth more than just a one-off conversation.
- Always be in prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is pretty perfect, in fact, for putting our eyes where they need to be and asking for protection.
But maybe you’re not ready to go to an 18+ convention or host a neighborhood barbeque to get to know those around you. Maybe you feel unsafe doing so. Or perhaps you’re just too nervous. That’s okay. Transformation happens over time as you climb upward toward knowing and worshiping God more and more. The little steps in faith and obedience add up, bringing you closer and closer to the work that God is preparing you to do.
Or maybe your next step is an internal one, rather than an outward action. Maybe it’s a “heart” step, just waiting to be taken. Maybe it’s time to look at your justifications for inaction, or examine your heart for self-righteousness, and see if you are identifying more with the tax collector at the feast or the Pharisee steering clear and casting shade.
If that’s you, I encourage you to pray on it. Pray that you won’t miss the feast; that you won’t miss the neighborhood barbeque, the party or the prison visit, the inner-city tutoring opportunity or homeless shelter cookout, or maybe even the 18+ anime convention. Because if you do, you’ll miss the very people Jesus loves. You’ll miss the very ones our beautiful, heroic Savior came to find without fear or reluctance. And when we do the same as Jesus, going to all these places—the highways and byways, the parties and the revelries—we’ll not only encounter those he loved, but we’ll encounter him, too.
What better place for a Christian to go?
The featured photograph was taken at Anime Expo 2011 by Doug Kline (PopCultureGeek.com). It has been made available for use with this attribution. It was edited for size restrictions.
