This year, Amy and I (Danielle) have been invited to be SEEDS Fellows at Luther Seminary, to experience growth and training as entrepreneurial ministry leaders. We were extremely blessed to be chosen from among a large pool of applicants, and to be learning alongside a rich, diverse group of ministers with different expressions of Christian faith, varied theology, and unique contexts.
In the application process, I was interviewed, and I shared about my passion for having respectful, loving, and faith-filled spiritual conversations with my neighbors – with artists, in particular, predictably, but also with other friends.
Loving these kinds of conversations has been a key part of my faith from the beginning. People sometimes assume I was born into church, but I actually came to Christ and pursued church on my own as a teenager–and one of my supporters and friends recently reminded me that immediately, my thoughts were consumed with others experiencing the love and joy and hope I found in Jesus. “Week after week,” she told me, “you and the other middle school girls would share prayer requests. And everyone else would ask for prayer for quizzes or tests at school, and you would ask for prayer for someone you were talking to about Jesus.”
It’s not like I think you get spiritual points for having these kinds of conversations. It’s just baked into who I am: I’m an evangelist in all things, from Allbirds (not a brand partnership, but totally open to it), which I’ve gotten a ton of my friends to buy, to music I particularly love, to food spots I insist are the best value in the neighborhood… When I find something GOOD, I can’t help but gush about it.
But it’s more than that. I know firsthand what it’s like to wonder about God and search for meaning, to wonder about your own character and if you’re able to ever “do enough,” to wonder how good intentions can still carry bad consequences, to wonder what love really means in a world where things are broken.
These wonderings are the heartbeat of our lives, and connecting on that level with people is an amazing joy and privilege. I like to hear about other peoples’ wonderings. I like to process all the depth of fulfillment I’ve found in the gospel–not just God as a route to “goodness,” but God as a real and perfect father, the cross as overcoming the evil in the world, or Jesus as someone who advocates for me.
Because SEEDS knew how passionate I am about these topics, I was honored to be invited as a guest on Luther Seminary’s Pivot Podcast alongside a church-planter in Malaysia, Mike Wu. Mike is doing truly incredible work and opening up interfaith conversations and safe spaces in a country where sharing the gospel is illegal. Even if you don’t care what I have to share, give a listen to hear about Mike!
But if you want to hear me (in a low, sick voice) sharing about how I open up spiritual conversations with the people/artists in my life, you can do that too!
I hope you’ll find the time as enriching as I did.
