Thinking of Our Neighborhood as a Mission Field
During the past few months I’ve rather sporadically explored in this section the first two of our church’s “core values”: gospel andcommunity. Today I’d like to begin discussing the final value in this list: mission.
I don’t know if you’re reading this in the middle of a busy day, but if you can, take a moment to reflect on this question: imagine you had chosen to live as a missionary in an area where there was no church and little or no understanding of the gospel. How would you go about seeking to be a witness for Christ? What would be your strategy? What would be the first steps you might take?
This would be a great question to discuss together as a group. I imagine most of us would want to begin by learning: learning the language, trying to get a better sense of what matters to the people of the community, how they connect and build friendships, etc.. During this time we would also be seeking to develop friendships. We might try to become interested in local hobbies, or perhaps join in with community projects or celebrations. And, especially as we come to recognize our weakness, we would undergird these efforts with prayer, asking God to put us into situations where we could lovingly speak of Christ and see people brought to him.
As we worked to do all of this, two truths would become clear to us: first, this demands patience, because this kind of ministry takes time. And second, this cannot be done alone: we need to be doing this with other Christians alongside us, who could encourage us and pray with us and help us to persevere.
All of these things describe the way I believe we should view our present calling in the Western Suburbs of Chicago: we are called to be “missional” to the towns we are in, and that means perceiving, personal relationships, prayer, patience, and partnership (how’s that for alliteration?).
What does that look like? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I’ll share some of mine in the coming weeks.
