Since mainly Christians read my blog, I’ll start out with this challenging question:
How many non-Christians do you regularly hang out with?
Think about it. If we are to call ourselves missionaries, we are to be actively engaged with non-believers. With people who are adverse or agnostic towards Christ and His bride. Harmony Church will not grow because of events and newspaper articles. People will enter the Kingdom of God because of one-on-one relationship building and interactions.
I will be teaching on missional living this coming Sunday, as we have just wrapped up a 2-chapter stint through John 5/6. What does it look like for the “normal” worshipper of God to be in the world, not of it, and shining the light of Jesus? Your everyday, mundane lifestyle becomes not-so-everyday and not-so-mundane after accepting Jesus. You now believe that, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, you should do everything to the glory of God: including your coffee breaks, grocery-store trips, gym visits, and springtime cookouts.
The weather is perfect outside. Invite neighbors and friends over for a cookout on the weekend. And not just the same ol’ 5/6 friends. Invite some new ones. Make some new friends in your neighborhood and in your everyday path. The gentleman I’m sitting next to in the picture above is a band member of the Ethnographers (link). I’ve known Ian for quite some time. I used to visit a coffeehouse (Port City Java) every single day, and spend time there getting to know the baristas, and he was one of them. And I could tell the influence after we talked prior to and during the Block Party. He was intrigued by Harmony…and therefore at least open to Christ and His Bride. Whether receptive or not is up to Jesus. But we are in the business of tearing down cultural barriers between Jesus and people. Everything else is up to Him.
More on Sunday.
I suck at this… thanks for the reminder
Yeah. Justin and I will be teaching on this for next 4 weeks. You’re welcome to join us.
or just grab the podcast when we throw it online.
Great point here. I have been praying about what kind of church God is calling me to plant and you hit the nail on the head. Its more than a Sunday thing, its a lifestyle. Great to see a leader like yourself putting it out their. Sometimes I think the church has complicated something that should be so simple. Live as Jesus did. Eat with people, do life with people, and love unconditionally. My prayers are with you.