Like most great stories, mission stories are made up of a series of individual episodes. These individual episodes eventually are strung together to tell us the whole story. But the story itself takes time to unfold. Each episode within the story leaves the story itself incomplete. There is suspense and uncertainty. There is unfinished business. There is usually a series of “cliff hangers” that keep the story pressing forward into the next episode and the next until – eventually – we come to an amazing conclusion.

That’s what makes a great story great.

Mission stories are the greatest of stories. They are real life stories, authored by God Himself. They are stories of unredeemed, ruined people discovering His love and forgiveness and experiencing the restoration of new life with Him. Eventually. As noted, these stories are made up of individual episodes which unfold over time, usually years. “Mission episodes” are moments in time when God decides to have us cross paths with a person who needs a little of what we have in abundance – His grace or kindness or joy or truth.

And there’s the rub.

The nature of an individual “mission episode” is that while it is important to the overall story God is writing, the story itself is yet unfinished. There remains suspense and uncertainty. We are left with a cliff hanger of which we may never know the conclusion until we come into Heaven. Bottom line?  If you need to know the conclusion of their story at the end of your episode with them, you will usually be frustrated. Why? Because at the end of an episode all you really will know is that there is more story to come. You’ve done all you can do and now you have to be patient as the Writer of Stories moves beyond you and on to the next episode of the person’s mission story.

And, I don’t know about you, but I’m not that good at patience.

That’s why I find it helpful to think about the individual mission episodes ending not with an exclamation mark (usually reserved for the amazing conclusion of the story) but with an ellipsis mark.

A what?

An ellipsis mark. You know, the dot, dot, dot used at the end of a phrase to indicate a pause in a thought or a story… (there’s one now!)

I have found over the years that most mission episodes end with the dot, dot, dot of an ellipsis. That’s because an episode is usually somewhere in the middle of the story and there is more story yet to come. I may help move the story along with my particular episode. But the episode ends with…

I used to worry about my episodes ending with the dot, dot, dot. I didn’t want the cliff hanger of the ellipsis!  I wanted closure. I wanted conclusion. I wanted redemption being accomplished! But instead there was only a pause… These days, I have learned that if I come to the end of my particular episode with a person, and redemption has not yet come, I see it concluding not with failure but with an ellipsis. Jesus isn’t finished with the story yet. There are more episodes to come for the person.

When I began to understand that, when I began to trust that Jesus is doing the bigger work of stringing smaller episodes together in the whole story of a person’s redemption I found peace. I now have peace even as I see episodes ending with the dot, dot, dot of the ellipsis. I don’t feel obligated to force more conversation, to force more than Jesus had prepared in advance for me to do. As my part ends with an ellipsis mark rather than an exclamation mark I know I can trust Him with the rest of their story.

Back to the episode of the girl with the pink hair…

My friend walked into a local Target store. It had been a bad day for him. A really bad day. Have you had one of those lately? He had come to Target to return an item. “Won’t this be fun,” he muttered to himself. That’s when he spotted the girl with the pink hair and facial piercings behind the counter. He had seen her here before working the register. There weren’t too many people who went for that kind of look in his part of the country. She stood out. And, on this particular day, for some reason (o.k., it was God’s grace), her hair gave my friend a smile. Not a smile of mockery or derision but of joy.

Her pink hair gave him joy. Go figure.

So as she processed his return, he simply said, “You know, I have had a really bad day. And I just want you to know your hair has made me smile.” A frown formed on her pierced lips. My friend quickly added, “I’m not making fun. You really have made my day better. Thank you.” That’s when the unusual look passed over her face and she finally said, “No one’s ever nice to me…” [Notice the ellipsis.]

Her pink hair stood out to him. His simple act of grace stood out to her.

It was a powerful moment as my friend realized what was happening. To a person who regularly receives love, his small act of kindness would have been a small matter. But to someone who regularly receives none…

Afterwards, my friend worried that maybe he hadn’t said enough. Maybe he should have done more.  Maybe he should have somehow brought up Jesus. There was no baptism at the return counter that day or even a solid Gospel presentation. The girl with the pink hair’s mission story remains unfinished. It is a cliff hanger. I can’t tell you how her story ends because it’s still being written… but it is being written by Jesus. All I can tell you is how this particular episode ends. It ends with my friend again thanking the girl with the pink hair for her service and for making his day better. It ends with a seed of grace having been planted in a hurting heart.

And it ends with the dot, dot, dot of the mission ellipsis.

Jesus is already on the loose in your neighborhood pursuing His Father’s mission of redemption and restoration.  And He invites you to join Him!  One of the simplest ways to do this is through “neighboring.”

“Neighboring” is how we get to know our neighbors. Neighboring takes seriously the fact that mission happens best in a context where relationship and friendship have been cultivated over time. Neighboring may happen through a planned event like a cookout or through something more spontaneous like stopping for a chat while walking the dog. Either way, neighboring puts us into position to start finding out who our neighbor is, what their story is and what Jesus already seems to be up to in their life.

On pages 149-151of the book, “Joining Jesus on His Mission” I share 30 ideas we have used over the years that put us into position to meet and enjoy neighbors. Some are more for introverts some are more for extroverts (why not team up and make it easier for both!). Some are planned, some spontaneous. However, all these ideas have been tried and found to work. (Order the book here:  http://www.amazon.com/Joining-Jesus-His-Mission-Missionary/dp/193884002X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432465810&sr=8-1&keywords=joining+jesus+on+his+mission. For quantity orders email me for discounts at finkeonthemove@aol.com )

I enjoy receiving emails from people telling the stories of how things are going in their neighborhood. I have included a few below to encourage and inspire you to give neighboring a go during these summer months.

From Tricia in Kentucky (a pastor’s wife): We had our first intentional front porch conversation with our new neighbors. Turns out, they moved here from California believing they would be neighborhood missionaries. All it took was an offer of coconut cream pie to open the flood gates. Chatted for 2 hours - decided on a neighborhood connecting time - he even prayed over my husband who had surgery earlier in the week (such a role reversal). When Jesus is already there, you just need an open heart when you show up to the conversation. Thanks be to God for His perfect timing. PS- they were sitting out in their driveway for a few days. I should have known what they were planning! Going to give them your book.

From Pat in Austin (an instructor at Concordia University): On Good Friday and the Saturday before Easter I baked a bunch of muffins and gave them away house to house in our neighborhood.  Had some neat conversations and also got a few prayer requests.  On Easter morning there was a little basket of candy on our doorstep, and one of our neighbors wrote us this note (which totally made my day).

“Thank you – It’s not just the muffins or the thoughtful sharing but a quality reminder of fellowship in our community and the desire to inspire and make the LORD present in our daily lives.  Jesus lives!”  Deborah

From a widow in California: I have an unusual opportunity here because I own a home and rent out the bedrooms to students to pay my mortgage. I am always looking for ways to reach out to them, as most are not believers. I have found a group of students who worship on campus on Sunday nights, and I was able to connect 2 students with each other – one who was homeless and still struggles with alcohol and drugs from time to time and another who is active in the group on campus. What a blessing to have them thank me for connecting them together.

From Donna (a retired teacher): I took care of my son's chickens while he was out of town..  They were producing eggs faster than I could eat or store them so I began distributing a dozen at a time to my neighbors.  It gave me an opportunity to talk with my neighbors, and I even got to know one neighbor that I have been trying to love as Christ has asked us all to do, "Love thy neighbor as thyself."  We had great conversation and he was quite friendly, much to my surprise!  It was a blessing to me because Jesus was already ahead of me, preparing my path.  I never thought being “The Egg Lady" would be a ministry opportunity!

From a couple in San Diego: We had a neighborhood gathering which we had been hoping to have for over a year. We finally met last night and just got to know one another for the first time. Originally we hoped to have 6-8 folks but we ended up with over 30 adults, 8 children and 3 nuns...they all seemed hungry for this time together...that lasted over 3 hours! Great fellowship...getting to know each other and sharing our lives...I was overwhelmed with what was happening! I don't know where God will take this...but it is exciting! I share this, because others may have a vision just waiting to happen! Please pray for this group of wonderful people.

Does Jesus have a vision just waiting to happen in your neighborhood, too?  There’s only one way to find out. Let neighboring season begin!

If you have a story to share, please email it to me!  You can help encourage others, too.

In John 20, Jesus is standing right in front of Mary but she doesn’t realize it is Him. At least one reason why? She didn’t expect to see Him there. “Where have you put Him?” Mary asks the One she thinks is a gardener. “He’s supposed to be in this tomb.”

In Luke 24, Jesus is walking right alongside the two on the road to Emmaus, talking with them about recent events.  But they don’t realize it is Jesus.  At least one reason why? They didn’t expect to see Him there. “Don’t you know what has happened?” they asked the One they think is just another traveler. “They killed Him 3 days ago in Jerusalem.”

And in John 21, once again Jesus is standing on the shore easily within sight of Peter and the others who are fishing.  But they don’t realize it is Jesus.  At least one reason why? They didn’t expect to see Him there. After all, who would expect Jesus to show up out of nowhere to cook breakfast?

But that’s the point. Since His resurrection from the dead, you just never know where Jesus will show up! He’s out of the tomb and on the loose pursing His Father’s mission! Seek Him and you will find Him. Expect Him and you will see Him.

And then?

• · “Rabboni!” Mary cries out in recognition.

• · “Were our hearts not burning?” the two ask in recognition.

• · “It is the Lord!” the fishermen shout out in recognition.

A blinding flash of the obvious!

And here is a blinding flash of the obvious for us, too. As with Mary and Peter and the others, Jesus is regularly showing up right in front of us, as well. If we aren’t recognizing it is Jesus, there is probably at least one reason why.  We aren’t expecting to see Him there! However, Jesus is regularly showing up in our vicinity, too, pursuing His Father’s mission in the lives of people around us. He invites us to expect Him. He invites us to join Him by seeking and finding the daily redemptive good He has prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

Whether we have the fun of recognizing Jesus showing up rests largely with whether we are expecting to see Him or not. How easy it is to miss Jesus when we don’t expect to see Him, but how simple it is to recognize Him when we do. A blinding flash of the obvious!

And what will Jesus look like when He shows up in our vicinity?  How can we realize, “It is the Lord!” before the moment passes? Look at the people around you.  What’s their name?  What’s their story? Look for where a little grace can be applied in their life.  That’s where Jesus is already present and working. “It is the Lord!”

Mary only saw a gardener.  The two on the road saw just another traveler.  Peter saw some guy on shore cooking.  But in each case it was really Jesus.

When you look around today, who will you see?  Someone having a bad day?  Someone needing an extra ear or an extra hand?  Someone in need of a little hope, a little grace, a little news that is good?

Jesus says, when you see that, “It is the Lord!”

You can expect it.

When I wrote “Joining Jesus” my goal was simple: I didn’t want to write a theological textbook but a practical handbook.  I wanted to honor and stand on the shoulders of our best biblical theology without feeling the need to repeat all of it.  I wanted a short book that showed regular folk how to actually join Jesus not a long book theologians simply sat around and talked about.

Regular folk seem to appreciate that.  Not all the “theologians” seem to.

For instance, on Amazon.com there are 36 reviews posted.  35 are glowing.  1 is not.  It would be easy for me to set aside such a critique. After all, you can’t win them all, right?  As I read the review (or the one posted on a synodical website) my initial thought was, “Did they read the same book I wrote?”  In that way it was almost comical.

However, not so funny is how some innocent lay people have Googled “Joining Jesus” (when their pastor or group leader has suggested it as a resource) and they find one of these two misleading reviews online. The reviews can cause undue hesitation, confusion about their pastor’s judgment, or worst of all, keep them from joining Jesus on His mission.

While my initial thought after reading the review was, “I think they missed the point,” Vicar Mark Hunsaker of Branson, Missouri did one better.  He posted his own review on Amazon.com, which I believe does a wonderful and winsome job of answering the misleading critique.

I have received permission from Mark to include portions of his review below so that you can show it to your folks who are wondering what to think.  (Thanks, Mark!)

A Good Answer from Vicar Mark Hunsaker

“While another review I read here suggested that this book is ‘theologically inadequate,’ I would challenge that notion by saying that this book is a wonderfully accessible foray into practical use of the theology of mission. In fact, I find it noteworthy that a reviewer would look for 20th Century dogmatic language (which has been forwarded from earlier centuries) in a work intended for those who have not studied such disciplines. Indeed, Greg Finke is light on theological jargon and lighter yet on academic and theoretical ideas. But when considering the author's setting and purpose, this is entirely appropriate.

“What will you find? A book which is utterly practical. While pastors and other trained theologians may have the ability to systematically engage theology and know how to use it in their vocations, the average church-goer probably doesn't.

“But that is where this book's contribution comes alive: What should we ACTUALLY DO on a Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.? Or on Friday night when I'm at my neighbor's house for dinner? Or on Sunday afternoon when I'm at the local Cracker Barrel for lunch after having just attended Divine Worship where I received God's Gifts?

“The issue isn't that this book is theologically inadequate, but rather, that it is engaging theology in an area where our tradition has been inadequate. It is challenging us to look again at the imperative Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:18-20 and then asks the very important question: What does it look like to live out that imperative where I live, learn or work? How we answer that question is very much a theological exercise.

“Finke's question, ‘How's Jesus been messing with you lately?’ comes to bear right here. He is not promoting a departure from God's Word as some have suggested, but rather he is calling us back to it. How is God's Word, his clear Word, disrupting our apparent status quo? What are the things we are doing, looking like in comparison with God's Word? If we've got our distribution of God's gifts just right, but we are not "preaching the Word wherever" we go (a description of the laypeople in Acts 8:4), then why? Does our view of ‘church’ passed down to us from the 20th Century match what is in Scripture? Does our view of the activity of the church match what is in Scripture? These are questions Finke challenges us to look at and the way we answer them is very much a theological exercise. His efforts to get the rank and file thinking theologically about these things, in very practical ways that play out in their vocations, is simply wonderful.

“An outstandingly practical and theologically provocative work!”

We may sing, “All is calm, all is bright,” to celebrate Christmas, but Christmas is really D-day… the day the rescue mission of God launched into the created world.  Christmas marks the day God got Himself born into our created world.  Bethlehem was His beachhead.  By getting Himself born as a baby, He got Himself into the reality of the created world… and with a purpose.

On one level a baby being born and placed in a manger is calming and beautiful. But to the forces of hell, it was a strategic strike marking the beginning of their end.  They knew it was coming.  It had been foretold from of old.  They just couldn’t stop it.  God was rescuing the world.

And He invites us to join Him.

You see, while it all began on Christmas, and was established as an irrevocable conclusion at the cross and empty tomb, the rescue mission of God is still very much in play right now.  The yeast is still spreading throughout the loaf.  The Good News of God is still making its way deeper into the neighborhoods of the world.  It has started.  But it is not done.

Have you noticed the unrest in Syria, Ferguson, your own community, your own family?  They are all signals that the rescue mission of God is still pressing forward and that the forces of hell are still pressing back… hard.  But it won’t work.

Why? [At this point you will expect the answer to be, “Because of Jesus.” And that is the first and biggest part of the answer.  But the full answer for why the forces of hell won’t win in places as widespread as Syria or St. Louis or your own home is because of people of God like you.  Read on.]

God is rescuing the world… through people.  God began rescuing the world through a person… Jesus.  He continues rescuing the world through people… people like us who now have Jesus living in us.

Wherever the forces of hell still press back, the people of God are invited to be counter-forces of love, joy, peace and Good News.  We are not only beneficiaries of God’s rescue mission, we are agents of it.  We don’t get rescued and then sent to the sideline to wait for Heaven.  We are not only saved from sin, death and the devil; but we are saved for joining the rescue mission of God.

Wherever peace will prevail, wherever love and joy will reemerge, wherever forgiveness begins to trump vengeance, know this, men or women of God are somewhere in the middle of it joining Jesus.

It began at Christmas… but it continues today.

What will you be in the middle of today with Jesus?

Here’s the email edited to remove personal names:

Last Friday evening my wife called to tell me that our neighbor across the street died of a massive stroke. He was my age [mid-50’s].

To say the neighbor was a friend of mine would be a big stretch. He was an acquaintance. The one thing I did know about him was that he loved eating at Subway. I know this because I would regularly bump into him in line at Subway. Sometimes I would recognize him, sometimes not (because of my being busy with being a busy guy).

So, it was a reflective weekend… a man so young, my age, his kids, his wife, his business (like me, he also owned his own business and worked from his house).

Earlier today my wife sent me an email with a link to a preliminary obituary… just above the link, she said in her email, “I wish you would have known him better.” Her words struck me like lightening.

The obituary said he was involved with missions around the world and with mentoring young people. We had so much in common! We could have (I think) been a great encouragement to each other as we served in our respective volunteer roles. It is clear that he had a huge faith and a massive yearning for fueling evangelism around the world and in Atlanta… his house is barely 100 yards away from mine and I never knew this about him.

I knew he loved Subway and we would give each other a knowing wave as we headed off on Sunday morning, me rightly assuming we were each headed for church. So, I never worried about him as a man that needed to better understand the Gospel. How foolish I was to ignore him… I’m sure I could have learned much… but I didn’t know my neighbor.

I think God does a lot of His work through our failures… this was a big one for me.

Don’t extend to me any sympathy, I don’t deserve it nor am I seeking it. I’m simply sharing the story:

a) to provide some encouragement for the work that you’re doing to help people meet Jesus where He is already at work; and

b) to give you a story to share when people ask why getting to know your neighbors is important.

Thank you, friend… it’s so easy to forget that God already has gifts and friends and encouragers strategically placed all around us… if only we would begin to really know our neighbors. Getting to know our neighbors is not only about finding the lost the Lord has placed around us but finding our missional teammates, as well.

Unfortunately, that’s all she does really well. It’s not her fault. She's a victim of under-training. I know this because I am the one who under-trained her. She had the ability to be trained to do all kinds of things, but I didn't train her to do those things. Thus her designation as “under-trained.”

On the other hand, she sits very well.

I didn’t under-train her on purpose.  I did the best I could.  I simply did not know how to train dogs very well. No one ever showed me how.

I intended to train my dog to do all kinds of things. But the one thing we actually worked on was her coming to me and sitting. So that’s what she does really well.  She comes to me and sits.

I’m pretty sure she could have been trained to be a very good hunter and fetcher. I have seen the instincts in her as we are out on our walks. I see her instincts for searching and finding. She has the instincts but not the training.

She is now seven years old. The other day I threw a ball and said, “Fetch!” She looked at me, a bit bewildered, as if to say, “I really don’t know what you are talking about.  This is weird. What is ‘Fetch?’”  She didn’t get it.  And why should she? I never trained her to know what I meant when I said, “Fetch!”

On the other hand, “Sit!” she gets, and does it very well.

Now… change the word from “training” to “discipling” and the personality from my dog to our congregational members.

Pastors and leaders: Our congregation members are a result of our discipling.  We have discipled them to come and sit. And they do that very well. They come and sit in worship. They come and sit in classes.  They come and sit in meetings. However, besides coming and sitting, they exhibit the signs of being under-discipled. They come and sit very well, but when it comes to going and joining the mission of God, it’s apparent they are not discipled to do that.

It’s not their fault and we certainly didn’t do it to them on purpose.  But the result is the same.  And, like the under-training of my dog, the solution will not be to simply point to the church doors and say, “Go, be missionaries!” They won’t get it.  They will look at us, a bit bewildered, as if to say, “We really don’t know what you are talking about.” And why should they? We never discipled them to know what we meant when we said, “Go, be missionaries!”

If our people are really good at coming and sitting but not so good at, “Go, be missionaries,” the solution is not to say it again or say it louder. The solution is in discipling. The solution is in us starting to show them what we mean and what to do… not just barking out unfamiliar commands with more urgency.

Now, here’s the rub. We don’t know what to show them. Turns out, no one showed us either. We know how to exhort mission very well but we don’t know how to exhibit mission very well.

Rats.

As hard as it is to admit, that’s our reality and dilemma in the North American church.

Are we really stuck? Yes.  Do we have to stay really stuck? No way.

All we need is for someone to show us how to join Jesus in what He is already doing.  In the end, going and being a missionary is as simple to learn as coming and sitting. But it’s a lot more fun.

This is the purpose and passion of Dwelling 1:14, to show people how to do more than come and sit.  We show people how to seek and find.  How to recognize and respond.  How to join Jesus on His mission.

Being under-discipled is not a permanent condition.

Are you ready to get started?

Years ago I jotted down this quote as I listened to a John Maxwell talk. It made a lot of sense to me then and it still does today. Being busy doesn’t mean I am being effective.

This is especially true of mission. Mission activity does not equal mission accomplishment.

As I travel around the country, I am meeting increasingly weary, frustrated leaders who have poured a lot of energy, leadership capital and money into activities and programs they hope will have “missional” results. However despite all the effort and investment in mission activity they are not seeing a correlating mission result. In other words, they are not seeing people come to faith in Jesus.

They are realizing mission activity does not necessarily equal mission accomplishment.

Can you relate?

Perhaps it is time for a more insightful way of evaluating mission effectiveness before we put all that effort into the activity.

See if this helps.

I recently had the opportunity to meet Steve Ogne. Steve is a well-known church planting trainer and coach who lives in the San Diego area. When it comes to evaluating mission effectiveness, he suggested using a simple spectrum of “good, better, best.”

In other words, when considering “mission” activities, think about the level of mission accomplishment you can realistically expect to see as a result. Since so many pioneers have been experimenting over the last 20 years, we can evaluate with a relatively high level of experiential insight.

Here’s how. In terms of mission accomplishment relative to activity investment:

1) Making a difference in a person’s life is good.

2)  Making a difference and making a friend is better.

3)  Making a difference, making a friend and making a disciple is best.

Good, better, best.

So, concerning the mission of God, it is good to make a difference in someone’s day or life. That matters immensely. However, it is better to not only make a difference for the person but to be in position over time to become friends with the person as well. And, at least in terms of mission effectiveness, it is best to not only make a difference and make a friend but to then be on our way to making a disciple.

Experience (and the Gospels) tells us that the key to mission effectiveness is not activity per se but relationship. Therefore, activities that put our people into position to progress from strangers making a difference to friends making disciples can be our new, clearer goal.

Last week I received a note from a mission leader in another state. They were becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of mission-result they were seeing from a huge food give-away they sponsored as a congregation. Lots of volunteers, lots of money, lots of energy. However, as far as they knew, no one had come to faith in Jesus. Giving away food to the hungry is good, of course.  But they had begun this activity with the hope that they would see many people eventually come to faith in Jesus.

As it turns out, the leader and congregation had made a common mistake… one which we have been slowly coming to understand over the last several years of experimenting. They had underestimated the importance of ongoing relationship in mission effectiveness.

The leader writing me wanted to let me know that as a result of reading my new book, “Joining Jesus on His Mission,” they had gone to the latest food give-away and instead of simply making a difference (good), they sat among the people and began to make a friend (better). As a result, the leader has an ongoing friendship (outside of the food give-away environment) with a family from the community. Now there is a realistic hope that this friendship, in time, will be a context for the Holy Spirit to lead the family to faith and discipleship (best).

What are you and/or your congregation doing that is intended to be “missional?”

Into what categories do your activities fall?

• · Making a difference. (Good)

• · Making a difference and making a friend. (Better)

• · Making a difference, making a friend and making a disciple. (Best)

Once we have a realistic understanding of what our activities can accomplish then a clearer, more realistic strategy can emerge.  For instance, mission activities that simply “make a difference” can take on a strategically important but more realistic role in a congregation’s overall mission strategy. These kinds of activities are effective at giving our members a way of dipping their toe into the “missional” waters for the first time.  Activities that “make a difference” can be viewed by mission-rookies as relatively low-risk. Such activities give them first-step experiences that help them begin to think and feel differently about the people in the community around them. (Good)

Where we unintentionally help people to get stuck, however, is when these kind of “good” mission activities are the only environments we propose or promote even though they are not conducive to the next step of making friends. A better idea is to have the next step of the strategy prepared for people who know “the good” of making a difference but are now ready to invest more of themselves for the sake of “the better,” namely, making friends. As leaders, we do not need to think “either/or” – that is, either good or better – rather, we can think sequentially. Good, better, best.

Each step in this progression requires more of a personal investment for our people, but the progression we now propose and promote gives them the actual experience they need to be ready for the higher investment and gives them a more realistic opportunity to see missional fruit as a result of their investment.

And how do we put our people into position for the best mission results? Well… that’s what my new book is about: How to join Jesus on His mission as an everyday missionary in the places we live, work and go to school. (You can check out the book by clicking on the banner at the top of our Home page at dwelling114.com.)

Mission effectiveness is all about the depth of relationship we are able to enjoy with people who don’t know Jesus or don’t know Jesus very well. What will be your strategy to help your people progress from strangers making a difference to friends making disciples?

Maybe I can help.

Friends from our Missional Community had been trying to have a baby for a number of years. Finally, early in 2013, we got the good news… Mindy and Sam were expecting a child! As the due date approached, they began making plans for their new baby to be baptized.

And they had an idea.

For several years, Sam and Mindy had enjoyed cultivating friendships with neighbors and co-workers who did not know Jesus or did not know Jesus very well. And although they had had a variety of redemptive conversations with these friends over the years, they knew it was unlikely that many of them would be willing to come to their church for the baptism (a Lutheran congregation to which my family also belongs about 35 minutes away).

So they asked, “What if…?”

“What if we talked with our Pastor and asked if the baptism could be done at our home, in our neighborhood, where our neighbors and co-workers have gathered often for fun and friendship? Would our friends be more likely to accept an invitation to our family’s celebration if it was in such a familiar and comfortable setting?”

Although they liked the idea, they also wrestled with it for a few weeks. You see, they wanted their friends to be able to witness Samantha’s baptism in their home, but they also longed for her baptism to be in the traditional setting of their church home. They were torn because they were thinking in terms of “either/or.”  Then the breakthrough came.

What about “both/and” instead?

A baptism on Saturday in their home for the sake of mission and a blessing of the baptism on Sunday in their church home!

They asked me if I would be willing to do the baptism if our pastor gave his permission. I said, “Absolutely!” And then thankfully, but not surprisingly, our pastor quickly gave his blessing, too. “In fact,” he said, “may I come and celebrate with your friends, as well?” We have a cool pastor.

Sam and Mindy began planning the missional baptism of Samantha.

Family and friends were invited. Some were Christians and some were not. But all of them would be invited to come and have the opportunity to be introduced to the good news of God’s covenant promises connected to His gift of baptism.

Sam and Mindy prayed for the Holy Spirit to have His way among their friends in their home that day.

And He did.

Of course, the Holy Spirit used water and the Word that day to deliver the covenant promises of the Father to Samantha. But because the baptism was right in the family room, the Holy Spirit also had direct access to neighbors and friends who may otherwise have missed out if the baptism had been done 35 minutes away in Downtown Houston.  Instead the friends were able to hear and witness the good news of God in a home in their neighborhood.

It was a missional two-for-one: Samantha was baptized into the Kingdom of God and pre-Christian friends heard the good news of the Kingdom.

As we were planning for the baptism, I had asked the dad, Sam, if he would prepare a prayer for his newly baptized daughter.  At the conclusion of the baptism, in the presence of some men and women who had not been in a church for years, Sam prayed this prayer:

“Heavenly Father,

Thank You for this day… a day we prayed for but thought would never come.

We recognize that our Sammy is Your precious gift to us. A true miracle of Your grace.

So, we now present her to You with the conviction that You are adopting her into Your family.

We ask that You always guide her and protect her in this life; that You would capture her heart, and that she would serve You only until she meets You face to face.

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.”

There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Everyone there experienced the arrival of the Kingdom.

In the days that followed, each of their pre-Christian friends had a chance to express what being at the baptism had meant to them.

Faith was stirring.

Praise God.

And all it took was for the sacrament of baptism to be thought of in a missional way. And for a cool pastor to “get it.” All to God’s credit.

The next morning, Sunday, we gathered again for baptismal celebration… only this time it was with our congregation in Downtown Houston. The congregation was able to be doubly grateful – grateful to God for Samantha’s baptism and grateful to God that His grace was revealed to people who needed it in the neighborhood.

By the way, there was one more unexpected bonus. Our Pastor was able to meet and hangout with people he otherwise may never have had the opportunity to meet. And in the informal setting after the baptism, several relaxed but redemptive conversations ensued. Pretty cool, huh?

How can your congregation start teaming up with its members to provide such opportunities in their neighborhoods? What would be needed for proper oversight? How could you prepare members who were ready to let the Holy Spirit use the opportunity of baptism for missional purposes (as well as for baptismal purposes, of course)?

Finally, what if we started thinking “both/and,” too?

The Gospels show it was in final preparation for his long-promised mission-launch.

As we count down through Advent in 2013, could there be a more appropriate way to observe Advent than to join Jesus on his redemptive mission in our neighborhoods?

Regarding how God launched his mission, we noted in last week’s post that the worldwide mission of God was not launched in a worldwide way. The final scope of Jesus’ mission will indeed be worldwide. But the launch was radically local and radically personal.

The way the Message renders John 1:14 helps highlight this important detail, “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.”

God brought Jesus into the world to launch his redemptive mission. But he did so in a specific place on the globe: In a real neighborhood in the midst of real neighbors and friends and extended relatives. The mission culminates with the nations. But it began in a local neighborhood.

And it still does.

The mission of God is not accomplished through congregations with big visions and big mission statements. It is accomplished through individual people of God living in specific neighborhoods and being in relationship with specific neighbors.

God brought Jesus into a neighborhood to launch his redemptive mission. And here’s the kicker: God brought you into your neighborhood to do the exact same thing.

I received a difficult reminder of this basic mission-reality a few weeks ago from a pastor-friend of mine in California.

With his permission I have included a portion of our email exchange:

Friend:

“I ask for your forgiveness for the following. My wife and I had been intending to build a relationship with our neighbors across the street from us. Paul’s wife, Michelle [the neighbors] had asked me to invite Paul to play golf sometime – a reasonable request since I love to play golf. I had many good intentions, but it always remained a friendly wave and words of simple greetings from across the street. We did notice some unusual happenings the past couple of weeks and fully intended to bridge the way across the street, but good intentions never bore fruit. The day after we returned from [a training] where we were learning to be missional we were shocked to find that the house across the street was empty. Paul and Michelle have three wonderful little boys. We saw some new folks drive up to the house and went to introduce ourselves to them. We asked if they knew the previous owners since we never even saw a For Sale sign. They said no but that they had divorced.

“My wife and I were devastated. On Sunday I was led by God to make a public confession of my sin before each of our three worship services. I have been asking our folks to be missional and to build relationships with their neighbors and into the community, but I had failed to do that myself. I literally wept as I confessed to them that because I did not take the time to build a relationship with Paul and Michelle, God could not use me. Oh, I know I cannot save marriages – but God has used me to save two in just the past couple of years. I had failed and three little boys have had their family blown up while a pastor who lived across the street did nothing to build a relationship that might have offered hope.

“To you I ask for your forgiveness as well. I am ashamed of my failure to be obedient to what I knew I should have been doing. Please hear my pain and [urge others] not to make the same choice to ignore opportunities to be missional.”

Me:

“Wow… what a passionate and desperate gift you have given me. Christians need this painful reminder/example of why mission is never a program or organizational outcome. It is always radically personal and radically local. Mission always has the name of a person or family attached to it or it is not mission at all. In a season when everyone seems to be tempted to be satisfied with the buzz-word of mission rather than the personal investment of mission, your warning is powerful.”

Indeed, the mission of God is not accomplished through congregations with big mission statements or pastors with inspiring mission sermons. It is accomplished through individual people of God living in specific neighborhoods and being in relationship with specific neighbors.

Pastors included.

God brought Jesus into a neighborhood to launch his redemptive mission. And he brought you into your neighborhood to do the exact same thing.

This Advent may we begin pressing past good intentions and begin actually investing in relationships with neighbors.

It matters.