Going "Out There"

I love leading a missional, cross-cultural, urban church because I never know what to expect from one day to the next. I meet all kinds of different people where I serve as a pastor. Every day I intentionally interact with followers of Jesus, and also with people who are not currently following Jesus. I have the opportunity to build relationships with people across races, cultures, classes and neighborhoods. The great thing about God is that the gospel message transcends all of those things. God's love transends manmade boundaries. And, what is most mysterious of all is that as I build relationships with people who are different than me, God is able to transform me in the process. Every interaction becomes a learning experience where I depend on the Holy Spirit for wisdom in all circumstances.

In Geography of Grace, authors Kris Rocke and Joel Van Dyke point out that "Traditionally, the Church approaches mission with the idea that there are many uncoverted people out there who need the good news of Jesus Christ; therefore, it is our responsibility to go to them for their benefit. This might be true, but what else might be happening as we go out there? We discover Jesus. This gives us invigorating freedom to greet Jesus in the name of Jesus and say, 'Hi, it's been so long since we talked. I had no idea you would look this way. Are you hungry? Are you thirsty?' Going outside allows us to see mission as the process of falling on our knees saying, 'Lord, where are you? We went outside the church so that those within the church could live and breathe.' There is no air in the church without this counter-intuitive geography of mission. There is no greater 'outside place' than between two theives on a little hill just outside of Jerusalem."

My prayer is that I will always be a follower of Jesus who is "out there." I love gathering together with my church family to grow in God with one another in authentic Christian community, but I also love mixing it up with people outside the walls of the church. It's where I often feel closest to Jesus.