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Although for us it is passing too quickly, we hope all of you are having a wonderful summer. These warm months are prime hospitality time, and we are thankful for opportunities to share Jesus with our friends and neighbors as we hang out by the grill or picnic table.
This is a busy season for GCMI mission catalysts. We are hitting the streets of our cities, sharing with our neighbors and living out loud! We are also thrilled to welcome two new households to NYC! Please keep Buck and Laurie Salem and Carissa Basuini in your prayers as they arrive in the city, search for housing and begin the Equip training year. If you have not yet committed to supporting GCMI or a specific mission catalyst household, now is a great time to start! Simply click this link to make a one-time or monthly donation.
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As we sat around the table, eating, laughing, telling stories and sharing life, I was struck by the beauty of community, by the incarnational love of Christ coming and settling among us on a Thursday night. A young family we had been sharing the gospel with for several months joined us for a birthday celebration. The birthday we were celebrating was actually the previous week, but the family’s schedule was so packed—full-time jobs, side jobs, extra-curriculars for the kids—that we couldn’t fit in a time to meet.
Here in NYC, we quickly learned that time is a precious commodity. We have come to appreciate the value of a five-minute conversation. And we seek to build relational intimacy in the quickest ways possible. One way to form community is to model the sharing and meeting of actual needs
When we first found that the family was interested in the Christian life, we began to share Jesus’ parables with them. We told them about kingdom values: compassion, generousity, peace, and asked them how they thought they could live these values out practically. Then, we asked for their help with a transportation problem. We also asked them for some specific ways in which we could help them (moving, babysitting). You see, a key witness for God’s people is our care for each other. But how can we care for one another if none of us ever share our needs? Even if we have a limited amount of time, an intentional effort to perform a service for our brothers and sisters can go a long way toward building community and love.
Soon, this family will begin meeting in a house church with a few other couples. We look forward to hearing and seeing the way they make time for one another, and, in turn, are a living sign of Christ’s love to the people around them.
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The other day I was at a local eatery where my wife and I are regulars (try the jerk chicken!). I had been reading the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 and meditating on Jesus’ purpose in blessing these people; and I decided I might understand better by trying to bless the same people when I see them. So I waited until our server, Dean, had some down time, and said to him, “Hey, Dean, I’ve been having trouble in one of our church groups recently and I see that you’re a real peacemaker in your relationships. I think peacemaking is really close to the heart of Jesus, and so I think you’re like Jesus in that way. Here’s the situation (I told him the issue), what would you advise me to do as a Christian?”
Now, Dean isn’t a Christian. In fact, it can be hard to get him to even have a spiritually oriented conversation. But this interaction was different, and I think it was different because I was different. Instead of coming in as a teacher or an expert who could instruct Dean on how his life was not in line with the gospel, I opened up my life, communicated a value of the gospel I wish to embody and vulnerably asked Dean to help me in a way that he already resembles Jesus. I became vulnerable and willing to learn in order to bless Dean. And Dean was able to let his guard down and really think through what a disciple of Jesus might have to live like, and in doing so he blessed me. He was given the invitation to reflect on the Kingdom without feeling bullied or preached to. He was honored by the comparison to Jesus; he felt blessed. And just as importantly, he blessed me. Being vulnerable, learning from one another, and seeking together to be more like Jesus: this is when sharing the gospel feels like good news.
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