It was a beautiful crisp morning, and I was excited to go to church. Most Sundays, I'm at church by 6 a.m. to take care of responsibilities, but this Sunday was an off-duty day.
My wife, Carrie, and I loaded up our crew and pulled out of the driveway. Not even 100 yards down the street, I ran into a wake-up call - people. Lots of them, many of them unfamiliar to me. Doing yard work. Taking a morning jog. Playing with their kids. Washing their cars. Or simply enjoying the weather. And they weren't embarrassed about it.
Why did this peaceful neighborhood scene disturb me? Because it exposed a gaping hole in my crusade for home-based ministry. I wasn't so naive as to believe that everyone in our community was active in a church. But evidently I was completely out of touch.
Carrie and I were striving to make our home a place where our family could grow closer to one another and to God, and it seemed like we were succeeding. We hosted fellowships and Bible studies and always kept our doors open to our church family. As we say, we wanted to capture the power of our home. We wanted to be a true hub for intentional, missional living. But we were failing.
My Home Is My Refuge
Our culture and the church speak a lot about building relationships and being involved in the community, but we manage to overlook our own neighborhoods. It's just easier to befriend people through community organizations, sports clubs, or school activities. And if we're really honest, we often use our home as a refuge from work, stress, and busyness. So we find ourselves retreating from people - even those who live next door. Before that realization, I'd hurry home from the office, pull into the garage, and immediately shut the door behind me. Then I'd retreat to the confines of our home and 6-foot backyard privacy fence. I'd come out briefly to grab the mail with no intention of speaking to our neighbors or checking in on them. When I'd emerge to do yard work, my eyes were covered with sunglasses and my ears plugged with my iPod. I might as well have posted a sign in my yard that said, "No solicitors ... or neighbors." Somehow I had fallen into a lifestyle that was counter to whom I want to be - and who I believe God wants me to be.
Living Life Together
In Acts 2:42-47, we see what true biblical community looks like:
"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved."
These verses don’t depict just relational proximity; it also includes true physical proximity. The believers were cared for those who were near.
Since that light bulb moment several years ago, my view of our neighborhood and surrounding community shifted significantly. Carrie and I are much closer to aligning our actions and attitudes with what we say we believe. How? God is on the move, changing us and opening doors for actions big and small.
Our family eventually moved away from that neighborhood, but His lesson continues to impact us.
We often ask God for opportunities to share our faith, overlooking the openings right in front of us. We often debate whether we should go to people or they should come to us, disregarding the work we can do right where we are.
You know people who need some kind of help — maybe a child in need of mentoring, a friend in need of encouragement, or a sibling who's far from God. Maybe you have parents who just need someone to check on them. But due to circumstances, you can't always be the one to meet these needs. Sometimes you just have to hope and pray that God will bring someone into their lives.
Remember the Golden Rule: "Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them" (Matthew 7:12). As a Christ-followers, we need to provide for others what we desire for ourselves. Today, let's be reminded that everyone around us is someone else's mom, dad, sister, brother, or friend. They're our coworkers, PTA acquaintances, and neighbors. Let's be who they need us to be.
Open your doors, your eyes, and your ears and say hello. You might find that missional ministry isn't as complicated as it seems.