Emergent Friends of NW Arkansas

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Topic 2: Missional living in our culture

One of the things I feel I run into quite often is a mindset that the only way to reach the culture with God's truth is to invite people to accept what we believe and then ask them to model "us" or some "image" we personally have about what a Christ Follower looks like. I spoke with a missionary friend in Japan about this and he shared that in the japanese culture such a method would be fruitless. This encouraged me to dig deeper.

I personally have come to see things differently. I have come to a realization that since God made us each unique and different, why would I expect all His children to look like cookie cutter images that MY mind fashions? I have therefore begun trying to look for the "inside" heart of a person. If I see a person who seems to (or admits to) not share the faith I have in the one God of the universe, I first try to understand what obstacles there are between their heart and God. Then I pray for wisdom as to how to begin breaking Satan's hold down. I have found that most often in the missional model the first step is to join them on their journey and just love them!

So the question: "If we are going to join people where they are in their journeys, how do we know how deep 'in the world' we can go/be and still remain not 'of the world'?" A side question might be: "Do you find this a problem to balance in your life?"
Living the life, loving the Journey...
Sandy

Welcome Back Topic 1!

With the start of a new school year I am hoping we all can renew our hopes to reach out and gather together those who desire to connect in discussion about what it looks like to be missional here in Northwest Arkansas.

The first of two thread topics I will post is:

"The uniqueness challenge entitled Northwest Arkansas. Where should those of us with a desire to reach the emerging culture focus our missional energies?"

Well, lets get some thinking going? Where are you on this topic?

Sandy