Neighborhood Missional Living When I Don’t Know Where to Start

This post is part of the “Obstacles to Neighborhood Missional Living” series, and it is available on both the blog and podcast. To view all the topics in the series, including where to read or listen to the other posts/episodes, click here.

These past few weeks we have been graced with ample opportunity to be beginners. Yes, though this time in history is hard and it’s heavy, and I am not negating the pain, grace-lines our floundering, our feeling like we don’t know what we are doing or how to respond. The breath of grace lingers on our up-ended schedules and overturned priorities, our now in-side-out proficiencies and side-ways routines. Why? Because when we acknowledge we are not in control, we can learn to trust the One who holds the whole aching, groaning world tender in His hands. Through this current season of us all feeling like beginners, I am discovering this as well: it’s when we feel we don’t know where to start that we may actually be most ready to begin living missionally in our neighborhood.

Both gratitude and surrender interlace with trust, like a triply woven rope. As we embrace what we can learn from being a beginner, we gain core strength, just like we do when we exercise. Proverbs 3: 5-8, (TPT) explains this beautifully:

Trust in the Lord completely,
and do not rely on your own opinions.
With all your heart rely on him to guide you,
and he will lead you in every decision you make.
⁶ Become intimate with him in whatever you do,
and he will lead you wherever you go.
⁷ Don’t think for a moment that you know it all,
for wisdom comes when you adore him with undivided devotion
and avoid everything that’s wrong.
⁸ Then you will find the healing refreshment
your body and spirit long for.

Even as we push through slow beginnings, we can praise the One who leads us, give thanks for what He is growing in us. And we can relax into His embrace, willingly let Him move us as we offer our whole and complete trust.

In her book The Next Right Thing, Emily P. Freeman shares these words about the season of being a beginner:

Embrace this unique time of being a beginner. Let him teach you what is right, what to say, and how to think. There will come a time when this new beginning will not be new anymore, and you may not feel the need for him as you do now. So let this new role teach you what it has to teach you. Let it form you into the likeness of Christ. Let yourself be a beginner and receive all the gifts beginning has to give. 69

As we, like the rest of world, learn how to respond to a global pandemic, as we say yes to the invitation to live on mission right where we live, and as we face all the other life situations we find we must start or start over—may we see the grace lining the season.

Before we dig into some practical ways we can move forward into a life on mission when it is new and unfamiliar to us, let’s pray.

Jesus. You are right here. You have been here the whole time, and we ask now for eyes to see with greater clarity.

You know us inside and out. You know exactly how we feel right now. And we give it to you—our intentional act of surrender.

We choose trust even when we don’t understand. We choose gratitude even when it’s hard to find the beauty. We choose to surrender even when we already feel broken.

We choose You.

My fellow beginner, may we begin together? The pointers I will share are ones that have helped me as I began this journey just over two years ago, and they are ones I keep returning to, peeling back yet another layer. Today I invite you to join the journey with me—sojourners on the same path.

Shall we begin?

1 – Begin with the end in mind.

Vision-casting is familiar vocabulary, and for good reason. A vision of where we are heading gives purpose to the steps immediately before us. It sets the direction we cast our eyes, and hence guides where our feet will land.

So let’s let vision fill its role—to guide and inspire, not overwhelm or deter us from beginning.

May it spark hope in our heart, fill us with a holy unrest.

Because the life of a disciple who makes disciples who make disciples is for ordinary people like you and I. A rhythm of doing life together with neighbors is available to us no matter our personality, temperament, or Enneagram number. We can grow closer to God, cultivate deeper relationships within our neighborhood, and join with neighbors to serve neighbors, and we don’t even have to feel ready before we take the first step.

At the end of every podcast episode I share the definition I wrote for a missional community for this exact reason: to cast vision to give purpose to the baby steps. Fellow beginner, starting a missional community in your neighborhood is likely not where you will start, but perhaps it is the start of a future chapter. As we surrender to the divine Author of our stories, let’s let Him set the pace and write the details. Also, I think it is important to mention that it is possible to live missionally in our neighborhood without leading a missional community, but in order to lead a missional community, we must first be willing to adopt a missional lifestyle.

So what is a missional community? I’ve defined it as a small group of people in close proximity who intentionally do life together and cultivate growth in three key areas: spiritual formation, authentic community, and loving others in practical ways.

2 – Trust Him with our small.

Equipped with vision for the long-view, we now move forward from where and who we are today. It’s easy to dismiss the value we bring by simply being ourselves and genuinely welcoming our neighbors into our heart, home, and life. But when we willingly offer what feels simple and small, we release it to the Miracle-Worker, and in His hands it becomes anything but small.

He can use us even if we feel our houses are small, our time is small, our hospitality gifting is small, or our personality is small. In fact, God promises, “My grace is always more than enough for you,^[a] and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.” So let’s join the Apostle Paul in saying, “So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I’m weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me” (2 Corinthians 12:9, TPT).

Often, we feel small when we compare—when we assess ourselves and our possessions in light of what we perceive about others. Yet our gauge should be Jesus alone or we are measuring the wrong fruit. Lean into both His strength and the purpose and the identity He set upon you at creation, and trust Him with what feels small to you.

If your small seems impossibly small and you also relate to any of the following obstacles to neighborhood missional living, I encourage you to go back to the earlier releases in this series: my house is too small, I am an introvert, or I am just too busy. The entire series, Obstacles to Neighborhood Missional Living, is available both on the blog and podcast.

3 – Choose humble vulnerability.

Our vulnerability comes from assessing how great and glorious and beautiful Jesus is, and how ever present is our need for Him—not the parallel comparison produced from weighing our worth against those around us. We know we are nothing without our Lord—covered in His righteousness, but earning nothing through our own performance. Or heart remains soft and open. We are moldable.

And when we are vulnerable with God, it translates to humble vulnerability with others. We know we don’t always choose God’s best or let Him shine uninhibited through us. So we drop the pretenses, allow our failings to point arrows to the One whose work in us is not yet finished. The things He is working out in our life become opportunities for organic discipleship as we invite our neighbors in close enough to witness the process.

4 – Listen and respond.

With vision enlarging our perspective, we give thanks for and offer our small with a posture of humility. So what keeps the momentum going? Simply this: listen and respond.

Listening is an integral component of communication, yet we are apt to come before the Lord and do all the talking. He is the one ultimately discipling us in missional living, but we can’t learn from Him unless we spend time listening.

Cultivating our prayer life doesn’t mean memorizing long and elegant prayers; instead it’s an awareness that He is present through the everyday moments as well as the big hurdles and celebrations. We invite Him into all of it. I’ve found it helpful to pray short prayers often throughout the day like “Where are you are work in this?” “What can I learn from this right now?” and “What is my next step?” then stop my flow of words so His whisper can fill the silence.

Listening takes practice, as does responding to the step immediately before us. Remember that grace lines the path of beginning these practices. He knows we will not always remember to listen or always brave His ask, but we are learning to trust Him, and that moves His heart. Likewise, our lives yielded to His guidance become an open page for Him to draw those around us nearer to Himself.

Fellow beginner, if you’ve been hard on yourself because you find yourself here, as a beginner, may today you know that God’s heart is tender towards you. He is a kind and compassionate Shepherd. Let’s read Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV).

²⁸ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Let’s pray.

Jesus, You see the ache in our hearts to join You in Your mission.

We know that You created us with a purpose and that the plan You have for us is good.

Help us to trust You and yield willingly to Your patient guidance.

Remind us that You smile when You look at us, even through our faltering beginnings.

Amen.

Freeman, Emily P.The Next Right Thing: A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions. Revell: 2019.