I think oftentimes we miss the deeper adventures life has to offer because we are unwilling to go places we have never been and take risks we have never taken for a cause or mission that is outside of ourselves.
In January of this year my family began an adventure; we started Open Life (www.livinglifeopen.com), a church that is passionately focused on leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus. We set out to reshape the culture of community by being a blessing to our city, to serve the community through any door that opened and the risk we have taken and now lead dozens of others on … leaving the church to impact the unchurched.
In a region of our world that boasts that 96 percent of people are not engaged in any faith, how can we make an impact if we, the 4 percent, are unwilling to get out of the church and into the world. We must find ourselves within the 96 percent…loving, serving and being the very expression of the message we have for generations shouted from the sidelines. We believe you can make a greater difference from within the culture vs. attempting to make an impact from outside of it.
Jesus’ final prayer recorded in the Bible in John 17:18 (NLT) says this: “Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.”
Jesus has called us to be in the world, to leave the protection of the 4 percent to learn from, listen to and love on the one. You will find a new culture of church arising from within the community. One that prioritized being present in the lives of their neighbors over another Bible study or gathering. A church that values what happens outside a building, that meets in the marketplace and turns on the light of hope from within the messiness of normal life. A people determined to live life open, fully engaged, full of love. A people who will not give up on the 80,000 who are within our community who have yet to experience a relationship with Jesus.
What have we learned so far? We have learned that Jesus is still calling the religious to drop their stones and encourage people to live out hope and freedom. In scripture when Jesus was given the chance to cast judgment by stoning an adulteress, he called the religious leaders of his day to drop their stones and called the woman to live a life forgiven and free from sin. But still today, while driving down state Route 410 just a couple of weeks ago, I noticed the windows of Peek-a-Brew had been bashed by a rock. Throwing stones is not the way to lead change…kindness transforms. That is why our church reached out in an act of love and gave them $60 toward the repair of their window. That might seem insignificant to you, but try being the one they are throwing stones at. How about we drop the stones, engage in community and be the authentic light this world is longing for.
