The idea of missional living can be overwhelming at times. Don’t worry, its normal to feel overwhelmed, and to be honest, it should worry us if we don’t feel overwhelmed. Redeeming relationships, living on mission, and investing into eternity is a weighty calling. In fact, it is hard to know where to even start!
What steps do we take, how do we accomplish this, what does it look like? Well, to aid us in the process of mission living, we have created phases for what it might look like. It is important to remember that missional living will not look the same for everyone; it didn’t in Scripture. However, we hope these phases serve as a guide that the Holy Spirit will use to move us to live on mission with Him in the most effective manner possible.
|
Phases |
Goals |
Jesus’ Example |
|
1) Enter |
Identify your people group. · Pray that God would reveal a particular group of people that you can be intentional with. · Think of the people you regularly come into contact with – the gym, coffee shop, work, social club… etc. · Focus on one group of people that you connect with and feel God is leading you to. |
John 4:3-6 |
|
2) Engage |
Identify specific people in your people group that you will pour into. · Pray that God would reveal specific people in your target group that you can get to know on a personal level. · Think of 1-5 people that you naturally connect with or think you could connect with. · What is their social class – lower, middle, upper? · What stage of life are they in – student, single, married, career, parents, retired? · What language do they speak – babies, philosophy, sports, technology, novels, history, art, finance? |
John 4:7-9 |
|
3) Explore |
Begin to cultivate intentional relationships with these specific people. · Pray that God would give you favor with these specific people and that you would be able to serve them well. · Be intentional - dinner, movies, coffee, checkers… etc. · Get to know them – where do they live, work, and play? · Listen to their story – what drives them, what do they value, what do they do for fun, where are they hurting? · Write down the info that you gather from them and start praying for them regularly. |
John 4:10-18 |
|
4) Express
|
Begin to transition to spiritual conversation. · Pray that God would open doors for spiritual conversation that would lead to the gospel. · What role has God played in their life? · What do they think of when they hear the word, “church”? · What do they think of when they hear the name, “Jesus”? |
John 4:19-24 |
|
5) Empower |
Begin to equip and encourage. · Pray that God would speak through you as you equip and encourage them with Scripture and the gospel. · Explain the gospel and the big picture of Scripture to them. · Invite them to believe the gospel and enter into a right relationship with God. · Take them through an 8-week study of Philippians or Colossians. · As you continue to equip them, encourage them to identify their own target people group and to go through this process with others in their life. |
John 4:25-42 |
[...] Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that we are taking people through the 4 laws, the bridge illustration, and tracks in between sets on the bench press or the treadmill. It could in some cases, but in general it means that we take advantage of divine appointments with the people around us and point them to Jesus. This is the heart of missional living. Stay tuned for some practical steps in Missional Living Part 2. [...]