There are prominent bluffs in the middle of my city where I have gone at times to get perspective and pray. One particular day I needed to escape from the traffic and busyness. After a short hike to the bluffs I looked over my city. Instead of just a beautiful view God gave me different lenses to see my city that day. I saw the pain, the issues and the weight people were living under. I am not usually a cry-er, but that day I wept for my city.
\nUp to that point I was only renting space in my city. It was where I worked, had a mailbox and stored my stuff. I lived in a house, but it wasn\u2019t home. I tried to escape my city twice in the name of \u201ca call to serve people somewhere else.\u201d God let me fail both times. I\u2019m so glad He did.
\nWe only hear of Jesus weeping twice in Scripture: once over a dead friend, and once over a dying city. After the crowds laid palm branches beneath the donkey on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem, he looked over a divided city and took on its pain. He saw the issues and knew the division Jerusalem would always face.
\nDo you weep for the brokenness in your city? Maybe you\u2019ll never cry physical tears for your place, but the pain and divisions in our cities should grieve us and move us to compassion. Places mattered to Jesus, and they should matter to us.
\nThe place you already live is the most obvious, but most overlooked, place to start ministry. Jesus\u2019 ministry was rooted within a very small area. He didn\u2019t travel over oceans like Paul did; Jesus chose to spend His life in an area the size of New Jersey. You\u2019re not a failure if you don\u2019t grow up and move out to a grand place. You can live your life in a small radius and make a big impact.<\/p>\n
\nMaybe you\u2019ll never cry physical tears for your place, but the pain and divisions in our cities should grieve us and move us to compassion.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
When rightly applied, the gospel propels us in an outward direction. The church was born to a Spirit-filled group of disciples who expected to see the gospel spread from their place to the whole world: \u201cYou will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth\u201d<\/em> (Acts 1:8). We are invited to be sent ones, taking on Jesus\u2019 mission to seek and save the lost\u2014but also taking on Jesus\u2019 incarnational posture. Here are some things to stay focused on as you aim to live incarnationally.<\/p>\nStart local.<\/h2>\n
In the ministry of Jesus, the work of the disciples, and the historic spread of the gospel, we see a local faith that went global. Without local witness, a region can never hear the gospel, and our world can never catch fire for Jesus. Without compassion for the people in our places we will never be moved to action. Gospel presence must start in our front yards.<\/p>\n
\nYou\u2019re not a failure if you don\u2019t grow up and move out to a grand place. You can live your life in a small radius and make a big impact.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Think context, not conquest.<\/h2>\n
We must learn to take the role of spiritual investigators, scouring our communities for clues of how and why it functions. Our world doesn\u2019t need religious conquistadors looking to overtake their city through conquest, but instead local missionaries who want to love and serve Jesus in their particular context. We need love, true incarnation, that mirrors the compassion of Jesus.<\/p>\n
Start with compassion, not strategy.<\/h2>\n
Often we get stalled in long strategy sessions or look to find perfect methods of disciple making. There\u2019s no perfect strategy to start loving your place and its people, but at some point we all must learn to join the journey. Loving our place and the people who reside there will naturally lead us to contextualize our ministry methods. Our focus will shift from practicing strategy on people to feeling the texture of their souls and stories. When we draw near to people we get the privilege of seeing their hurt and joy up close. Jon Tyson says, \u201cThe only thing that can sustain incarnational ministry is love.\u201d No matter how you are wired, you can learn to engage with the people in your place with the love of Jesus. Digging deep with people in your place isn\u2019t about being an introvert or an extrovert; it\u2019s about being a child of God.<\/p>\n
\nLoving our place and the people who reside there will naturally lead us to contextualize our ministry methods.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Whether we start with love for a people or love for a place, we must all learn to see the people around us with the compassion of Jesus. May our hearts break for what is already broken in our places.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are prominent bluffs in the middle of my city where I have gone at times …<\/p>\n
Staying is the New Going – The Need<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1384,"template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"content-type":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"channels":[],"topics":[176,167,223,224,225,171,217,218,219,163,227,228,229,230,173,9],"languages":[],"class_list":["post-1383","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource_type-article","topics-church-planter-care","topics-church-planting","topics-cultural-context","topics-cultural-context-church-planter-care","topics-cultural-context-pastor-church-leadership","topics-evangelism","topics-kingdom","topics-kingdom-church-planter-care","topics-kingdom-pastor-church-leadership","topics-missional-engagement","topics-missional-engagement-church-planting","topics-missional-engagement-church-planter-care","topics-missional-engagement-pastor-church-leadership","topics-missional-engagement-evangelism","topics-pastor-church-leadership","topics-planter-wives"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStaying is the New Going - 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