Going 'missional'

Copy of a letter written to a dear friend who is also a pastor, who by his own admission spends a lot of time in his office preparing sermons...

I have been reflecting on your response to my earlier dictum 'a congregation can only go where you yourself are going' (or however it was I said it).

Your response is typical for the situation most people in church find themselves in. Their family and extended family commitments are just too huge to sacrifice additional 'personal' time to fit 'missional' responsibilities in.
I agree. The time has to come from somewhere other than 'personal/family' time. 

As busy as Jesus was in his ministry, it would appear from a superficial reading of the gospels that his ministry and mentoring, his being 'out there' for the sake of others - was during working hours (i.e. '9 am to 6 pm' as opposed to '6 pm to 9 am'). There were exceptions to that rule (i.e. his encounter with Nicodemus in John 3 and of course his crucifixion) but for the most part his being out there was 9 to 6.  The rest was personal time and most especially devotional time...
So you're being 'missional' by example, in activity as well as in word - would have to happen during office hours.

As you know I am speaking from experience.  My relationship with homeless and street people happens at the expense of office time, during my 'peak efficiency' hours, ie. the hours in which I am being paid to work at insurance!
As you know, it started slowly. It was an hour here, an hour there. It was gradual not only for my sake but the sake of those 'strangers' who in befriending would have to endure their own issues in learning how to relate with me.

Do you remember that 'Third Wave' message we heard at one of the recent Willowcreek Summits?
The minister talked about the allocation of his work time 70/30 - how it used to be that he'd spend 70% of his time preparing for the Sunday services and 30% of his time 'out there mentoring' and how those proportions had been reversed so that 70% of his time was being spent 'out there mentoring' and 30% on sermon preparation?
I remember you coming to me afterwards admitting to being really challenged by that message and asking me to help you move in that direction.

This is my response, albeit nearly 4 years later, delayed in part because of some necessary learning on my part...

For you to reverse the 70/30 to 30/70 (ratio of sermon prep to mentoring - which in your case a different % might apply):

It has to be local and yet outside your usual church responsibilities. It has to be outside your comfort zone but not too far outside your comfort zone. That will come later.
An example - visiting the local bank will give you occasion to connect with people who struggle to survive. It is a great way to meet immigrants, individuals who for reasons of culture or religion are church adverse. Going to a church based food bank other than our own also builds inter-church relations which is essential for the church (both ours and theirs) to have any meaningful social impact.

The rule of thumb is to do things you're not paid to do. And using your work hours, your best hours, your usual 'in the office' hours to do it. A hour will be enough some days, other days it may stretch into two. What you are aiming for is something easily replicated by those who follow you. For our real teaching is in getting people to imitate what we are ourselves are doing.
Again, thinking of the congregation, the most they will be able to give initially to 'missional' activity will be an hour here, an hour there. It may start with the weekly commitment to spend their lunch hour befriending a street person, or visiting a person in hospital who is outside their faith and family, or engaging in a conversation with a perfect stranger at Tim Horton's. 
They'll only do it if they see their leader doing it. From my life-long church experience and in other instances since in social agency settings, people only go as far as they are lead. There are exceptions, like a Stephen (Acts 7), but they are all too rare...

There is very little you or I can do within the confines of our office which is replicable. By staying in our offices we give those who follow us nothing to imitate. This is contrary to the example of Jesus. It was what he did 'outside' that gave his disciples something to replicate. That is how we teach, that is how we mentor.
Not that you have to talk about it. You are not doing this for the sake of boasting, you are doing it for the sake of obedience. For biblical living is the end result of obedience, indeed an obedience which for the most part we are commanded to do in secret. So if anything, you are doing it not to talk about it but to give authority and credence to your words when you ask others to do the same.

I tell you in all confidence and humility, most of what I do, nobody knows about. It doesn't show up on a blog, it is literally hidden. Where it becomes visible is in situations when I have to ask the same of others, or in situations which call for public activity i.e. speaking at a rally, giving a talk to high school students, leading a discussion group involving only marginalized people, or encountering a street person as the two of us did in a Windsor coffee shop on our way back from Chicago.

For you to reverse the 70/30 to 30/70 will not happen overnight. It may not get beyond 50/50. No matter.

The rest I pass on, friend to friend, simply because essential to your transition is how it will impact the relationships that matter most in your life.

My own experience with poor people has actually affected my closest relationships for the better. Without exception. It helps me connect with my kids in conversations of substance - not only about social issues, but also about faith, Jesus and what obedience to God looks like. They go no further than the way I live my life to get a glimpse of what Jesus calls us to. It adds a vital ingredient to all meaningful relationships - PERSPECTIVE.
Even more than that, it has helped our marriage - once I got beyond the stage of talking about homelessness all the time! I still talk about it far too much but in general, the more I do, the more it is known about me, and the less that needs to be said. It's as though one becomes marked by it...
From an insurance standpoint, it has increased my work efficiency and may even have affected its quality for the better. I don't know, in this I may be deluded. It seems that way.

There are things it affects the other way as well, but that would take another epistle.

Love,
John

If you want to build a ship

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work. Rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.   Antoine De Saint Exupery


If the Son set you free, you are free indeed. John 8:36


You are either alive and proud or you are dead,
And when you are dead, you don't care anyway.
And your method of death can itself be a politicizing thing.
So you die in the riots.
For a hell of a lot of them, in fact, there's really nothing to lose -
almost literally, given the kind of situations they come from.
So if you can overcome the personal fear of death,
which is a highly irrational thing, you know,
then you're on the way.    Steve Biko

Following God is spoken of in two very contrasting ways.
It is an invitation to come and die and an invitation to come and live.
It is an invitation to forsake all and an invitation to living abundantly.
It is to live in obedience to only One and it is to be a servant to those around you.

Most of us live as though it is one or the other.
Few of us live longing for 'the endless immensity' of God.
Without such longing, our religion is false and our witness to His Presence lifeless.