Getting Outside the Missionary Bubble
Do you ever find yourself in a situation where everyone you know is a Christian? There have been times in my missionary life when ministry demands and family needs were intense. I found myself in situations where I had almost no contact with unsaved people. What do we do when this happens? What do we need to do? To be Great Commission Christians, we must intentionally stay connected with lost people. Jesus did.
How many close relationships do you have with those who don’t yet know the Lord? Go ahead. Stop for a moment and count them.
Jesus, our Master and model, was extremely proactive about engaging with sinners. He consistently made time for them. The Lord regularly stopped and noticed those who were broken…those who were seeking. As missionaries, no matter what our particular ministry role is, we are called to be intentional about loving lost people. We prove how much we love the lost by how much time we invest in knowing and relating to them.
My Unsuccessful List-Making Attempt
We had just moved…yet again. Missionary life seems to be full of transitions. My life certainly has been! I was in a new location and starting to settle in. Missionary colleagues were kindly helping our family get oriented to our new location. We attended meetings for our organization regularly. I was busy with my family and setting up our home.
Around this time, I attended a training related to our church planting and coaching work. In the seminar, the speaker asked us to write down a list of all the lost people we knew. I drew a blank! My mind searched and searched again, for names of people around me who were not yet saved. After a few long minutes, I came up with two or three. We were to write down at least twenty!
It was a major wake-up call. I am passionate about reaching the unreached, speaking and teaching about it. I challenged and mobilized others toward the Great Commission…but here I was, with only three names on my list! I needed to get active in building real relationships with those who didn’t yet know Christ.
The next day I took out my calendar and scheduled time to engage with my new neighbors. I started praying for people whose names I didn’t yet know. In the following days, I was intentional about getting their names and starting new conversations.
It wasn’t long before I had a growing list of people I was reaching out to in my daily life. I looked for opportunities to share Christ with them. Soon, one of them put her faith in Jesus!
Jesus Sought Out Lost People
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Luke 19:10 NIV
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I love the story that precedes this verse! Jesus is walking along the road, passing through the town of Jericho. I wonder where He was going that day…what plans He had already made?
His plans changed that day! As He walks along, He notices a sinner in a tree. “Zaccheus, come down. I want to hang out with you today!” (This is my paraphrase, as I imagine this.) Jesus made time. He noticed. He engaged.
How often do I pass by and not even look at the people around me? Maybe I don’t even notice those who are seeking to know more about God. Those who are interested in my life? In the Jesus I represent?
3 Things We Can Learn to “Be”
1. Be intentional about seeking after the lost.
The natural flow of life as Christians and missionaries often takes us away from lost people, rather than moving us toward them. It is easy to get busy with ministry, meetings, and lots of good Christian activities. These are all good, but they can take us out of contact with those who don’t yet know the Lord.
To engage with lost people, we must be proactive. Plan time for engaging with unbelievers. Put it in your calendar. Think about a club or group you could join in your community. Is there something that would put you into more contact with the lost? Do they play football somewhere? Instead of playing with Christians, you could intentionally join a football club made up of non-believers. (I like to call them pre-believers).
Take that extra five minutes at the store to chat with the clerk who is serving you. Be intentional! There are hundreds of ways to engage further than we normally do.
2. Be flexible and willing to adjust your plans and schedule.
I make a point of prioritizing those who don’t know Jesus over meetings with those who are already “saved.” This is appropriate. Wouldn’t you focus on someone who was drowning in a pool, over talking to someone who was safely relaxing in their lounge chair beside the pool?
We must let our hearts be filled with a fresh sense of urgency about relating to lost people. They truly are drowning in brokenness and sin. Ask God to open your eyes to see them as He does. Like Jesus, let’s be willing to alter our plans to make time and respond to the hunger and needs of people around us. It may cost us something to do this, but it is well worth it!
3. Be available and give time to knowing lost people.
How available are you to give time to the lost? Is your schedule crammed full? So much so that you have no spare time to love and relate to broken people? There are many instances where I have been guilty of this! Regularly check your level of availability to the lost around you. This is especially true if you are an introvert with a high task orientation (like me!).
People will judge whether or not you love them by how available you are to them. Do you take time to listen well? To notice and observe those around you? To invite someone in for a cup of tea?
Burst the Bubble!
It is easy to live inside a Christian or missionary bubble. Everyone inside that bubble already knows Jesus. It is where we spend our time…where we feel comfortable. Our needs are met there. We love and we serve our Christian friends. Nothing wrong with that!
We need to step out of the bubble though. Noticing the bubble exists is the first step. Then, we must take action to break it, to open our lives up to a broader group of people.
What will you do this week to engage with lost people? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below or the Missionary Life Facebook group.