5 Ways to Love the House Next Door
A while ago, I ran across an absolutely fascinating doctoral thesis. Now there is an oxymoron – “fascinating doctoral thesis!?!” But it was! It was titled “Blessers versus Converters.” The study was based on two teams of missionaries that both went to Thailand. The biggest difference was that they went to Thailand with two distinctly different missional strategies.
The first team, “the converters” went with the sole intention of converting people or evangelizing everyone around them.
The second team, “the blessers” went with the intention of “blessing” people. They would say, “I’m just here to bless whoever comes my way” OR “I just want to be a blessing to the people in my community”.
The study followed them for a couple years and here is what they discovered:
First of all, they discovered that that the “blessers” had a greater social impact than the “converters.” Their intention of blessing the people and the community around them resulted in tremendous amounts of “social betterment and social good.”
Secondly, and here is what was so surprising - they discovered that the first team of “blessers” also had almost 50 times as many conversions as the “converters”! The “blessers” helped 50 times more people find their way back to God!
Bottom line? The best way to accomplish the Jesus mission of reaching and restoring is to be a “blesser!”
So, how do we intentionally become a “blesser”? Let’s follow Jesus’ example. This isn't new. It isn't what Jon or any person has created. This is what God has called us to. This isn't a program of the church. This is the identity of followers of Jesus. You don't need permission to become a blessing. You don't need to go to Seminary to be a blessing. This isn't for the select few! This is for EVERYONE who says that they are in God's Family.
Blessing is our Family Business.
SO, here are 5 Ways to Love the House Next Door
B-L-E-S-S
B = Begin w Prayer
“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” -2 Corinthians 5:18-21 NIV
Every interaction we encounter has the potential to change a life. The most valuable tool we can put to use is prayer. We need to pray for those around us - pray for our interactions - pray for wisdom - pray for understanding - pray for connection - and pray for God to be glorified!
When we pray, our prayers for our own needs must decrease, and names must be added.
L = Listen
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. (James 1:19 NIV)
Are you QUICK to listen & SLOW to speak?
“Listening is an attitude of the heart, a genuine desire to be with another which both attracts and heals." -Sura Hart via Respectful Parents, Respectful Kids
“To answer before listening— that is folly and shame.” - Proverbs 18:13 NIV)
“Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.” - Proverbs 17:28
“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” -Stephen Covey
E = Eat
There are three ways the New Testament completes the sentence,
“The Son of Man came . . .”
“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” - Matthew 20:28
“The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” - Luke 19:10
“The Son of Man has come eating and drinking . . .” - Luke 7:34
These first two are WHY Jesus came. The third is HOW Jesus came. Eating with people was not peripheral to the ministry of Jesus, it was central. Eating is also not a minor theme of the Bible, it is threaded all throughout.
In Luke 5, Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners at the home of Matthew. In Luke 7, Jesus is anointed at the home of Simon the Pharisee during a meal. In Luke 9, Jesus feeds the five thousand. In Luke 10, Jesus eats in the home of Martha and Mary. In Luke 11, Jesus condemns the Pharisees and teachers of the law at a meal. In Luke 14, Jesus is at a meal when he urges people to invite the poor to their meals rather than their friends. In Luke 19, Jesus invites himself to dinner with Zacchaeus. In Luke 22, we have the account of the Last Supper. In Luke 24, the risen Christ has a meal with the two disciples in Emmaus, and then later eats fish with the disciples in Jerusalem.
One scholar puts it this way - “In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal.”
“As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” -Matthew 9:9-13
When we EAT like Jesus - when we steward meals the way He did - the Table becomes a space where MERCY reigns. The Table becomes a space where the broken are healed. The Table becomes a space where children are listened to, a space where everyone's voice and story matter, a space where the idolization of resumes and accolades disintegrate, a space where neighbors and brothers and sisters gather. It’s the great common ground people long to experience.
S = Serve
"It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him." -John 13:1-5
Think about this! This is literally unprecedented. Nowhere in the ancient world is there any recording of a Master or King doing this and here's why:
At the entrance to every Jewish home was a large pot of water to wash dirty feet. Normally, foot washing was the duty of the lowliest slave. When guests came, he had to go to the door and wash their feet--not a pleasant task. Even the disciples of rabbis were not to wash the feet of their masters--that was uniquely the task of a slave." -Pastor John MacArthur
On the last night of his ministry, Jesus demonstrated what greatness in the the Kingdom looks like. You become last. You go lower. You descend into greatness.
S = Share
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” -1 Peter 3:15
Share your story w gentleness and respect. Connect with people, then share what God has done and is doing in your life.
Now GO! Go and BLESS! Go and reproduce what God is doing in your life into the lives of others. Go and Redefine Church in your school, your neighborhood and in your work place.
Go and Redefine Church on every street and in every home because wherever you are, that's where the church just showed up! Be a “Blesser”!