Missional Vocation: In the Community

by Natalie McLaury

If you ask those around me to describe me, you’ll get a lot of different answers. My siblings will tell you that I’m a little bossy and a lot protective of them. My co-workers will tell you that I’m dependable and willing to tackle any project. My friends will tell you that I love to cook and bake, especially in their company. Ryan will tell you that I’m happiest when I’m running and that I tend to steal the covers. These various groups of people all see me differently, but hopefully they’d all also mention my love for the Lord and my commitment to my faith.

But what about those people who don’t know me? The ones who catch glimpses of me and the way I live my life? The pharmacist at Walgreens might mention how impatient I seemed. My neighbors might tell you I’ve never once said “hi” or asked how their day is going. The security guard at work might speak of my frown. I doubt any of them might think there’s something noticeably different about me, something that might make them think I belong to Jesus.

Don’t be misled. No Christian is meant to be happy and overtly kind one hundred percent of the time. But have you ever stopped to think about the way you live those little moments in your life? In all our communities, we have the opportunity to interact with a vast group of people on a regular basis. Every trip to the grocery story, every walk to the mailbox, every traffic jam on the highway, we find ourselves with people who don’t know the intricacies of our personalities like our families, co-workers, and friends do. Our interactions with the members of our extended community are often brief and fleeting. How can we, as Christians, make an impact on those people?

To live missionally requires a certain attitude and mindset. We’re human. We don’t wake up eager to let someone cut into our checkout lane, to have a conversation with the man behind the counter, to pay for the person in line behind us. Actions like this require humility and bravery. But God equips us for moments like this, especially if we ask him. As we begin to string these moments together, eventually we can live lives that stand out, lives that cause strangers to stop and question our motives. It is then that we can plant seeds and begin to share God’s love and grace with those in our communities.

Hebrews 13:20-21 “Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”