good day I was really bummed when I found out that um Nikki Gumble was speaking at this conference cuz I don't have the most beautiful Accent on the platform I don't want that happening again okay Hey listen I was speaking at a at a church here in um in the United States and uh uh there's a church has become kind of very much engaged with the whole missional conversation and uh they're trying to kind of uh move their their Community into a a commitment to a deeper missional engagement in their neighborhood and so on and
so forth and I happened to be in their town and they invited me to speak on their Sunday morning service and after it was over the first guy to come and talk to me was an older man and he said to me um he said look I got some problems about this whole missional kind of gig quite frankly it's like i' a bit I'm a bit anxious about what's happening ever since our church started talking about being missional we don't do evangelism anymore and I said well then your church hasn't got any clue what it
means to be missional it just seems to me as though there's been come some kind of Trend in in various churches to to reduce being missional to Simply uh acts of kindness and service and relationship building in their neighborhood but my friends if we don't ever get an opportunity to announce the name of Jesus and declare that he is King and rules over all and demands allegiance of every man woman and child then we are not being missional have you heard those folks that like to quote s Francis of aisi uh preach the gospel always
and if necessary use words the only people that ever quote that to me are people who don't ever use any words it's kind of like this is our our way out like my whole life is just preaching the gospel but I don't actually ever declare anything or say anything folks that's not missional are you with me uh in fact uh David Bosch the great um uh South African myologist in response to that quote from St Francis said this of course words are necessary unexplained deeds in themselves do not constitute the mission of God's people unexplained
deeds in themselves do not constitute the mission of God's people now I think it is magnificent that the church which was once so removed and detached and so devoted to an attractional Model come to us to get the kind of the religious goods and services has come to a point where there is a rediscovery of incarnational living of Acts of service and kindness of a recognition of Justice as a demonstration of the reign of God as a commitment to peacemaking and placemaking and friendship building absolutely delighted by it in fact I did my best to
try to initiate that conversation in our churches but if that comes at the expense of us actually articulating or speaking about the lordship of Jesus then it does not in itself constitute the mission of God's people I want you to turn to Colossians chapter 2 because I think Paul here gives us a really nice model of what it means for us to be Evangelistic and Mission people in the context in which he places us uh Colossians 4: 2-6 it's quite a Charming invocation to the congregation to pray for him and he says this devote yourselves
to prayer being watchful and thankful and pray for us too that God may open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ for which I am in Chains pray that I may Proclaim it clearly as I should be wise in the way you act toward Outsiders make the most of every opportunity let your conversation always be full of grace seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer everyone now it occurs to me that In this passage explicitly and then throughout many other sections of Pauling literature implicitly
Paul seems to when it comes to the Evangelistic mission of God's people seems to believe that that we should take a a two-pronged approach on the one hand it seems that Paul has a very clear sense that there are certain people within the faith community of Jesus who are gifted as evangelists and there's no question from the way he speaks about himself that he sees himself in that particular category there are gifted evangelists and very in many cases such as himself they have a translocal kind of calling their job is to travel throughout the regions
preaching and proclaiming Christ I think Paul also sees that in that category the gifted evangelist there are local evangelists as well do you recall when he speaks to Timothy or writes to Timothy and says do the work of the Evangelist as a local Pastor rooted and anchored in a particular Church in a particular Community have a local expression as being the gifted evangelist and clearly in this particular passage our responsibility uh in the church for those particular people the gifted evangelists is that we are to pray firstly that they have opportunities to exercise that gift
second we should pray that they are bold in seizing those opportunities this is what he asks the Colossians to pray for him pray that I'll have opportunities to Proclaim it pray that I will be bold in taking those opportunities and then the third thing he asks is pray that I might have Clarity in the way I present Christ now if Paul assumed that was the job that every single one of the Believers in the Church of colos should fulfill why does he not then say Oh and by the way I'll be praying the same thing
for you I'll be praying that you have lots of opportunities for the gospel and you will boldly step into them and proclaim the gospel with clarity but he doesn't having just coveted their prayers for the gifted evangelists To Boldly proclaim the gospel with Clarity he immediately rather than suggesting you should do the same thing he then says and for you here's what I want you to do I want you to be wise in the way you conduct yourself to Outsiders I want you to make the most of every opportunity to have social relationships with people
I want you to let your conversation be full of grace I want you to know how to answer everyone here's my point I don't think Paul thinks that we're all evangelists and I don't think that Paul thinks that we should all be trying to put our foot in the door and prize open opportunities to boldly proclaim the gospel to people I think Paul thinks that there are peculiar people in our midst who are gifted to do that either translocally or locally but for most of us I think what he sees when it comes to evangelism
is that our primary mode of proclaiming the Gospel will not be with boldness and Clarity in kind of public settings I think he thinks that the primary way we will speak about Jesus will be in response to people's questions you find the same thing in First Peter chapter 3 don't you where Peter says always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in you you see if you are an evangelist whether as a local church leader or a translocal evangelist I'm going to be praying for you you have lots and lots of
opportunities whether it's meeting Muslims on airplanes or proclaiming in public settings or uh engaging in the Public Square in some way I want you to seize every opportunity I want you to be bold in your Proclamation and you'd better get the gospel clear so that people can understand it but for most of us I want you to answer people's questions about Jesus which implies what which implies that we in some way are living lives worth questioning this is your primary Evangelistic Mission live a questionable life nobody is going to ask ask you about the hope
that is in you no one is going to respond with questions about who you are or how you live or what you're doing if you live just like all the other Suburban middle class people in this country if you spend the same amount of money on a house as they spend if you live in the same neighborhood as they live in if you take the same vacations that they take if you renovate your kitchen in the same way that they do if you have the same views that they have live the same way that they
live if you spend money the same way that they do if your life looks exactly the same as theirs what would they possibly ask you about my friends I am not going to force you to be a gifted evangelist if you're not I'm not asking you to to find an evang Cube or a fake survey or I don't want you to kind of dish up some like drawings on a nap if that's just not your box and dice I'm not forcing neither does Paul the if I could put it this way average Evangelistic believer into
having to be a bold proclaimer there are people uniquely gifted and qualified for that pray for them but for the rest of us here's what I want you to do live a life that evokes Curiosity live a life that arouses questions live live a life that is so freaking weird people want and that's a good use of the term freaking don't you think so freaking weird that your tattoo artists wants to know who you are that your kids friends parents want your kids at the party you can say well I'm not gifted like Hugh and
I'm not I'm not that kind of person what kind of person is that it's just the kind of person that lives a life so exquisitly differently to the rest of suburban America that people want to know who the heck are you and at that point you need to declare the gospel no question but my friends they aren't asking you are they they're not intrigued by you are they and they're not intrigued by the members of your congregation either and yet my friends this is how we the Christian Movement subverted and conquered the Roman Empire was
it not we did not subvert and conquer the Roman Empire by Dawn knocking and by literature distribution we conquered and subverted the Roman Empire by living such an extraordinarily exquisitely alternate lifestyle we literally transformed history do you know that in the 4th Century the emperor of Rome a guy called Julian the apostate became so concerned that the Christian Movement was subverting and taking over the Empire that he sent a directive out to all his officials Roman governors right throughout the Empire saying we are in trouble we are going to lose control of this Empire if
we do not stop these Christians from what preaching in the in the marketplace door knocking Evangel cubing what was his big concern about them that these Christians actually feed people who are not part of their assemblies or Gatherings these people tend the CRA the graves of the Dead who are not part of their religion these people practice hospitality and take strange into their homes these people treat their their their wives as their sisters these people treat slaves as their brothers he delineates all the evil things that the Christians are doing and because they're doing them
Romans are falling into their religion in droves we transformed the Empire by living such a freaky weird life in such a way that no Roman had ever seen it before every man had three women a wife to Bear him Sons a concubine for sex and a mistress to be seen in public with slaves were treated unspeakably terribly we treated women as chatt we cared not for the poor we had no interest in Hospitality in hospices in hospitals we didn't heal people we didn't care for people it was Doggy Dog it was Men on top it
was only the strong survived and then Along Comes Christians followers of Jesus and we healed the sick and we fed the hungry and we treated women as equals and whether you are pagan or Jewish or otherwise you're welcome into our table you ate our food you drank our wine we tendered you while you were sick we cared for your grave if you died and Julian the apostate writes to all the Roman governors and says we're going to lose control of the Empire if these people keep doing this and here was his directive don't stop them
because if you stop them they would be outrage wouldn't they he says to all the Roman governors I want you to outlo the galileans build better hospitals feed more hungry people take care of the Lost and the lonely and the slave well guess what that didn't work why didn't that work because you can't make a pagan Governor love someone it's not a Christian strategy is it folks we are filled with the Holy Spirit of love and my friends in the first century second third fourth centuries when Christians lived like that it was so intriguing so
outrageous so unlikely so unheard of of so bizarre so countercultural that of course people availed themselves of that hospitality and of course they then said why do you do this and of course they declared the lordship of Jesus are you with me my friends being a fine upstanding middle class suburban American is not intriguing paying your taxes putting your kids in private schools keeping a nice clean house waving politely to the neighbors it's not questionable my friends we need to learn to discover what it looks like to live so culturally people will want to know
who the heck are you do you remember in in Titus Chapter 2 Paul writes to Titus saying here's what I want to tell here's what I want you to tell tell your churches to do and then he's got this big long directive do you remember you know your Bibles well enough to remember this old women don't slander don't drink too much wine uh young men be self-controlled slaves don't steal from your Masters do you remember this big long directive old men young men old women young women slaves you got this big long list of ethics
and an alternate lifestyle they should lead now when you first read it you think to yourself but Paul like you the guy was set free from from law free from Jewish law why are you instituting now another law like a like a Christian set of laws until you get to verse 10 where Paul says if you live this way you will make attractive the gospel of God our savior or in some versions it's you will Adorn the gospel preaching why will we live this way Paul you old women will not slander your husbands and drink
too much wine because every old woman does that you young men will be self-controlled why because no Roman man lives like that you slaves you won't steal from your Masters or humiliate them any chance you have because every slave does that it's bizarre it's questionable it's intriguing my friends this I believe is the primary missional imperative placed upon all believers evangelists have their peculiar role but for the rest of us if no one's asking you any questions you're doing it wrong and I don't just mean you're a pastor and so you work in Starbucks for
the free WiFi and coffee it's not intriguing guys sorry I'm saying you need to turn your neighborhood upside down by loving the Earth by loving your neighbors by loving the outcast by speaking on behalf of the voiceless not because we're social workers not because we have some left-wing political agenda but because these are the values of the reign of God and when God's people live like this the most natural thing for the unbeliever to do is to say why and that is the opportunity Paul desires for you more than anything when someone asks you why
years ago and Alan H and I were writing a book called The shaping of things to come we were in San Francisco trying to sniff out some missional projects and um a number of people told us that we should go to the Subterranean shoe room which is a shoe store in the Mission District of San Francisco now we were looking for missional projects not shoe stores but people were so insist that we check it out that we went along there and we discovered the Subterranean shoe room was a shoe store run by a former Southern
Baptist Church planter who' moved to the Mission District he loved shoes obsessed apparently with shoes and so he thought on the side you know this would be his kind of business entry into the neighborhood so he opened this very funky little um uh shoe store called the Subterranean shoe room Alan hsh and I we walk in there it's just a room with with shelves everywhere shoes everywhere and a long Chase Lounge down the middle of the room we walk in he asks can he help us we said we're not actually here for any shoes uh
he looked at our feet and said you could do with some shoes but we said we're here cuz someone told us this is some kind of missional thing that you've got going on here oh he said I don't know about that I'm just a shoe store guy he said but I do do a little something a little different from most shoe store owners we said well what do you do he said well when people come into my shoe store they're looking at shoes and I like any shoe store attendant go over and I say can
I help you and you say what everyone always says to a shoe store attendant um I'm okay I'm just just looking he said at that point I will say to them well if you have the time and you'd like to join me on the lounge if you'd like to share with me your life story I'll tell you what kind of shoes you're looking for he says customers kind of go all right he said some people can tell me their life story in like 5 minutes some like 25 minutes I was born here I was raised
there I went to school here my dad did this my mom did that I'm divorced I'm straight I'm gay I'm Christian I'm a doctor I'm a lawyer out comes their whole life story sometimes it comes out with tears and people sharing stuff they've never shared before so there they just tell unburden themselves of their whole life story and then because I know shoes he said I mean I love shoes so when you've told me your whole life story I do know what kind of shoes a person like you would wear so after you've shared with
me your life story I then say to you wait right here I select a pair of shoes and I say is this what you're looking for and you see after they've opened their lives to me they're like a little raar so they usually look at the shoes and say that's exactly what I'm looking [Applause] for so he said I like I sell a lot of shoes but then he says on the way out while we're like uh we we're completing the transaction they say to me who are you he says I'm a shoe store guy
no no no no like like seriously really who are you no I'm a shoe store no you're like you're like some kind of like Buddhist Guru kind of sort of masquerading as a shoe store no I'm you're like a psychiatrist who decided to no I'm just a you're like like like seriously who are you he said at that point we get talking and he said since I became a shoe store guy who listens I've been invited to more parties weddings Bar Mitzvah divorce celebrations s he says I've spoken to people about Jesus aund times more
since I became a surprising shoe store guy than when I ever was a Southern Baptist Church planter even if you've got tattoos even if you look kind of cool no one's surprised when you tell them that you're a church planter no one gives a no one cares seriously if that's as surprising as you get no one's going to ask but I'll tell you what in a city where apparently no one gets listened to if you sit on a chase land and listen to them that's intriguing a few years ago I was in uh Portland Oregon
I met a southern baptist uh pastor we were talking about being Mission we're talking about this very s subject I'm talking about now and uh he said to me that he lives next door to a guy who claims to make the best margaritas in all of Oregon and uh four or five times a year he throws open the garage door and he makes Margaritas for the whole neighborhood and all the guys come over and they play poker the southern baptist lives right next door to him he said he used to invite me he used to
say hey come on over tonight we're going to do this after I said no about 20 times he doesn't ask me anymore he just says oh I should let you know we're doing the Margaritas in poker tonight I'll try and keep the noise down he said to me are you telling me I should say yes I said brother what would be more questionable than a southern baptist minister at a margarita poker knut he emailed me later he said I my neighbor told me not invited me just said I'll just let you know having another one
of these nights I said would you mind if I join you he said my neighbor nearly fell over now you know Southern Baptists like they sign a pledge or something that they'll never drink alcohol right and I respect that I absolutely respect that Salvation Army do the same thing totally respect that I don't know what they're going to do in the age to come but in this era they can't drink alcohol I do genuinely respect that kind of pledge and so he says to his neighbor um I've signed this pledge I'm a southern baptist I
can't drink and the neighbor's like so he goes over to the neighbor's garage he drinks soda all night he's never played poker in his life so every guy in the whole neighborhood was thrilled with the possibility of corrupting the southern baptist minister he said I talked to people about Jesus all night men have been in that garage four or five times a year my friends how questionable is your life how bizarre is it do you evoke anyone's curiosity because my friends I actually believe it's a sacramental Christian vocation to Intrigue others without it no one
asks and when no one asks all you've got left are those fake servos drawings on a napkin blah blah blah blah blah blah blah if you're an evangelist my prayer for you is this be bold put your foot in the door prize open every opportunity and Proclaim with Clarity but if that's not your gifting if you're like most of us this is your mission should you accept it live a questionable life [Applause]
