“God’s people do this by being God’s people — a presence of humility and faith in a dark world. We are a community on a journey toward shalom. We are agents of hope and healing, sojourns who idon’thave it all figured out but are willing to pray for and pursue solutions. Our presence manifests itself through prayer and worship. Our faith is active. We are allies of the oppressed, serving with compassion at the margins, with hearts full of mercy as we advocate for the powerless. We proclaim the good news that Jesus liberates and heals and that anyone and everyone can be part of the family of God.” - Kevin Austin
That is a powerful quote from Kevin Austin, Director of the Set Free Movement, in his book, Set Free: A Guide to Pursuing Liberation in an Age of Bondage. To me, this statement is both pragmatic and aspirational. The foundation for this statement is built on many of Jesus' teaching, including one we all know found in Matthew 28:18-20:
"Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
The church has been asking for a long time how we share the good news of Jesus in a way that people will receive, leading to transformation and faith. Through the years, there have been many different approaches; some good, some not so good.
Many years ago, back in the early 2000s, I was part of a church planting team in Newberg, Oregon. What an exciting adventure! We planted a church called Southside Community Church on the south side of town (super creative name, I know). I vividly and fondly remember those days, and I can even remember the smell of the elementary school gym we used for Sunday services.
As we began this new church, we needed to develop relationships with the people living in that community. We did two things: 1) several of our team moved to the south side of town, and 2) chose a particular area of the neighborhood to serve. Serving for us began by knocking on doors and asking if we could mow lawns, wash cars, buy groceries, etc. It was invigorating and frightening. The point was to begin some relationship from which we could share about the church and the love of Jesus. Yet, I can't count how many times people slammed their door in my face when I'd say something like, "Hi, I'm Kyle. We are starting a new church, and I'd like to see if we could….(slam!)." Yeah, not necessarily the best approach to developing meaningful relationships.
Eventually, we did develop some ongoing, long-term, meaningful relationships with several people from the south side of Newberg. These relationships developed deep roots, and we saw Jesus do some incredible things in the hearts and minds of those we met.
These memories flood my mind when I think about where God has led us here at CrossView church in this fourth step of our discipleship pathway. As we think about Reaching Out to other people, the goal is to develop long-term, meaningful relationships with the people around us, inviting them into their own process with Jesus. It's the context of a relationship that allows us to show and share authentic love and tell others about the love of Jesus. To give us some handles for how to do this, we are using the B.L.E.S.S. model.
We didn't come up with the B.L.E.S.S. model, but it's a straightforward and powerfully transformative approach that really, profoundly loves others and witness to what Jesus had done in our own lives. B.L.E.S.S. (obviously an acronym which is a super churchy thing to do, it's cheesy, we know, but we love it) stands for Begin with prayer, Listen with care, Eat Together, Serve with love, and share your story.
We've got some great resources to find out more about the BLESS model; feel free to look below at the resources, including the book, Bless: 5 Everyday Ways to Love Your Neighbor and Change the World - this is a quick read and incredibly helpful in understanding this approach.
Here's the point. This approach isn't as programmatic as it might seem at first grace. This approach is about intentionally building long-lasting loving relationships with others, caring deeply about who they are, what's going on in their life, inviting them to your house, and sharing your own story - at appropriate times - of how Jesus has made a difference in your life and inviting others into their own journey with Jesus beginning wherever that might make sense.
For example, if you are talking with a friend and they are sharing a current challenge, you might have the opportunity to pray for them, mentioning how meaningful prayer is for you. Amid a loving relationship, you will likely have countless opportunities to witness to love and grace of Jesus while also having a non-programmatic chance to invite someone into their own journey of faith with the only one who can make all things new.
Want to join in on this journey of blessing people? It's something you can do today, and it will have a lasting impact.