Tuesday, June 23, 2015

The Quest to be Missional: Speaking Peace, part-2-of-5

The following is the second of a five-part blog series on, "The Quest to be Missional."

In part-1 of this blog series, I spoke to the reason that more church outsiders don't want to come inside a church facility, is because the insiders aren't living their inside faith on the outside!  However...changed lives in-Christ, lived-out in the daily marketplace, is always attractive to those who know they are missing something.  We have, after all, a missional-God who SENDS himself to us, so the world may know Him!

The following is called, "Prayer Evangelism."  It is God's directive, through Jesus, into believers for the sake of pre-beleivers.  It is Jesus' blue print to how to evangelize his good news in the power and the love of God.  Nothing is forced.  It is Spirit-led and Word powered.   I believe that when Christians begin practicing the following 4-steps as a daily life-style process (and not a rigid procedure or another program), the spiritual climate of a city, or a certain sphere, is transformed in the Spirit--- opening the gate to God's kingdom presence!

Begin by meditating on Luke 10:1-9...and note how many times the missional words "sent," or "send" are used!
"...the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.  2-And he said to them, 'the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3-Go on your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.  4-Carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.  5-Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!'  6-And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him.  But if not, it will return to you.  7-And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8-Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.  9-Heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'"

Step 1-of-4 of living-out Prayer Evangelism comes in verse 5.  Jesus says that when we enter a sphere of our influence, declare PEACE!  Now, peace is not necessarily the absence of crisis, rather the hope of Christ despite the crisis.  Therefore, peace is a person--- Jesus.  His name is the name above all others.  In simply proclaiming the name of "Jesus"--- his powerful presence begins to move in and push out anything anti-Jesus.  It's like a bulldozer pushing-out a bolder to escort-in a new landscape!

When we practice step-1 of Prayer Evangelism on a daily basis, the first thing that is transformed is...US!  We are no longer cursing, mocking or judging; but instead, speaking "peace."  When this happens, the spiritual climate of a space is radically changed.  It's OUT with the darkness of the spiritual enemy that's been sitting over an area, and IN with the light and rule of Christ!  Think of it as having the home field advantage for sharing faith in a manner that is no longer perceived as judgmental or hypocritical, but natural and real.

Imagine if all Christians in the body of Christ (The Church) were to practice this biblical directive on a daily basis!  What an impact it would have on our hurting nation and world!  Outsiders would start seeing Insider's faith on the outside, opening a path for Step-2 of Prayer Evangelism....

For Step-2, and what it means to daily walk in the home field advantage of the Holy Spirit, stay-tuned for my next blog, tomorrow.  Thanks!






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