Digging Deeper – Earning the Right Pt. 2: Living Sent
13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” 16 But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.
Romans 10:13-17 (NLT)
EARNING THE RIGHT PART 2: LIVING SENT
We live in a highly transactional culture. You see it every day. These transactions aren’t limited to the marketplace; even in relationships, we say things like, “I’ll owe you one.” Everyone keeps score to ensure they get what they deserve, so it stands out when we don’t live that way.
If you’ve ever been in the Commons area of the NorthStar offices, you may have seen the five sentences on the wall that serve as our guidelines for how we want to function in the community.
The first one is, “We love with no strings attached.” That means we love even the ungrateful jerks. You don’t have to love back to be loved.
The second sentence on the wall is, “We choose people before projects.” That’s a hard one for many of us. The daily call to get things done and accomplish more can be a huge motivator. But we are saying that a job well done should not leave broken people in its wake.
Next on the wall is, “We believe it’s not about us.” It is 100% about God and the people in the community and the world who do not know Him yet.
Then there is, “We strive to exceed expectations.” How often do you get more than you expected? And when you do, don’t you remember it? In the book Unreasonable Hospitality, Will Guidara talks about the difference between service and hospitality as the difference between black-and-white and color: “Black and white means that you’re doing your job with competence and efficiency; color means you make people feel great about the job you’re doing for them.”
And the final sentence on the wall is, “We always ask what’s next.” We want to look for the next place where we can serve people.
The thing about these is that they are the opposite of transactional. Do we hope that living this way will cause people to notice and become curious about the church and Jesus? Absolutely! Remember “predispositional evangelism”? We want people to see that we are different from the world in a way that changes what they think about Christians and Christ. But even if they never come to Northstar or any church, we would still live this way because that is what we are called to do. These sentences are the essence of what it means to live sent.
Pray and ask God how to incorporate these five sentences into your life. Think about how you could put them to use in your neighborhood, workplace, and home. Make a list of ideas. Then live sent!
Chris Boggess is the Next Generation/Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.