Ordinary saints

In the precious article, I wrote in the need to equip our people to be salt and light in their pursuit of fulfilling the Great Commission. That happens through relationships and the witness of a godly life. But what kind of relationships are we talking about? What kind of relational interactions set us up to display the love of Christ and love our neighbor with the gospel? We address that in our sixth commitment.

We are committed to reaching our community with the gospel through the ordinary means of everyday evangelism, hospitality, and charity (1 Peter 4:8-11).

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The ordo amoris and our community

Romans 8:29-30 contains the beautiful reality of the order of salvation, coined in Latin as the ordo salutis. A similar term was coined within church history, and that is the ordo amoris, or order of love. This simply means the ordering of our loves in a way that is biblical. This isn't hard for us to understand; we are called to love our spouse more than we love the neighbors spouse. But how do we apply this as we move out from our immediate family? We may well understand that we are to love God first, our spouse second, our children third, our immediate family fourth, and so on and so forth. But what do we do when we get to our church? How do we move beyond them? More often than not, we jump to loving the world, considering ways to support overseas missions and impact the unbelieving world abroad. What we do when that is our only focus regarding gospel witness is that it makes a jump in the ordo amoris and skips the place you actually live, the community you call home. We must rectify this mistake and seek to impact our community first, not at the expense of having a heart for the global church, but rather laboring first where the Lord has placed us. Let's look at the ways we can do that.

Ordinary everyday evangelism

We begin with what I have called everyday evangelism. What I mean by this is the type of interactions you have every day that are actually micro-moments to share about the blessings, graces, and possibilities found in Christ. They are all those little conversations that you have, or could have had, that are God-centered. So often, we treat evangelism as a Saturday gig where you go walking down the streets of your town with gospel tracts. What happened in the New Testament, actually, was the ordinary, everyday lives of Christians becoming so saturated with gospel truth that it began to leak out in every interaction and conversation that was had. This doesn't mean going around and ruining conversations by abruptly presenting the Romans Road, but rather means seeking opportunity to bring the truth of the message of the salvation of sinners and the world they inhabit to bear upon the topic of conversation you are engaged in. This insures that you are genuinely involved and interested in the conversation, not merely using it as a means to employ your preferred method of sharing plan of salvation.

To neglect these interactions as a primary means of seeing the gospel take root in your own world is to miss thousands of moments where God is flinging open a door to show the love of Christ.

Ordinary hospitality

The type of interactions I referred to previously are plentiful if you are paying attention, but there is a special kind that is particularly powerful for opening up hearts to be receptive to the truth of God: hospitality. What I mean by hospitality is the opening up of your home to another and breaking bread with them, or simply having conversation with them. When we do this, we are actually opening up a deeply intimate part of ourselves, our home, and inviting another into it. This act transcends mere fellowship and illustrates the way that God opens himself in order for us to come in and dine with him by grace. If we are willing to open our homes and tables to others, it will go a long way in pulling down walls and fostering genuine conversation. We serve a hospitable God, so when we graciously invite others to spend time with us in this way, we are being like our Father who is in heaven. I can tell you countless stories of laughs shared, tears cried, and confrontations had around a table with friends and family that were avenues for the gospel to shine, but do not miss the evangelistic nature of this. When you want to get to know someone and talk about the God who has so loved you, a great way to break the ice is by bringing them into your home and breaking bread. We cannot neglect this biblical and powerful means of reaching our community.

Ordinary charity

Finally, we want to be a church that gives of itself, both financially and physically, for the sake of the broader community. We want to give to the right programs, seeing the financial blessing God has entrusted to us as a means of supporting like-minded groups and events in our own town. We want to labor with the right projects, using our hands and our backs to build, repair, and serve. Giving of ourselves, which includes our time, strength, and money, is a primary way we show our neighbors the love of God and the freedom of the gospel. When we hold what God has given us loosely, being prepared to give cheerfully, it is a testament to the influence of the gospel over every area of life, not just your Sunday morning. And when we serve with our hands, it shows a willingness to be inconvenienced and slowed down for the sake of another. Charity is powerful, and if we can learn to do it effectively then we will see much fruit come forth, not for the sake of our name, but for Christ's.

These may seem simple, even elementary, but when you read the New Testament, these were primary in the outreach of the church. Let us be biblical Christians, loving and praying for the world, but focusing on our community first, stewarding the gift God has given us by planting us here.

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This series of articles is from our church's 8 Commitments. These are guiding declarations regarding faith and practice that shape how we do church, both now and in the future.