Street Stewardship: Our Calling and God’s Commission

As some of you know, I moved at the end of last year. After the mad rush to pack, clean, shuffle, and then repeat, I’ve settled into a cozy little place. And a bit of complacency.

• Do I really need to paint that room? Nope.
• Can I live without a pull-down attic access? Yep.
• Gutters? Maybe this summer.

There’s nothing wrong with catching a break from home improvement projects. There is, however, a problem with complacency in other aspects of stewardship.

Yes, stewardship. A home is a blessing, a burden, and an opportunity all wrapped in one. I’m not only responsible for my home itself but also for what surrounds it.

And I’m not talking about the fence that I may or may not get around to adding.

Beyond the survey flags and sidewalks are people. We call them our neighbors. But how many of us know them? How many of us care about them?

The Second Commandment

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 22: 37-40

Jesus’ words to the lawyer in Matthew 22 aren’t just a metaphor for selfless living. They’re a mission for loving the people next door.

You mean the sweet ones, like the little girl and grandmother? Oh, the noisy ones, too? Yes, all of them.

My Bible study group is going through a five-week course on leading small groups in our homes, with the purpose of developing relationships with the people on our streets.

One of the resources we’re using is The Art of Neighboring by Dave Runyon and Jay Pathak. Through a simple exercise, the book opened my eyes to how many of us, myself included, have supported missionaries around the world but failed to take the great commission to our neighborhoods.

The exercise goes like this: Draw a grid, three squares high and three squares wide. Put your house address in the middle. Can you add the names of your eight closest neighbors to the surrounding boxes? Beyond that, do you know anything about them, beyond their names?

Not going to lie. I filled two squares, and six empty ones stared back at me. I’ve been in my house not even three months, but that’s still lame.

Who’s the man in the wheelchair with all the dogs? Why does he look so sad? Why does the lady down the street sit outside with an elderly gentleman? What are their names, their stories?

I don’t know, but I need to step outside my comfort zone and find out.

Conflicts

On this site, I focus on God’s calling—on my life and yours—and how we can think truthfully and live daringly to fulfill it. I talk a lot about books, simply because writing is one area I feel God’s hand on my life, and like many of you, I enjoy discovering quality books by other authors.

But what good is sharing books if we don’t put words into action?

We can’t fulfill our calling if we miss God’s commission. We can’t get so busy with our work that we forget the reason we’re doing it.

Closing Thought

Of all the homes I could have purchased (and tried to purchase), God led me to this one.

The reason has to be more than my own comfort and convenience. Who knows what hurting life I can reach? Who knows which lonely soul needs a friend? And who knows what blessing my neighbors will be to me if I just take the time to know them?

God, open my eyes to see—really see—the world just beyond my driveway and give me a heart to love my neighbors as myself.

Let’s start by praying for our neighbors. My Bible study is doing “prayer walks” in our neighborhoods where we simply pray for the people on our streets and opportunities for “open doors.” (It’s funny how often we use that expression but never in terms of our neighbors.)

Will you join me?

~ Kristen

 

Tweetables

Street Stewardship: Our Calling & God’s Commission – @kjhogrefe (Click to Tweet)

We can’t fulfill our calling if we miss God’s commission. – @kjhogrefe (Click to Tweet)