Four months ago, I got serious about serving my neighborhood. This has changed my paradigm of mission and ministry. For the first time in my life, I am spending more time around non-Christians than Christians. Dr. Pete Rollins expresses my new paradigm succinctly: “How many of us have learnt too late that our initial idea, that by serving the world we will help bring God to others, has eclipsed the wisdom that in serving the world we find God there.” I have truly found God while serving my image-bearing Roosevelt neighbors.
One neighbor, Catherine,* is a leading voice for change in our community. She is, in fact, the President of our neighborhood association. She has an M.B.A. from Berkeley and fifteen years experience at Microsoft. She recently retired to devote all of her time to her family and neighborhood, while also doing a little bit of corporate coaching and consulting. I approached her in October, seeking to discover the greatest need in Roosevelt. Her response was the desire for deeper relationships between business leaders. My calling as a minister of the gospel is to show and tell people how they can be connected to God and then to each other. This was a perfect fit for my passion. I started the work right away. After the first few weeks, Catherine had this to say: “This is excellent work. You are absolutely the guy we’ve been waiting for. You have a natural way of bringing people together and them instantly trusting you. Thanks for representing us so well.” Since then, Catherine has agreed to coach me in my community development work and my role at Bellevue CRC as Associate Pastor pro-bono! Now, God is using her to increase the effectiveness of my ministry through better time management, administration, and goals. She has told me repeatedly that she is completely naïve to religion – “I don’t even know the bible stories my son brings home from Catholic school” – but the Spirit is creating curiosity in her. I have a deep respect for her that is reciprocated. When believers live authentic lives of faith and service, negative stereotypes about Christians are broken down. That is happening in Roosevelt.
Like most of us, I had been meaning to be more involved with my neighborhood, but had always put it off. Between full-time ministry and finishing seminary, there was never much time to serve with the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association. Finally, the door opened for me to be involved. I said no to several other worthy causes and yes to my neighbors. Despite my procrastination, God’s timing was perfect. Perhaps you are the guy or gal that your neighbors have been waiting for. I would encourage you to get out there and be a blessing to your neighborhood. Take with you no agenda; just show up, shut up and serve. Seek the peace and prosperity of your city (Jeremiah 29:7).
*Name changed to protect privacy.
