Day #9: Do Your Prep Work
Your First 30 Days on Mission
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ Luke 13:28-30
Even though living on mission is more of an art than science, it doesn’t mean that research and study are not involved. While we do not want to get stuck in the research stage, it would do us good to respect the value that knowledge brings to our missional confidence and competence.
After you have gotten a solid theological base of understanding for the mission of God, it would then benefit you to take a deeper look at the more practical aspects of missional living, church planting and spiritual formation. Watch TED talks on leadership, Q Ideas on current Christian and cultural trends, as well as YouTube videos on a host of other topics. Learn about the social sciences such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Read books on organizational development and business theory. Pick up biographies of influential Christian leaders and missionaries to learn from their journey. The bottom line is to continue to supplement your diet of the Word of God with other information that help you as a disciple, leader, and missionary be in tune with cultural trends and more skilled in the roads God might lead you down.
Most importantly, be a student of your city and local context. Learn the history and the rhythm of your city. Figure out what makes the people in your community tick. What do they value? What do they fear? What do they long for the most? Culture is always in flux so never get to the point where you feel like you have arrived. Learn as much as you can from as many people as you can as often as you can in order to have the greatest impact in your community. Keeping a student-like posture will help us enter our context in humility and cause us to ask questions and be inquisitive instead of assuming we know what people need or want. That type of posture will open more doors for you as you seek first to understand before being understood. Let the learning begin!