I was talking to a student leader recently, called Esther, who had a mini-revelation about mission through discovering her Mission Style. She said it made mission more small-scale for her.
Sounds like a bit of a non-event, right? Like the opposite of a revelation, almost.
Any yet...
Small-scale mission, like messy church; sounds kind of fun, exciting, one to get involved with. It takes the pressure off. As if mission could be something to get involved with in the everyday, something we don't even necessarily need to shout about.
Maybe it is.
Maybe there’s something in this and there’s a small-scale mission for each of us to embrace and enjoy.
Since this revelation, Esther said she has realised that mission is a gift, that God just wants her to talk to his children. She has a lot of great conversations at parties when she least expects it, and conversations often lead to faith without her necessarily trying. It can feel vulnerable, but can be so fruitful.
Even at a birthday party just before lockdown, Esther found herself in conversation with a girl who was really interested in church and Esther’s faith. She’d been to catholic school, so knew some things about Christianity but had been put off by all the rules that were presented to her as part of it. Esther shared her story of coming to faith in Jesus, explained what faith means to her personally, and why she goes to church. By the end of the convo this girl asked about churches in the area and how she could get involved! It was like she’d been able to see that faith is a personal thing and she could have something really amazing, so she opened up to the idea of faith and church again. Amazing!
And yet, small-scale, low-key - a conversation at a party that Esther hadn’t planned for.
We find a lot of stories that start like this in the Gospels.
“One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields…” (Luke6)
“When Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee…” (Luke14)
“Now on his way to Jerusalem…” (Luke17)
“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus…” (Luke15)
Meals, gatherings, weekend strolls, on his way somewhere - this is where miracles happened, life-changing conversations and encounters went down.
Small-scale, low-key, everyday mission.
Shall we give this a go?
Even amidst social-distancing? Who can you pray for, be available for, share your faith story with or ask for a miracle for today?
Esther has a ‘Talk With Me’ mission style so this story is an example of her playing to her strengths and using her natural gifting for mission so well & confidently.
...to help you put this into action and have fun with it!
