Stepping into the Unknown

In June my wife and I welcomed our second son, Amos, into the world. Having another child is such a gift and for many reasons, a miracle that our family doesn’t take for granted. When he was three weeks old and while I was on paternity leave from the church, my wife and I were in full “nest mode.” For months leading up to the birth, we prepared everything. The house was in order, the rooms curated for the new baby and the slow season of welcoming in this new life.  Alex had prepared frozen meals for us to enjoy so we wouldn’t need to worry about dishes or cooking, and we were set up for a summer of rest and simplicity.  One day, I heard a familiar voice on a drive. I heard the Lord say to me, “move and sell your home.”   What? This was not something I had anticipated. We had bought our first home 18 months prior and were set to anchor ourselves for a long time in the local community.  The neighborhood we were living in had good schools for the kids, tidy neighbors. It had safe, manicured streets and parks and large, enclosed backyards. It wasn’t the part of the city we had lived in for the six years prior while planting our church, but it was the area you move into to raise kids. 

So when we had our second kid, and God said to move back to our old neighborhood and sell our home, I was honestly hoping that it wouldn’t resonate with Alex.  I brought it to her, and after some thought, she said “I think it’s the Lord, let’s do it.”  So with a three week old, a three-year-old and a mom recovering from a cesarean section, we began the process of finding a house to rent, and selling our home to move back into the old neighborhood we once lived in; to be obedient to the invitation from the Lord. 

This was not an easy transition. In fact, it was very difficult for many reasons.   The process of finding a rental home that fit our family's needs in an impacted city, changing our three-year old’s preschool, showing our home and keeping it clean with two little ones and little sleep, packing up everything we own, moving with two little ones and all while trying to sell our home all in the right time was incredibly stressful. But we experienced so much grace and peace from the Lord in the process. We found peace and favor in the difficult obedience, in the sacrifice of dreams and plan. However, I didn’t fully understand 'the why' until we moved and our home sold.

So much of what I believe in as a pastor of a local church is incarnational, missional ministry.  I feel strongly that one must live and immerse themselves in a community to reach that community.  Although we lived just a few miles away, that distance had a significant impact on how we were leading our church and city.

The house we moved from was in a suburban neighborhood, with a lot of privacy. Neighbors were much more private and distant.  We couldn’t walk to coffee shops, restaurants or grocery stores. We spent a lot of our time inside our home and in our car. The way the suburban neighborhood was designed didn’t allow for encounters with strangers in our community, with the homeless, with the broken and lost people in our city who were longing for Jesus.  Since we have moved, we are experiencing a whole new level of incarnational ministry.

Every day we can share our faith with our community, every day we can bless those who need money, food or just some coffee and a conversation.  Our three-year-old son now carries coins and dollars from his piggy-bank to pass out to our friends without homes on our morning walk.  We started a house church, and it's flooded with new relationships and people opening up their lives to a different way of living. A new way marked by intimacy, vulnerability, compassion, power and sharing resources to ensure there are no needs among us. Every day we are welcoming friends, neighbors, and strangers into our home and life in a way we weren't before. Every day we are intentionally in contact with the broken and hurting in our city, rather than hiding behind our closed doors and high garden fences. 

What is God speaking to me?  He is speaking to me that it's time to wake up! The church is not meant to get cozy and comfortable, to settle down. The church is called to be a revolution that invites others into the way of Jesus. We need to rearrange our lives and lifestyles around Jesus of Nazareth. He comes to teach us how to live, and if we learn from him, if we obey him, he will take us on an adventure.  

For me, I was attached to a home, to establishing a comfortable life, to a financial investment and security,  to a particular  lifestyle known as the "American Dream." Now, as we have changed locations, sacrificed our plans at the altar of God, uprooted ourselves and our comforts to engage this city in a new way, I wouldn't have it any other way.  What we've gained is immeasurable.  The kingdom has come and is coming. I want to align my life, my family, my money, my gifts, talents, resources, schedule, time, hobbies and future around this Kingdom reality breaking in! No matter the cost.