From the moment humanity rejected God, He embarked on a mission to restore what had been broken. The culmination of this mission—the missio dei—is found in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. God is so passionate about missionally extending into the human neighborhood that He moved into it. That is the meaning of these remarkable words: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (
As participants on this mission, we each live in neighborhoods (rural, suburban or urban) where we have been called to embody and reflect the good news of Jesus. Jesus’ incarnation offers us a model for how we are to live as sent ones.
Jesus’ Incarnation as Model for Sent Ones
In the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry, there are three values of paramount importance to communities of people seeking to participate in the missio Dei. I am part of a community whose mission is to cultivate and send young leaders on mission by following God in the way of Jesus and equipping the global church to do the same. We shape our lives and practices around the following values:
First, Jesus walked with God. Mark lets us know Jesus always found a way to get time with the Father: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (
Second, Jesus invited others to share in this story. It was not a story or mission that He thought best to embark on alone. When Jesus said, “‘Come, follow Me'” (
Finally, Jesus’ life and ministry made it clear the mission was not to be extended only through His life, but through the lives of His disciples who would remain after His death and resurrection. Jesus commissioned them to dive deep into their contexts as a sent people fueled by their communion with God and sustained by their commitment to one another in community. Jesus sends us to enflesh good news in our neighborhoods just as He was sent to do: “‘As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you'” (
Living a life on mission isn’t something that happens once a year in a foreign country or serving periodically at a local soup kitchen. Living a life of mission happens everyday in every interaction as we take seriously our vocations as sent ones in our homes, neighborhoods and schools.
A Building Movement
Throughout its history, youth ministry has done a great job at inviting teenagers toward Jesus, but hasn’t always been a place for teenagers to be formed into disciples who live, love and lead as Jesus in the mundane of everyday. Often, our ministries succeed in getting teenagers to an event or function within the four walls of a church, but do little to equip teenagers to live lives of mission in the very places they spend the majority of their time: sports fields, schools and neighborhoods.
Through the years, I have given myself to forming Jesus followers for lives of everyday mission and come alongside youth workers as they develop a similar DNA within their ministries. It’s not flashy or glamorous, but it is beginning to resonate deep in the souls of youth workers who are looking to Jesus’ incarnation as a model of discipleship.
Here are a couple reflections I recently received from youth workers who are beginning to see their work as sending disciples rather than drawing in attendees:
“What a wonderful idea to get to know the organizations around the church and get tours…seemed common sense, but I guess we just aren’t getting to know our neighbors?”
“We like to be protected, insulated and comfortable. We’re learning how to become a community of good news, because good news is far better than garage doors and gates. We have a long way to go, but we’re seeking the kingdom. When the gates, garages, walls and barriers come down, we are able to see the kingdom of God far better in our midst.”
How do we do that?
We invite (as models and teachers) our teenagers into lives of discipleship rather than lives of entertainment. We offer them the relational, biblical, social and cultural tools to live as sent ones everyday in every context: soccer fields, high schools, homes and workplaces. The call of Jesus isn’t an event; it’s a way of life.
During the course of a year within our NieuCommunities apprenticeship, we go through six postures that deep dive us into faithfully living into the mission of God based on our unique gifts calling. The postures are Listening, Submerging, Inviting, Contending, Imagining and Entrusting.
For the sake of submitting our youth ministries to the mission Dei, let’s examine how it looks to cultivate teenagers who listen to God, each other and their neighborhood for the sake of better submerging into the fabric of everyday life with the good news of Jesus.
Tangibles of Forming Listeners
As followers of Jesus and conduits of good news, we have to listen to what God is doing in and all around us—in our homes, schools and neighborhoods. We have to listen to the stories that are being told around us that we otherwise never would hear amid the noise of our lives. We need to listen to our elderly neighbor who has no one else to talk to or the refugee who doesn’t know English very well yet and is trying to make his or her home in a new, foreign culture. It is tuning in to God and to the stories around us that we can begin to step faithfully forward as representatives of the good news of Jesus in our neighborhoods.
What that may look like:
• Prayer walks: See walking the streets of your neighborhood as opportunities to listen to God and intercede for your neighbors
• Lectio Divina: Approaching Scripture as listeners who are prepared to be transformed by the sacred Story
• Mentoring/coaching relationships: Our teenagers need guides who will help them discern their callings and equip them to live into them
• Listen to the stories of neighbors, friends and those they otherwise may avoid
Tangibles of Forming Teenagers who Submerge Deep into Their Context as Sent Ones
As a faithful Jew, Jesus had every right to orient His life around the temple or in the doors of the local synagogue. While He did participate in traditional worship, His daily ministry was more often spent with people in the community.
If you think about the fullness of His life, Jesus spent the vast majority of His time living alongside His neighbors, co-workers, family and friends. He was woven deeply into the fabric of His context well before He started His formal ministry.
Becoming good news in your neighborhood means erasing the lines between stuff church people do and stuff non-church people do. Instead, it involves discovering where there is good news happening already and getting involved.
• Talk to the peer who is often isolated and alone.
• Come alongside and build relationships with minorities in your neighborhood.
• Don’t see sporting events primarily as competition, but as a context to build deep, redemptive relationships.
• Immerse in the gospels and attempt to live below the surface as Jesus did.
• Make an intentional effort to eat, shop and recreate in our own neighborhood.
• Be intentionally present. Walk, hang out on your porch, and visit places you normally wouldn’t.
As youth workers committed to forming disciples of Jesus who participate in the mission Dei, may we daily submit our lives and ministries to the restorative work God has been doing all along. May we cultivate, equip and send teenagers who are fueled by the Spirit to enter each day and every interaction with the hope of Jesus for the good of the world.
Sidebar: NieuCommunites offers a one-year apprenticeship for young leaders who are seeking to discern calling in the context of intentional community, while being equipped for mission in whatever context God may be leading. Read Thin Places to hear their whole story, or contact Jon if you’re interested in participating.
Jon Huckins, on staff, NieuCommunites; co-Founder, The Global Immersion Project; speaker; author of Thin Places, Good News in the Neighborhood and Teaching Through the Art of Storytelling. He and his wife live in San Diego and have two kids. Jon blogs at JonHuckins.net. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
