Daily Devotional

What does it look like to live out the gospel in your neighborhood? God has placed you at your job, your school, and your neighborhood and has surrounded you with non-Christians.

Are you a Christian? If so, did you know that you have been given a call to ministry? You might think, “No…that’s just for pastors and missionaries.” No it’s not…it’s for you. Everyone who is in Christ must think of themself as a commissioned minister, called to share the gospel and make disciples (Matthew 28:18–20).

This call applies both inside and outside the church. But for this devotional, I want you to focus on reaching outside the church, as part of your day-to-day lives.

I want to suggest that perhaps the reason we struggle sharing the gospel in our neighborhoods is because we’re trapped in what I like to call the ‘Holy Huddle’.

I have discovered (and I am guilty of it, too) that many Christians schedule their lives with so many worship gatherings, Bible studies, and serving opportunities at church that we don’t have any time for sharing the gospel in our neighborhoods. When our neighbors ask us where we’re going, we find great joy saying “I’m going to church”, or “I’m going to Bible study” and we think that conveys the gospel. It doesn’t. It just makes you look too busy to get to know them.

Now, I’m not saying we shouldn’t be in community with our brothers and sisters in Christ, or that we shouldn’t be serving in the church and other parachurch organizations. I’m a proponent of giving yourself to your local church!

I just want to ask you to evaluate your schedule and lifestyle. Are you creating conditions where organic evangelistic outreach can happen daily?

I mean, how often do you interact with your neighbors? I mean truly interacting with them - not just a casual wave or a brief greeting as you leave in the morning and come home at night. Do your neighbors know you? Do they know that you have given your life to Christ? Do you know them, the story of their past, their current struggles, their hopes for the future?

If someone were to ask you why you became a Christian, what would you say? Would you be ready to give an answer?

1 Peter 3:15 - “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.” (NASB95)

What could you do today to interact with the neighbor next door, or across the street? Can you make some banana bread for a neighbor? Can you offer to watch their house while they’re on vacation? Maybe take in their mail or take care of a pet? You see, if we are so consumed by the ‘holy huddle’, we will never have time to follow through on our ministry call, which is to share the gospel and make disciples.

We are called to represent our Savior who has given us everything we need to shine brightly in our neighborhood. Get to know your neighbors.

New American Standard Bible®,
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