Live Like A Missionary

Recently, I read the book Live Like A Missionary by Jeff Lorg.  Within the first chapter, Lorg makes the following statement:

A missional Christian understands God’s mission and shapes his or her life accordingly.  A missionary, in the traditional sense, is certainly a missional Christian.  But so is any believer who strategically shares the gospel (or does other kingdom advancing activities) in his or her circle of influence – even without moving across the country or around the world.

The book is filled with great stories of people who have made the choice to get out of the Christian bubble and impact the world around them.  To me, the greatest example of someone who lives like a missionary is my friend Steven, who serves as a bi-vocational pastor in Arkansas.  Over the years, Steven has served as a children’s home house parent, a senior pastor, and a college dorm parent.  But Steven’s greatest ministry impact upon my life took place before he held any of these positions.  Let me explain:

When Steven and I were in high school, he befriended me and lived a Christian life in front of me.  He took his faith into the halls of public school and shared it whenever he had the opportunity.  His practice of living like a missionary helped me come to the decision that I needed Christ in my life as a sixteen year old.

Thanks, Steven, for living like a missionary.

(Here’s a picture of Steven with his wife Danette, his son Daniel, and daughter Hannah at Hannah’s graduation)