Your @ is the mission field you were already given.
Be Missional helps ordinary believers see the people God has placed around them, then reach them confidently, strategically and practically, while living their normal lives.
What does @ mean?
The @ sign simply means "at": the place where you are. Your @ is your oikos, your sphere of influence: where you spend your day and with whom. The word means household, and it reaches out to the people connected to your home through family, friendship, work and neighborhood.
You do not need a new calling to be on mission. You need to see the one you already have. For some of the people in your @, you may be the closest picture of Jesus they ever see.
Two shifts in focus
A missionary is not only someone who moves overseas
A missionary is anyone who recognizes the field God has given them and strategically seeks to reach it for the long term. Overseas missionaries simply move into a new sphere of influence and begin to do what we already do here.
Your field is your @
Your field is where you spend your day and with whom. When your field is reached, you can help others reach theirs, or you can expand your own.
Six steps for your @
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Name your @
Write down the places God has put you: your family, your workplace, your neighborhood, your friendships, your school or team.
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Ask why you are there
Instead of fighting where you are, ask God why he put you here. Wherever you are, you are there on purpose.
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Face the fear
Fear is the main thing that keeps people from living on mission. God has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). Tell him honestly where you are afraid.
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Invite the Holy Spirit into one place
Pick one relationship or situation in your @ and invite him into it by name. Bring his presence into that place the way salt flavors and preserves what it touches.
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Step out, cling and expect
Take one small step of faith. When it is hard, cling to God, and sometimes speak his power over the situation. Then live expecting him to show up.
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Learn their world and love them
Learn the language and culture of the people around you, the way a missionary would, and bring love into their world. See each person for the value they have to God. Not everyone will welcome it, so be patient.
Try this week
Do step one. List the places you spend your time and the people in each one, then pray over that list every day. Next week, take step two.
A thought to take with you
Wherever you put your thumbprint, God's thumbprint can be there too.