There goes the neighborhood!

This is where I live. It's my neighborhood. People are friendly, it's right by Kincaid Park (and Tastee Freeze) and there are good nearby schools for our son. We love it, though we're still trying to get more connected after two years here.

What does neighborhood mean in an era of digital connection? Do you know your neighbors? Are you involved in your community? And what, if anything, does your neighborhood have to do with your faith?

Alan Roxburgh's insightful book, "Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood" explores how neighborhoods are the places we find God at work and get a glimpse of our call as people of God. Roxburgh, a longtime consultant on the church in mission, argues that churches ask the wrong question when they ask how the church can connect with culture, how the church can find a purpose and mission. Asking "church questions" misdirect us, Roxburgh says. "We need to be asking radically different questions: What is God up to in our neighborhoods and communities? How do we join with what God is doing in these places?"

His advice is solid, if hard to do. As people of the Triune God, we know that God isn't static - God's Spirit is out ahead of us - moving, stirring, forming, changing and challenging. Roxburgh invites readers to use the story of Jesus sending out the 70 apostles in Luke 10:1-12 as a metaphor for what the church could be. This story reminds us that the 70 went out to proclaim the Gospel, but they went with very little baggage, spent time with people and accepted the hospitality the offered. This is the incarnational work of spending time in neighborhoods and communities among people who may or may not believe in God or go to worship. Through work and conversation together, Roxburgh says, we learn to see what God is doing in these places and the church starts from there.

I'd recommend this book, though it bogged down some in the middle with theological talk. The best part is the latter half, where Roxburgh deeply explores Luke 10 and how we could bring the lessons therein into our churches and neighborhoods. He ends the book with a few concrete ideas, though warns that this process of being church in this new way is more of a journey rather than a program. The goal is not to evangelize people up front but to get to know them, build relationships and then see where God takes you.

Here are a few ideas I liked:

* Study Luke 10:1-12 together over a period of time. Ask how God is inviting you to live it.
* Walk through your neighborhood (church's or your own) with others. Notice who you meet, where people gather, what's going on.
* Notice where people gather and talk about how to connect with them.
* Listen to stories of people in the neighborhood (1-1 style)
* Host a neighborhood event, like a BBQ
* Get involved in something going on in the neighborhood.
* Meet together to reflect on what you learned from all of the above.

This way of church as engaging in neighborhoods has really intrigued me. Perhaps it's because I grew up in a place where we knew our neighbors and depended upon each other. Roxburgh suggests that in a time where we're more digitally connected (yet still thirsting for authentic relationships) the idea of "going local" in our neighborhood is both radical and balm.

I keep thinking about how to do this in small ways in my own little Sand Lake neighborhood. Are you interested? Want to try it? Give me a shout - let's talk more.