By Keith Tungseth, Mission Advancement Coach, PacNWC
This summer was to be full of weddings, conferences, retreats and a family reunion and travel in Canada – CANCELLED!
It is taking me time now to adapt to a new reality. A ZOOM small group from church is serving as God’s ‘Wake-Up Call” to look around me ‘through the eyes of Jesus’ and aim for thriving, not just surviving.
Besides opening my eyes, it is time to open my ears. Listening to Dr. Don K. Warne, M.D, a Lakota from Pine Ridge, South Dakota who is now at UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences I learned to think differently about ‘Social Distancing’ (the recommendation of maintaining a distance of at least 6 feet from others). He pointed out the unfortunate implication of the term – that we must distance ourselves socially from one another. He shared his culture’s values so different from individualistic isolation. He spoke of life in community with focus on spirituality, thankfulness and prayer in direct contrast to ‘social distancing’. So thanks to Dr. Warne, I am rejecting the concept of ‘social distancing’. “What kind of a rebel are you?” you may ask. Oh, I believe in the wisdom of physical distancing to reduce the chances of spreading the virus – but not social distancing.
Now more than ever we need social interaction that brings closeness. I recall Jesus’ priorities as I consider thriving. Life in Jesus is about loving God and loving neighbors. This new reality means that now my loving is not confined to the inside of a church building. Now my loving extends from my home base which is strategically located right smack in the midst of the people Jesus wants me to love as I love myself.
Jesus has designed the making of disciples with a geographical progression – Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria and then beyond. If we have yet to catch on to this, then this is indeed the season to discover what mission means when it starts out from our home base.
I don’t think my block in my neighborhood is that unusual in our Northwest multicultural communities. The whole world seems to be walking just about 6 feet from the end of my sidewalk – people who represent many nations and races.
These weeks and months might just be the time I need to come to realize that my neighbors are ‘family’ and it is time for me to quit labeling them by race, ethnic group or country or language in ways that keep the distance between me and those different from me, way more than 6 feet. It is interesting how labels that separate have a way of disappearing as personal friendships grow. With prayer for opportunities for fresh air meetings on our patio, I am believing that these months will see the developing of relationships with deepening respect and love.
Because loving our neighbors as ourselves is key to our discipleship may we wake up to realize that this is the season for putting our faith into practice. It is now a unique time for listening and learning of the backgrounds and values of neighbors.
So what will my own witness sound like to my neighbors? Are we all convinced that we have a vital message to share with those in our neighborhoods? And beside the actual message, this is also about the messenger. Sharing on my block will be with people who see I am quite imperfect. They see how I live, how I relate in the neighborhood, They note my priorities and can sense my attitude. They know if I am being authentic because as their neighbor they can see right into and maybe even through me. They know if I truly respect them. And besides that, it is humbling to see how my neighbors from other countries and other races respect me and care about me.
So if I believe this is a season to thrive, I need to reject ‘social distancing’. To thrive, I need to awaken to the remarkable opportunities I did not expect to have – to take time to listen and truly hear the cries of neighbors hearts. Like at the death of their family member from covid-19 for example – when they were not able to be physically present with a dying father in another country.
So now, my focus is not on getting to church on time to take my turn to welcome people at the door. Now is the time to welcome a neighbor to join me on the patio or to walk with them on their turf.
As I listen, I believe there will be new understandings that will come to my mind and new attitudes in my heart that will make a difference in how I respond to the critical issues of today. I expect that new awareness will lead to specific active collaborations involving advocacy. A call to authentic living in community.
As people continue walk by my house only 6 feet away from my front walk – I pray. I pray that God will fill me with the love of Jesus that casts out all fears and that I will be led to connections with those in whose lives the Holy Spirit is already at work.
To anticipate thriving, I go to God’s Word for wisdom.
Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death – and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion.
Philippians 2:5- 8 (Message)