Drawing NEAR to your Neighborhoods and Networks
Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, ‘Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, “To an unknown god.” What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. – Acts 17:22-23 (NRSV)
When the Apostle Paul showed up in Athens, he was distressed by what he saw. The city was full of idols and temples to gods and goddesses from every land. The Athenians, it appeared, wanted to make sure they covered all of the spiritual bases.
Paul could have immediately launched into a tirade, turned over tables, and called the city to repent, to turn from their sinful ways. Paul could have turned his back on the city, run in the other direction, and left the city in its sinfulness. Paul chose neither of those paths. What Paul does, instead, is a master class for everyone whom Jesus calls to go and make disciples of all nations.
Paul draws near to the community. He doesn’t appear as the expert with all the answers, but begins by listening and learning. He walks through the city. He talks to people. He gets to know the culture and the practices of daily life. He looks for a bridge. He finds a connecting point between the story of Jesus and the community where he now resides. Paul invests the time needed to get to know the community before he begins to proclaim the love, hope, and saving promise of Jesus.
Unlike Paul, the community with which we are called to share the good news about Jesus is our home. It’s not a place we have come to visit. It’s the community in which we live, the space where we work, and the source of many personal connections and relationships. All of which means that when we want to grow deeper in relationship with our community, we probably already have a good start and we also probably have a series of blind spots.
As it was for Paul in Athens, the first step is to listen and to learn. Talk to people. Walk around. Get to know the culture and the practices of daily life. As you better understand the broader community, then you will have an easier time discovering the bridges that will allow you to grow deeper in the relationship with the community.
Over the next four days, we’ll explore an approach called NEAR which was developed by Dan White, Jr. and JR Woodward for their book “The Church as Movement“. NEAR invites you to learn about your community’s Narrative, Ethics, Associations, and Rituals. Like Paul, you will discover a great deal as you draw near to your community and those discoveries will help you proclaim the love of God in ways that can be heard and more easily understood.
Reflection by Pastor John Wertz, Jr.
Questions for Reflection:
- How do you keep up on news and information about your local community?
- If Paul stood up in your community and began to speak, how would he complete this sentence. “I see how extremely _______ you are in every way.”
- What is one thing about your community that someone new to the area would not know?