LISTEN AND LEARN

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry”

~James 1:19

After a time of regular prayer walks, you will start to see your community as God sees it. He may start speaking to you about redeemed and restored people and places. You have started your process of community engagement by listening and learning from God. But, before you get too far down the path of determining the next steps, stop and seek out the people in the community to listen and learn from them.

“Before Jesus preached his first sermon, he spent thirty years listening to the world he loved so much… If the Word honors the world by listening intently to its pain, hopes, and fears, perhaps we would do well to spend the majority of our time listening to those we serve”

Joel Van Dyke and Kris Rocke

Often, individuals, churches, and ministries approach communities with a plan or project to serve. Later, the projects tend to fail to produce fruit. Why is this? The answer is directly tied to how much the community is involved in creating and implementing the plan. Listening and learning from the community members are crucial to bearing fruit. The step of listening to and learning from can take a long time, but the relationships built are foundational to any good work to come.

I can walk you or your church through a process of exegeting your community.

Exegeting is a fancy word for interpreting. Often exegesis is used in relation to scripture. According to the Anchor Bible Dictionary, “exegesis is the process of careful, analytical study of biblical passages undertaken in order to produce useful interpretations of those passages.” You can apply exegesis to understanding your community through careful and analytical study leading to useful interpretations. Exegesis of scripture leads to new ways of living; exegesis of the community also leads to new ways of living. There are four approaches to exegeting your community:  Inspirational, Informational, Incarnational, and Involvement. While the steps are simple, the process can be as in depth as you would like and will be more meaningful as you invest the time to truly learn and dig into what God is doing.

Would it be helpful to listen and learn more about your community? To explore and interpret it from these different perspectives?

Especially in this time of change and uncertainty, could the journey of exegeting your community benefit your church or ministry? I am here to help and guide you on the journey to explore what God is already doing and how you can join Him in building His Kingdom. Be in touch so we can set up a time to talk about this opportunity.