When we go back to Jesus and learn about missional engagement from Him, we discover a whole new way of going about it. We rediscover that strange kind of holiness that was so profoundly attractive to nonreligious people and offensive to the religious ones. I live in the red-light and drug district of Melbourne, and from my experience these people do not generally like Christians; and yet in Jesus’ day they loved being around Jesus, and He with them. This must mean something to us. I suggest that in a missional context, we must relearn the “how to’s” of mission from Him. From Jesus we learn how to engage with people in an entirely fresh “non-churchy” way. He hung out with “sinners,” and he frequented the bars/pubs of his day (Matt 11.19) he openly feasted, fasted , celebrated, prophesied, and mourned in such a way as to make the Kingdom of God accessible and alluring to the average person. It’s back to Jesus for us.
– p. 142, The Forgotten Ways