Surprise the World

Michael Frost has written a short, practical introduction to living missionally. The word “missional” gets thrown around by so many, and often in ways that miss the point. Frost makes it clear using the acronym BELLS. It has to be a good book if it uses that word, right!

  • We BLESS people, both inside and outside the church.
  • We EAT together, sharing meals with believer and unbelievers alike.
  • We LISTEN to the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit as we engage with those around us.
  • We intimately LEARN Christ as our leader and model for making disciples.
  • We see ourselves as SENT by God to everywhere life takes us.

Frost takes a chapter to unpack some of the meaning and then the living out of each word. He outlines some very practical steps and ways of doing this.

Missional living, as Frost defines it (and I think he is right) is about being on mission with God for the sake of those who don’t yet know God. Surprise the World, is a simple (in the sense of straightforward), practical, easy to read book on how to live missionally.

It is well worth reading. It is worth even more as we begin to live it out. And therein lies the issue. We can read the book and think it’s great. But will we live it?