The Missionary Life You Were Created to Live
Living as a missionary is more about being than doing. Too often, we think of missionaries only as people who pack up and move overseas. But the truth is, if you are a Christian, you already are a missionary—it’s part of your identity in Christ.
In this episode of the Everyday Disciple Podcast, I share what it looks like to live every day as a missionary right where God has placed you. We’ll talk about how to embrace this calling in your neighborhood, cross the street before you cross the globe, and take simple steps to live as God’s sent ones together.
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
- Who the Bible calls “missionaries” or “sent ones” in everyday life.
- How your missionary identity flows straight from God’s own heart.
- Why “Go and make disciples” is not optional—it’s Jesus’ command.
- How to start living as a missionary right where you live today.
From this episode:
“I have to be honest with you here. After living this way for close to two decades now–like a localized missionary–I don’t think there is a huge difference between being a missionary here in America compared to living this way in a foreign country. People are people. The biggest difference here is that I constantly feel two things pulling at me; my past experience of “going to church” instead of being the church, and my lack of faith that the gospel is truly good news for everyone and everything.”
Each week the Big 3 will give you immediate action steps to get you started.
Download today’s BIG 3 right now. Read and think over them again later. You might even want to share them with others…
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Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
The Gospel In Everyday Life Workshop Register Now FREE
Coaching and Mentorship in Missional Living by Caesar and his wife Tina
Resources for missional living and group training – Missio Publishing
Get Caesar’s latest book: Bigger Gospel for FREE… Click here.
Transcript
So imagine if you and your family, maybe with a few close friends were sent and fully funded to go to another country and establish the gospel to start church or a ministry of some sort, and see people come to faith in Jesus.
Caesar Kalinowski:What would you immediately begin to do when you got on the ground?
Caesar Kalinowski:What would your life consist of?
Caesar Kalinowski:Like how would you be with and among the people there?
Caesar Kalinowski:And I've asked this question to many people over the years, and their answers are pretty similar actually.
Caesar Kalinowski:They're remarkably similar.
Caesar Kalinowski:They say things like, well, we would start by getting, know the language of the local people and we'd eat what they eat and we'd start to dress maybe a little bit more like them and adopt some of their customs.
Caesar Kalinowski:We would shop at the same places, like over and over to get to know people and you know, at the shops and you know, the people who own 'em and work there and.
Caesar Kalinowski:And restaurant owners, and we'd look for ways to be a blessing to them serve them.
Caesar Kalinowski:I think they'd be a pretty good start here, right in our own neighborhoods as well.
Heath Hollensbe:Welcome to the Everyday Disciple Podcast where you'll learn how to live with.
Heath Hollensbe:Greater intentionality and an integrated faith that naturally fits into every area of life.
Heath Hollensbe:In other words, discipleship as a lifestyle.
Heath Hollensbe:This is the stuff your parents, pastors and seminary professors probably forgot to tell you.
Heath Hollensbe:And now here's your host, Caesar Kalinowski.
Heath Hollensbe:Hey, Heath, what's going on my friend?
Heath Hollensbe:Hey, we're doing a, uh, we're doing a new location for, for this week's podcast.
Heath Hollensbe:You're actually at my house tonight.
Heath Hollensbe:We're under the beautiful, uh, Turkish lamp that I got.
Heath Hollensbe:I'm gonna put a picture of that on Facebook because it's stunning coverage.
Heath Hollensbe:Why don't you
Caesar Kalinowski:throw on Instagram with the other like 400 fall color photos you've been posting?
Heath Hollensbe:I was driving today and I was like, man, the oranges and the rear heads and the yellows and the, it's stunning.
Heath Hollensbe:Here, I'm follow you on,
Caesar Kalinowski:on, on Instagram.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's like nature show, bro.
Caesar Kalinowski:You are all, we should have a TV show like you.
Caesar Kalinowski:You posted something kind of pithy and theologically minded or something.
Caesar Kalinowski:I dunno.
Caesar Kalinowski:Anyway, alright,
Heath Hollensbe:before we jump in, uh, you've got something coming up here.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:I haven't done this in a while, but, um, I'm gonna be doing it again here.
Caesar Kalinowski:I wanna let folks know if they want to get in on some free training.
Caesar Kalinowski:An online workshop I'm doing on gospel fluency.
Caesar Kalinowski:We talk a lot about it and this thing doesn't really matter what it's called, but it's called the gospel in everyday life.
Caesar Kalinowski:Here's just a few of the things I'm gonna cover in that, like what gospel fluency is.
Caesar Kalinowski:And how we can grow and then master this new language.
Caesar Kalinowski:Oh, cool.
Caesar Kalinowski:Shouldn't, shouldn't be new, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:But, um, we're also gonna look at how the gospel speaks into our marriage and parenting and like hard feelings and hurt feelings and awkwardness.
Caesar Kalinowski:Any, any sin issues that need to be addressed.
Caesar Kalinowski:We're gonna talk about how what you do, in other words, your actions in life don't equal who you are or your.
Caesar Kalinowski:That, that alone is worth like just coming to the training for, uh, we're gonna look at how the gospel speaks into your identity and self-image and how to experience transformation and freedom from sin and past hurts and, and why the gospel is really never just about our afterlife.
Caesar Kalinowski:And we can learn to speak the good news to others, not just about their after life, but like for everything now.
Caesar Kalinowski:So anyway, if people want to grab a seat, just go to everyday Disciple dot com slash webinar.
Caesar Kalinowski:It is really more of a workshop, but that's what it is.
Caesar Kalinowski:Go to everyday Disciple dot com slash webinar and you can register for free right now.
Heath Hollensbe:So, and why would you not want to dig that sweet man?
Heath Hollensbe:Hey, today we're gonna talk about an idea that that I think is probably pretty normal, but it might hit a lot closer to home than should be normal.
Heath Hollensbe:Yeah, it should be, but it doesn't always.
Heath Hollensbe:So for a long time, many of us have had this idea that missionaries are these kind of special Christians that go and do ministry work overseas.
Heath Hollensbe:In fact.
Heath Hollensbe:I've had some really zany experiences over my 36 now years with missionaries growing up in the church, but it always felt like, you know, they were.
Heath Hollensbe:They were old and they wore like floral blouses and wore corduroy, and they spoke monotone and we always like heard about what they're doing with a slideshow.
Heath Hollensbe:Potlucks, Hey, what's wrong with corduroy by the way, it's coming back.
Heath Hollensbe:I don't know.
Heath Hollensbe:Any idea?
Heath Hollensbe:No, I used to.
Heath Hollensbe:I used to too.
Heath Hollensbe:I brown.
Heath Hollensbe:Of course.
Heath Hollensbe:Yeah, mine too.
Heath Hollensbe:But, uh.
Heath Hollensbe:What was that kind of your experience as well?
Heath Hollensbe:Like that's missionaries a certain called people that go do that, not us.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah,
Heath Hollensbe:exactly.
Caesar Kalinowski:It was this special class of people and I didn't want to hang out with any of 'em, you know?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, me either.
Caesar Kalinowski:And I've told the story before, there was a map on the wall at our church and it had, you know, pins in all the continents and there were different colors and they lined up with pictures.
Caesar Kalinowski:Oh, that's right.
Caesar Kalinowski:They were flanking the map.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:And just like you described, they were always just like kind of really sad.
Caesar Kalinowski:Like really dressed, outdated.
Caesar Kalinowski:You're like, how old are these pitchers?
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, they were current, but you know, when you're a missionary you just get what you get.
Caesar Kalinowski:Like you're a
Heath Hollensbe:missionary in China 'cause you can't make friends here.
Heath Hollensbe:I don't know.
Heath Hollensbe:Yeah.
Heath Hollensbe:It was
Caesar Kalinowski:horrible.
Caesar Kalinowski:And they were always really, really sad.
Caesar Kalinowski:And um, you know, every few months one of 'em would show up from the field was always, they came from the field.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yep.
Caesar Kalinowski:Which I thought meant like out where I lost balls and frisbees, you know, out in the field.
Caesar Kalinowski:Sure.
Caesar Kalinowski:And they would show us lots and lots of slides that were of kids with bugs in their eyes and all that.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:And that's what a missionary was.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yep.
Caesar Kalinowski:And um, I remember thinking like, if I ever really, really, you know, I was a C Christian as a kid, but I remember thinking, if I really give my life to Jesus, like really go all in.
Caesar Kalinowski:I know he's gonna call me to Africa.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:I'm gonna be the Shorthaired guy crying all the time and just jump ahead a few years later.
Caesar Kalinowski:That was me, you know, just heartbroken over all lost people, you know?
Caesar Kalinowski:And I was in Africa for years and years and years and off and on, you know, so,
Heath Hollensbe:but the crazy thing is that the Bible actually teaches something totally different.
Heath Hollensbe:It teaches us that.
Heath Hollensbe:All Christians are actually missionaries.
Heath Hollensbe:This isn't just reserved for a select few people.
Caesar Kalinowski:For sure.
Caesar Kalinowski:And I think everybody knows that, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:Everybody listening goes, I know that we're a missionary, we're all a missionary.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:Um, but here's the thing that everybody doesn't all necessarily know.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's an identity thing.
Caesar Kalinowski:Hmm.
Caesar Kalinowski:Our identity as Christians flows right from God himself and.
Caesar Kalinowski:We, this is a Trinitarian God, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:Father, son, and Holy Spirit.
Caesar Kalinowski:And the Spirit was the sending agent of Jesus and is the sending agent in the church.
Caesar Kalinowski:And our God is a missionary God and we are his offspring.
Caesar Kalinowski:Hmm.
Caesar Kalinowski:So really, a.
Caesar Kalinowski:Christians we're all missionaries, like at a core identity level.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's not like, you know, like when I was a kid in Sunday school, they'd go like, well, Caesar, you know, you are a missionary too.
Caesar Kalinowski:Just like those pictures down the wall, you know?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yep.
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, you're a missionary too, but on the playground.
Caesar Kalinowski:Huh.
Caesar Kalinowski:So make sure you invite everybody to church on Sunday, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:You know, ha here, hand these out.
Caesar Kalinowski:And literally, because I, I was trying to be like this little missionary kid.
Caesar Kalinowski:I would, I would, I would take all the Sunday school papers, you know, those little, you know, half folds, you know, like, yep.
Caesar Kalinowski:Oh, I remember this full color little Bible story.
Caesar Kalinowski:And a few questions at the end.
Caesar Kalinowski:A little warning, if you don't do this, you know, like some sort of morality clause moving in there.
Caesar Kalinowski:I would, I would scoop up all the extras.
Caesar Kalinowski:There was always like at least a dozen extra.
Caesar Kalinowski:And I would go up and down my, the blocks in my neighborhood, I would knock on doors and I'd go, hi.
Caesar Kalinowski:I just thought maybe, you know, if you didn't make it to church today, you'd like this.
Heath Hollensbe:Oh.
Caesar Kalinowski:And I'd hand 'em out.
Caesar Kalinowski:I mean, no way.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, because I was the little neighborhood missionary.
Caesar Kalinowski:Right.
Caesar Kalinowski:Wow.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:But no, but you know what I mean, so I kinda had this curse we understanding of it.
Caesar Kalinowski:No one ever said, no, no, no, no.
Caesar Kalinowski:Wait a minute.
Caesar Kalinowski:If you're a Christian and you believe your Trinitarian identity, your identity flows from father, son and spirit.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yep.
Caesar Kalinowski:That your.
Caesar Kalinowski:A missionary that's, we have a missionary God we're created in his image and it's an off stream.
Caesar Kalinowski:So yeah, we're all missionaries.
Caesar Kalinowski:If you're, if you're a
Heath Hollensbe:Christian, that's who you
Caesar Kalinowski:are.
Heath Hollensbe:And what's crazy is that it doesn't seem like this is a new concept when you look at actually where the first missionary kind of experience happened, it's way earlier in the story than we typically would think.
Heath Hollensbe:It goes all the way back to Genesis three.
Heath Hollensbe:Yep.
Heath Hollensbe:Right.
Heath Hollensbe:God being the perfect example.
Heath Hollensbe:Yep.
Heath Hollensbe:Back in the garden.
Heath Hollensbe:Yeah.
Heath Hollensbe:Yeah.
Heath Hollensbe:Pursuing people exactly.
Caesar Kalinowski:Immediately after God's beloved image, bearers your first two.
Caesar Kalinowski:Adam and Eve chose a life of self rule one where they thought they could manage the knowledge of good and evil and right and wrong for themselves.
Caesar Kalinowski:God goes on a rescue mission.
Caesar Kalinowski:We, we see him, he goes looking for them.
Caesar Kalinowski:It says, that's his heart, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:He goes, where are you?
Caesar Kalinowski:And he goes, he goes, looking for them.
Caesar Kalinowski:Where are you?
Caesar Kalinowski:And then, you know, in the ultimate missionary journey flowing out of his identity, just like his father.
Caesar Kalinowski:Jesus comes here to this earth and he takes on the the form of us humans so that he can come and rescue us and restore us back to the way we were originally created to live.
Caesar Kalinowski:Hmm, close to God.
Caesar Kalinowski:Bearing his image, showing the world what he's like.
Caesar Kalinowski:So if you're a Christian, then you're a missionary too.
Caesar Kalinowski:Father son us, created the same image.
Caesar Kalinowski:We're missionaries and it's, it's not what we do that makes us missionaries.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's who we are.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Just like Jesus and his father.
Caesar Kalinowski:And in some ways you could say that being a missionary is our family business.
Caesar Kalinowski:Hmm.
Caesar Kalinowski:And I think, I think why people don't really embrace it, even though everybody listening goes, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:I know.
Caesar Kalinowski:We're all missionaries.
Caesar Kalinowski:We don't break, we don't believe it's part of our identity.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's part of our birthright.
Caesar Kalinowski:We don't If you view it with something we go do.
Caesar Kalinowski:Right.
Caesar Kalinowski:We think if you go overseas and do this Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Or move somewhere maybe.
Caesar Kalinowski:Okay.
Caesar Kalinowski:Listen, I know there's missionaries in the states too, so go move to Compton or go move to some inner city thing.
Caesar Kalinowski:Sure.
Caesar Kalinowski:Then you live like a missionary and you have to be poor and wear corduroy and all, you know?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Like, so what you do equals who you are.
Caesar Kalinowski:And that's back to that do to be distortion.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yep.
Caesar Kalinowski:And until we lose that, until we believe, no, no, no.
Caesar Kalinowski:We are creating the image of this missionary God who not only goes, but he sends.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:And we've been sent once.
Caesar Kalinowski:Jesus says, as I was sent, sent here, right on a missionary journey.
Caesar Kalinowski:So I send you, he says to his disciples, and he breathes his breath into them giving him life.
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, what's that remind us of?
Caesar Kalinowski:Back to Genesis.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yep.
Caesar Kalinowski:When God forms Adam and Eve from the dust of the ground by his hands and he breathes his own breath, the word is ruach spirit into them, giving them life and then says, go be fruitful and multiply.
Caesar Kalinowski:Like, go make more copies of my image, you know?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:So, yeah, we're
Heath Hollensbe:missionaries.
Heath Hollensbe:And one thing I appreciate that you just mentioned is that, um, that the, the Disciple or the command of Jesus is to go and make, not to come and see, like, don't come and see this beautiful building and get people to this thing, uh, go and making disciples.
Heath Hollensbe:It wasn't just a suggestion, right?
Heath Hollensbe:No, it was a command.
Heath Hollensbe:Yeah.
Heath Hollensbe:Uh, and it was a command to come and walk in the normalcy of life.
Heath Hollensbe:It wasn't.
Heath Hollensbe:You know, come sit with me for an hour a week and let me try to crack as your cranium as hard as I can with a building in a building in rows
Caesar Kalinowski:and Right.
Caesar Kalinowski:No.
Caesar Kalinowski:Right.
Caesar Kalinowski:Jesus came to show the world what God his father is truly like, and he came as a missionary and that's why we go, okay, so you're right.
Caesar Kalinowski:Jesus.
Caesar Kalinowski:Command, not suggestion was to go and make disciples.
Caesar Kalinowski:And he didn't say, Hey, ask people to come and see what they think.
Caesar Kalinowski:Mm-hmm.
Caesar Kalinowski:You know?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:And listen to a bunch of stuff year after year after year.
Caesar Kalinowski:Um, he always intended just as he lived that we would incarnate.
Caesar Kalinowski:That word means to take on flesh, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yep.
Caesar Kalinowski:Incarnate his mission out there in the world, out in our neighborhoods, off at the office, you know, wherever you work in a gym at the park, you go to showing the world what he's like, what the father's like, and sharing the gospel with others by both our life's display.
Caesar Kalinowski:Our words.
Caesar Kalinowski:Hmm.
Caesar Kalinowski:And so regardless of how God decides to route our paychecks, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yep.
Caesar Kalinowski:Some people get their paychecks routed through the business they work for, and some people get 'em routed through a church.
Caesar Kalinowski:Some get 'em, you know, routed through a missionary agency.
Caesar Kalinowski:Regardless, however, we are all full-time paid missionaries.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:I mean, just stop and think about that an honor.
Caesar Kalinowski:Like, well, I'm not a full-time missionary, you know, I don't work for ywam, or, you know, whatever.
Caesar Kalinowski:Or, or this church, wait a minute.
Caesar Kalinowski:Your identity is that of a missionary.
Caesar Kalinowski:And if you slept sheltered last night and ate some food in the last 24 hours, you know, you've got clothing you own, then God's, god's kept his end of the bargain.
Caesar Kalinowski:He's met your needs.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Right.
Caesar Kalinowski:And we had a lot of wants, but you know, he's met our needs.
Caesar Kalinowski:And so if you, if you are eating and sheltered and own clothing and all, then you're a full-time funded full, fully funded missionary already, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:So, you know.
Caesar Kalinowski:Wanna find the missionary in your neighborhood?
Caesar Kalinowski:Look in the mirror If you're a Christian.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, you're right.
Caesar Kalinowski:Seriously.
Caesar Kalinowski:And take that seriously.
Caesar Kalinowski:Are you, are you living outta that identity?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, absolutely.
Caesar Kalinowski:Like, can we get to, well, you know, or are we blowing that off?
Caesar Kalinowski:Thinking, well, I don't know, maybe there'll be another
Heath Hollensbe:Yeah,
Caesar Kalinowski:right.
Caesar Kalinowski:You know, are you the one, or should we wait for another, you
Heath Hollensbe:know?
Heath Hollensbe:Well, and I'm wondering too, like, for people who are listening that are going like, ah, I have not thought about it like this.
Heath Hollensbe:Or feeling convicted by what you're saying.
Heath Hollensbe:Um.
Heath Hollensbe:That wanna start living like missionaries living in their true identity as Christians, right where they are.
Heath Hollensbe:H how would you, how would you recommend they get started in this?
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, first listen to lots more Life School podcast.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's all we talk about, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:I mean really we, we, today we're talking about like particularly the identity of missionaries, but um.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, but that, I mean, this, this is really what it's all about is living out of identity.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:But, but maybe this'll help.
Caesar Kalinowski:Okay.
Caesar Kalinowski:Imagine if you will, imagine if you and your family, maybe along with a few close friends, were sent and fully funded to go to another country and establish the gospel to start a church or a ministry where you'd see people come to faith in Jesus.
Caesar Kalinowski:You know, what would you immediately begin to do when you got on the ground?
Caesar Kalinowski:Remember, you're going for this reason, you're fully funded, you know, you're all there.
Caesar Kalinowski:You sold your stuff, or you packed it up, it came with you, whatever, you and your family, maybe a few friends, you're there.
Caesar Kalinowski:What would you immediately begin to do?
Caesar Kalinowski:What would your life consist of?
Caesar Kalinowski:What would your focus be?
Heath Hollensbe:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:You know, how would you be with and among the people there?
Caesar Kalinowski:Would you just like do it sort of nine to five, you know?
Caesar Kalinowski:Or would you do it like two hours on Sunday and go like, well, we're here, but you know, we're, we're inviting everybody kind.
Caesar Kalinowski:We run into like this one thing.
Caesar Kalinowski:Um, they don't understand this 'cause they've never seen a church, but that's what we're doing.
Caesar Kalinowski:But the rest of the week, you know, I gotta live my life man.
Caesar Kalinowski:I need margin.
Caesar Kalinowski:You know, it's, margins are important, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:Boundaries.
Caesar Kalinowski:And I've asked this question a lot of people, like people who don't even barely know what I'm talking about.
Caesar Kalinowski:I'll go like, Hey, if you move to another country and you're gonna try to start like a Gospel work, see people come to faith, Disciple people to maturity, um, what would you start doing?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:You know, what would you be about?
Caesar Kalinowski:And you know what people say?
Caesar Kalinowski:Their answers are really similar.
Caesar Kalinowski:They're remarkably similar.
Caesar Kalinowski:In fact, they say stuff like, well, we start by getting to know the language of the local people.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yep.
Caesar Kalinowski:Now you think, well, like if I'm an issue in my neighborhood, I already know English.
Caesar Kalinowski:Mm. You know what I mean?
Caesar Kalinowski:There's a difference.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:How, how do people communicate What's funny to them?
Caesar Kalinowski:What are they about?
Caesar Kalinowski:What do they pay attention to?
Caesar Kalinowski:Shows they watch all that.
Caesar Kalinowski:Right.
Caesar Kalinowski:Um, they say things like, well, we'd eat what and where the locals ate.
Caesar Kalinowski:So instead of just holding up in our house, we'd, we'd want to eat what they ate and go where they eating.
Caesar Kalinowski:Right.
Caesar Kalinowski:And we'd wanna start to dress more like them and adopt some of their customs when we first moved to the Pacific Northwest, you know, I'm a Lifetime Bears fan, you know, um, I'm now a Seahawks fan.
Caesar Kalinowski:'cause guess what?
Caesar Kalinowski:You bear, you know, you rejoice with those who rejoice and you, you know, mourn with those, you mourn, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:That's right.
Caesar Kalinowski:So I had a, you know, you take on the customs, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:People say to me things like, well, um, I think when we got there, we would start to shop at the same places over and over to get to know those shop owners and restaurant owners.
Caesar Kalinowski:And we'd wanna get to know the staff and tip well and look for ways to be a blessing to them and listen well, so we could see if there's ways we could serve 'em and, you know, get, get more involved in their lives and invite them into ours.
Caesar Kalinowski:We'd start to build relationships and friendships with people.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, that'd be key.
Caesar Kalinowski:And I think, you know what, that's a pretty good start right here, where we live in our neighborhoods too.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:You know what's funny is I, I had to say, wouldn't that be great?
Caesar Kalinowski:It'd be amazing.
Caesar Kalinowski:I mean, just think about if every Christian had that mindset because they believed their identity.
Heath Hollensbe:Yeah.
Heath Hollensbe:It'd be pretty different, you know?
Heath Hollensbe:Well, it reminds me a conversation I had recently with a, well, not recently, about a year ago with my ex-boss and, and we were having this discussion over getting involved in the Pacific Northwest 'cause his boss wasn't from here.
Heath Hollensbe:And I said, well, this is what we do here.
Heath Hollensbe:And that person said, well, I don't, I don't like that.
Heath Hollensbe:I don't do that.
Heath Hollensbe:I'm like, well stop being a terrible missionary.
Heath Hollensbe:Like, yeah, if you moved here, you gotta engage here.
Heath Hollensbe:I mean, you more tattoos, you gotta get some heavy
Caesar Kalinowski:boots and some flannels.
Caesar Kalinowski:Grow a goatee.
Caesar Kalinowski:I mean, that's just for women.
Caesar Kalinowski:I mean, that's just for the women.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Right.
Caesar Kalinowski:Drink some IPAs.
Caesar Kalinowski:You, I, I have to be honest with you here, Heath and, and everybody listening after living this way, like, as a missionary, believe in my identity and living, you know, on the ground trying to live like one, uh, with others in the community for close to two decades now.
Caesar Kalinowski:Like a localized ministry.
Caesar Kalinowski:I don't think there's a huge difference between being a missionary here in America or you know, in the, in the, let's just say in Western culture, home, basically wherever home is compared to living this way in a foreign country.
Caesar Kalinowski:People are people.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's the thing I've come to learn is we've traveled all over the world and trained people in discipleship and spent in some cases, quite a bit of time with people.
Caesar Kalinowski:Um, we all have many of the same needs and fears and the gospel speaks into all of them.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yep.
Caesar Kalinowski:I think, I think the biggest, and there are cultural differences, but the thing behind the thing and people's hearts, not that differe.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, it just isn't, I agree, the things are important to people, not that different, but I think the biggest difference that I see, um, and constantly feel is there's two things pulling at me.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's my past experience of just going to church instead of being the church.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yep.
Caesar Kalinowski:Okay.
Caesar Kalinowski:That kind of mucks things up for us and my lack of faith that the gospel is truly good news for everyone and everything.
Caesar Kalinowski:Hmm.
Caesar Kalinowski:I mean, please hear this if you're listening today.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:I think those are the two biggest things.
Caesar Kalinowski:Keeping people from living as missionaries.
Caesar Kalinowski:Right now, wherever they're at, they, they still think it's about going to church.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Instead of being the church.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's an identity thing.
Caesar Kalinowski:And they don't really think the gospel's that good in news.
Caesar Kalinowski:They're not that fluent to say like, oh, whatever's going on in your life.
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, Jesus life, death and resurrection speaks into that and speaks into your identity and God loves you.
Caesar Kalinowski:See, our tendency to revert back to making everything about an, uh, an event or a weekly meeting or a teaching time.
Caesar Kalinowski:Hmm.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's as if, if we believe that, if, if people were just here one more good sermon.
Caesar Kalinowski:Oh my God.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Or they just did one more Bible study with us.
Caesar Kalinowski:That would be the flip.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:They would really get that.
Caesar Kalinowski:That would, it's not that park.
Caesar Kalinowski:No, it's not.
Caesar Kalinowski:Because if that was truly the case, then why didn't Jesus just broadcast some, some good news really loudly from heaven, you know?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:So that he could, in a planet, could hear it.
Caesar Kalinowski:He could have, think about it.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:If all we needed is one really solid, one more solid sermon, Jesus would've delivered it long ago.
Caesar Kalinowski:Really loud, global listening, you know?
Caesar Kalinowski:And you know why I didn't.
Caesar Kalinowski:Here's why.
Caesar Kalinowski:Because the good news, the gospel, it's not a set of historical facts or a bunch of programs or meetings.
Caesar Kalinowski:The gospel is a person.
Caesar Kalinowski:Hmm.
Caesar Kalinowski:The gospel's a person.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Jesus is the Gospel.
Caesar Kalinowski:And his spirit now sends and empowers us as missionaries on the same incarnation gospel mission.
Heath Hollensbe:We gotta believe that.
Heath Hollensbe:And isn't it amazing?
Heath Hollensbe:Uh, and you, you're two decades plus at this right now.
Heath Hollensbe:Uh, I'm probably a decade.
Heath Hollensbe:I haven't counted recently, but it is, it is such a fun journey too, when you actually are not trying to get people to a building like a ra, wrestling a cow, like, and you actually can live in life or mark em.
Heath Hollensbe:I gotta get him to say this prayer.
Heath Hollensbe:I gotta get him to say this prayer.
Heath Hollensbe:Yeah, yeah.
Heath Hollensbe:No, but you just love them and you serve them and you hang out with them.
Heath Hollensbe:Treat 'em like family from the get go.
Heath Hollensbe:It's the most fun and natural way of living out there.
Caesar Kalinowski:Oh, it is, it is, it is the thrill.
Caesar Kalinowski:I, I tell people, this is the life you are created to live.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:And if you let God and the Gospel wash away all your fears and past insecurities, learnings from, you know, weird church teachings that aren't even found in scripture anywhere.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Um, this is the most exciting life you could ever live.
Caesar Kalinowski:And it's free.
Caesar Kalinowski:People say, yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's just, it just sounds so bad.
Caesar Kalinowski:I'm just way too busy for, I'm like.
Caesar Kalinowski:No, you're not.
Caesar Kalinowski:You filled your life up with lesser things.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:And you're not believing your identity.
Caesar Kalinowski:Absolutely.
Caesar Kalinowski:Really.
Caesar Kalinowski:Trust me.
Caesar Kalinowski:You won't know it until you trust God.
Caesar Kalinowski:And, and get into it, but I'm gonna loan you some faith.
Caesar Kalinowski:Uncle Frank here is gonna loan you some faith.
Caesar Kalinowski:This is the thrill lie.
Caesar Kalinowski:I mean, this is the thrill ride that we were created to live.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's amazing.
Caesar Kalinowski:Believe your identity as a missionary.
Caesar Kalinowski:You're the missionary in your neighborhood, so get after it.
Heath Hollensbe:So like if, if this is true and each and every one of are Christians are missionaries mm-hmm.
Heath Hollensbe:Call to our neighborhoods and our workplaces and everywhere, pretty much there are people.
Heath Hollensbe:What do you think would change if the church, if all Christians.
Heath Hollensbe:I actually really not only believed this, but lived it out, lived out of this true God-given identity as missionaries.
Caesar Kalinowski:Oh man.
Caesar Kalinowski:What a great question.
Caesar Kalinowski:I can't even think.
Caesar Kalinowski:I mean, if every Christian believed their identity as a missionary and started just like seeking out who else is God waiting to bring to the table, which is everybody.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:And treated everybody like a family.
Caesar Kalinowski:We would see not only a reversal of how.
Caesar Kalinowski:Sort of the church has been marginalized by culture.
Caesar Kalinowski:Sure.
Caesar Kalinowski:'cause we're just weird and we're separatists and we're kind of about bad news and we're not seen as people who wanna celebrate or party or hang out much.
Caesar Kalinowski:And unless, unless everybody does everything on our terms in our building, you know, all that stuff.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:If, if all of a sudden we were like to take this command to go and make disciples and we lived as missionaries, we would see such a wave of people going.
Caesar Kalinowski:I knew it.
Caesar Kalinowski:I knew it had be better.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Stepping into that.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:This is beautiful.
Caesar Kalinowski:God is not who I thought he was.
Caesar Kalinowski:I'm seen in your life.
Heath Hollensbe:Yep.
Caesar Kalinowski:Something very, very different.
Caesar Kalinowski:And you're saying that your life is his life and that we're an image bearer.
Caesar Kalinowski:In fact, I don't even know if I believe it, but you're telling me I was creating that same image.
Caesar Kalinowski:Man, I wanna know more about that.
Caesar Kalinowski:I don't even know how to begin, bro.
Caesar Kalinowski:I get, I get a little clamped, I get a little choked up.
Caesar Kalinowski:If the church actually believed.
Caesar Kalinowski:What God says is true of us, and we lived as missionaries.
Caesar Kalinowski:Oh man, it
Heath Hollensbe:would be beautiful.
Caesar Kalinowski:We'd see the world start to change.
Caesar Kalinowski:And you know what?
Caesar Kalinowski:And it's happening and God is doing it.
Caesar Kalinowski:And I believe that God, uh, is, is faithful and he's not a liar.
Caesar Kalinowski:And he, and he says in, you know, in Revelation, he said that there's a day coming when every knee is gonna bend and every tongue confess that Jesus is in fact Lord and God himself is gonna come back and dwell amongst us here.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Physically, bodily on earth.
Caesar Kalinowski:So cool.
Caesar Kalinowski:And there'll be no more tears and no more separation and fear and lies and murder and death and sickness and all of it.
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, we get to be a part of that restoration right now.
Caesar Kalinowski:Oh my gosh, it's beautiful.
Caesar Kalinowski:How, how, how can we shoot so low of a mark to like, well, you know, the American dream, you know, or.
Caesar Kalinowski:Or the Norwegian dream or whatever.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:You know, European dream life where I, I need more of that and I need a bigger one of those, and I need a fatter one of those, and a faster one of those and like, oh my gosh, shoot so much higher.
Caesar Kalinowski:Shoot for eternity.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Oh, we get to
Heath Hollensbe:absolutely.
Heath Hollensbe:Oh, count me in, ma'am.
Heath Hollensbe:I know, brother.
Heath Hollensbe:Hey, let's get to the big three.
Heath Hollensbe:Uh.
Heath Hollensbe:Which are the big three takeaways.
Heath Hollensbe:If nothing else, we want you to walk away with from this episode and you get 'em as a printable PDF as a download by going to everyday Disciple dot com slash big three.
Heath Hollensbe:Again, that's everyday Disciple dot com slash big three.
Heath Hollensbe:Caesar big three for this week.
Heath Hollensbe:Okay.
Caesar Kalinowski:Again, if nothing else, don't miss these.
Caesar Kalinowski:Real quick, sweet, simple.
Caesar Kalinowski:If you're a Christian, you're a missionary.
Caesar Kalinowski:Let that sink in.
Caesar Kalinowski:You are whatcha gonna do with it.
Caesar Kalinowski:Right.
Caesar Kalinowski:It is part of your identity and your birthright.
Caesar Kalinowski:Missionaries aren't a special subset of the church and missions, quote unquote, is not something that only happens overseas.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:There are opportunities to be a living representation of what God's like and a physical rep representation of the gospel all around us.
Heath Hollensbe:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Do this together with other missionaries in your family, your church and Missional Community.
Caesar Kalinowski:'cause you get to Right.
Caesar Kalinowski:Believe it.
Caesar Kalinowski:Get to, yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Own it.
Caesar Kalinowski:Number two.
Caesar Kalinowski:Loving God and others with all our hearts and minds and strength fulfills the law and the great commission.
Caesar Kalinowski:Okay.
Caesar Kalinowski:What I mean by that is when we truly grasp how much God loves us Yep.
Caesar Kalinowski:And desires a relationship with us and everyone, others, then we'll wanna go and invite others to walk with us as we walk with Jesus.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's what discipleship is.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Walk with us as we walk with Jesus.
Caesar Kalinowski:He's transforming us.
Caesar Kalinowski:Our lives are an extension of God's glory.
Caesar Kalinowski:And love as we live as everyday missionaries, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:Where he's placed us today.
Heath Hollensbe:And once you truly see the good news for what it is, it's impossible to stay silent.
Heath Hollensbe:I mean, everyone has to hear it.
Caesar Kalinowski:Oh yeah,
Heath Hollensbe:please.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Heath Hollensbe:Number three in every
Caesar Kalinowski:area of life, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Not just good news about our aftermath.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Third thing is, um, cross your yard or, and cross the fence.
Caesar Kalinowski:And cross the street before you worry about crossing the globe.
Caesar Kalinowski:Oh, that's good.
Caesar Kalinowski:You know, I was a missions pastor for years.
Caesar Kalinowski:I, I, and we used to just, you know, like tons of people, tons of money and go off and then do you know, quote unquote short-term mission trips.
Caesar Kalinowski:Mostly people had never made a Disciple in their life, never shared their faith, didn't live as a missionary locally, like get to the, know the names of at least five of your neighbors.
Caesar Kalinowski:This.
Heath Hollensbe:Easy task, right?
Heath Hollensbe:Yeah.
Heath Hollensbe:Like most
Caesar Kalinowski:people don't.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:But you get to invite one other person or couple over to join you for a simple meal.
Caesar Kalinowski:You're already eating 21 meals this week.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:But invite someone over this week for a meal.
Caesar Kalinowski:Pray and ask God who he would have you bless with either your words or a small gift or an act of service this week, and then ask what's next, Lord?
Caesar Kalinowski:And do that next week.
Caesar Kalinowski:You are.
Caesar Kalinowski:The missionary in your neighborhood.
Caesar Kalinowski:So get started believing and live in this truth today.
Caesar Kalinowski:We get to Yeah, absolutely.
Caesar Kalinowski:We get to, it's so glorious.
Heath Hollensbe:That's the challenge.
Heath Hollensbe:Five people's names and one person at least over for dinner this week.
Heath Hollensbe:Yeah.
Heath Hollensbe:Everyone can do that.
Caesar Kalinowski:And then look, look to bless somebody and ask God.
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, okay, then what's next?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, and by the way too, I just wanna remind you if you, if you want to grow in your gospel fluency so that.
Caesar Kalinowski:In all these actions, the gospel's just flowing into everyday life.
Caesar Kalinowski:Go to everyday Disciple dot com slash webinar and you can sign up.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's free and uh, it's packed.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's a packed training.
Caesar Kalinowski:So yeah, please join me for that.
Heath Hollensbe:Awesome.
Heath Hollensbe:Thanks for joining us today.
Heath Hollensbe:For more information on this show and to get loads of free discipleship resources, visit everyday Disciple dot com and remember, you really can live with a spiritual freedom and relational peace that Jesus promised every day.