25-1015wc - Detailed Summary

The session begins with an overview of Tour 5, Part 1, titled "The Royal Vision, Engaging with Grace," marking a pivotal shift in Del Tackett’s Engagement Project from theoretical foundations to hands-on application of loving neighbors. Building on prior tours that focused on gazing upon God’s face and exploring the king’s order—the royal law of loving God and neighbor—Tackett emphasizes embodying this command. He asserts that God has fully equipped believers for this task, drawing parallels to creation where God provided everything needed for plants, animals, and Adam and Eve to thrive and steward. Similarly, post-ascension, believers are empowered by the Holy Spirit to fulfill the royal law, making it clear that this is not optional but the core of kingdom living. Tackett stresses that primary kingdom work is for ordinary people, not just missionaries or clergy, and challenges participants to catch this vision of divine provisioning.

To illustrate, Tackett shares Kristen’s story, who initially viewed mission work as distant and international but realized God called her to engage neighbors right outside her door. She knew the biblical mandate but struggled with practicalities, questioning how to live it out daily—such as whether to knock on doors or bring cookies. Her turning point came unexpectedly while hosting a party.

Kristen’s story continues with her ordering a picnic table from Lowe’s, painting it turquoise, and placing it in her front yard under a tree as an act of surrender to God, declaring, "Here I am, Lord. Your will be done." This table became a symbol of invitation, sparking conversations and relationships in her neighborhood, showing that engaging neighbors starts with simple availability and obedience rather than grand gestures. Tackett then shifts to the biblical narrative of Saul of Tarsus and Ananias, reframing it beyond Saul’s conversion to Paul and its impact, highlighting Ananias as an ordinary believer. Referencing Acts 17, he notes God’s sovereignty in determining times, places, and boundaries where people live, suggesting that if God plants nations, He also plants neighbors. Saul was directed to a specific house where Ananias lived, prompting reflection that neighbors are not random but divinely positioned for believers to bring shalom—holistic peace, flourishing, and well-being.

Participants are encouraged to see their exact address and neighbors as intentional, with someone like "Mrs. Smith across the street" needing the shalom they can offer. Tackett articulates the royal vision personally: Christian families or singles committed to their neighbors' shalom in their immediate "Jerusalem" through building real relationships, intentional prayer and action infused with grace, wisdom, and truth, being attractively winsome, tearing down walls of division and skepticism, and building trust via consistent interaction. This leads to kingdom work, turning the world upside down one neighbor at a time, as a lifestyle rather than a program. Unpacking elements, commitment is foundational, requiring dedication to the Lord and His command, as study alone won’t suffice. Engagement focuses on building real relationships, modeled by Jesus who formed deep bonds with 12 disciples and invested intimately in three (Peter, James, John), recognizing depth can’t be spread thin.

Class interactions define significant relationships by trust, time investment, authenticity, vulnerability, generosity, true friendship, open communication, shared meals (noting spiritual depth in breaking bread), collaborative projects, sacrifice, and unwavering trust. To achieve this, suggestions include availability, carving out time, commitment to overcome distractions, and real love, with Tackett adding deliberate effort, quality time, energy, sacrifices, and dismantling barriers amid cultural skepticism and agendas. He uses a farming analogy: cultivating relationships is like preparing virgin land—felling trees, removing rocks, plowing, tilling, fertilizing, weeding—laborious and sacrificial but essential for fruitfulness. Ed and Mary’s story exemplifies this: as ordinary believers, Mary took French classes to connect with a neighbor, Ed called neighbors friends and went on a photography trip with one, and Mary valued not being too busy to invest. This contrasts with "drive-by Christianity"—superficial interactions that yield no impact—emphasizing authentic engagement, as it’s probable the only real Christian relationship a neighbor will have is with you.

This final segment underscores the weight of believers' role, as they may be the sole window into the gospel’s transformative power for their neighbors. In summary, the royal vision of engaging with grace calls believers to a committed, relational pursuit of neighborly shalom. Through stories like Kristen’s turquoise table, the providential encounter of Saul and Ananias, and practical insights on relational cultivation, Tackett equips participants to step out in faith. This vision reorients mission work from distant fields to the doorstep, where grace-filled actions can create eternal ripples. By embracing it, ordinary Christians become agents of kingdom transformation, one genuine relationship at a time.