Beyond your oikos · Send
What Is Missional Living? How to Live on Mission in Everyday Life
What missional living means, where it comes from in Scripture, the five BELLS habits, and how to treat your street, workplace and third places as your mission field.
For many Christians, "mission" is something that happens on a trip: a week overseas, a weekend outreach, a special event. Then life goes back to normal.
Missional living is the idea that normal life is the mission field — your street, your job, your gym, your group chat. Here is what missional living means, where it comes from in the Bible, and simple everyday habits that turn an ordinary week into a sent life.
Quick answers
- What does missional living mean?
- Missional living means seeing yourself as sent by God into the places you already live, work and play, and living there intentionally so people encounter Jesus through your words and life. It is based on Jesus' words in John 20:21: "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
- What is a missional Christian?
- A missional Christian treats everyday life — their street, workplace, school and social circles — as their mission field, building genuine friendships, serving and blessing people, and sharing the Gospel naturally rather than only through church programmes or trips.
- What are the BELLS habits?
- BELLS is a set of five weekly habits popularised by Michael Frost: Bless three people, Eat with three people, Listen to the Holy Spirit, Learn Jesus through the Gospels, and reflect on being Sent by journaling where God was at work.
- How is missional living different from evangelism?
- Evangelism is sharing the good news of Jesus. Missional living is the wider lifestyle that makes evangelism natural: being present, building friendships and serving in everyday places, so there are relationships in which the Gospel can be shared.
What is missional living?
Missional living means seeing yourself as sent by God into the places you already live, work and play — and living there intentionally so that people encounter Jesus through your words and your life.
It starts with who God is. The Father sent the Son, and the Son sends us: "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" (John 20:21). Theologians call this the missio Dei — the mission of God. The Church does not so much have a mission as God's mission has a Church.
Jesus moved into the neighbourhood
The pattern is the incarnation itself: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14). Jesus did not shout the good news from a distance. He came close, lived among people, ate with them and learned their names.
Missional living follows the same pattern. Instead of inviting people out of their world into ours, we go into theirs and stay long enough to be known.
Your whole life is the mission field
Paul did not divide life into sacred and secular: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). Work counts too: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters" (Colossians 3:23).
That means the places you already go every week are where your mission happens:
- Your street — the neighbours you wave to but barely know. Who is my neighbour?
- Your workplace — where you spend most of your waking hours. Your coworkers are your oikos.
- Your "third places" — the café, gym, park, team or club where you are a regular.
- Your school or campus. How to share your faith at school.
- Your online spaces — the group chats and feeds where people talk honestly.
Write the people from each place on an Oikos Map and your mission field suddenly has names.
Five everyday habits (BELLS)
Australian author Michael Frost popularised five simple weekly habits, remembered as BELLS, that make missional living practical. A version of them:
- Bless — bless three people each week, at least one of them not a Christian: a note, a gift, a word of encouragement, help with a task.
- Eat — share a meal with three people each week, at least one not a Christian. Biblical hospitality shows how simple it can be.
- Listen — spend time each week listening to the Holy Spirit, asking where He is already at work.
- Learn — spend time each week learning Jesus, especially reading the Gospels.
- Sent — journal through the week how you noticed God at work and how you joined Him.
Living wisely and intentionally
"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15–16). Missional living is not adding a hundred programmes to a busy life. It is doing the things you already do — eating, working, exercising, shopping, parenting — with your eyes open and your door unlocked.
Jesus called it being salt: "You are the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13). Salt only works in contact with what it flavours. A Christian who only spends time with Christians cannot season anything.
Common mistakes
- Friendship as a tactic. If you would drop a friend once they say no to Jesus, it was never friendship. Love people because they are people.
- Presence without words. Living well matters, but at some point the Gospel has to be spoken. What is evangelism?
- Doing it alone. Missional living works best with a few others — a small group or "missional community" sharing a neighbourhood or network.
- Burning out. Mission flows from rest and prayer, not frantic busyness. Sabbath is part of the rhythm.
Start this week
- Name your places: street, work, third place, online.
- Name five people across them and pray for each daily. The builder can add a daily reminder to your calendar.
- Bless one and eat with one before Sunday.
- Ask one good question and really listen. Here are 30.
For the global picture of what you are part of, read What Is the Great Commission?
“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
John 20:21