Missional Communities.
You've read about them. You've heard people give talks on them. You've maybe seen a video or two on them.
But at the end of the day, what IS a missional community and how do they actually work?
Missional communities are one of the 2 environments and 5 practices Dwelling 1:14 advocates as effective ways to position people to join Jesus on His redemptive mission in their local community. We have found that when we intentionally live in such a way that we are enjoying people and then seeking, recognizing and responding to what Jesus is already doing in the lives of the people we are enjoying we are swept up into His mission. The 5close1 Thessalonians 5 The Day of the Lord 5:1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. Final Instructions and Benediction 12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. 25 Brothers, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (ESV) close1 Thessalonians 5close1 Thessalonians 5 The Day of the Lord 5:1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. Final Instructions and Benediction 12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. 25 Brothers, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (ESV) The Day of the Lord 5:1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. Final Instructions and Benediction 12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. 25 Brothers, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (ESV) practices and 2 environments position us to be able to enjoy people and seek, recognize and respond to what Jesus is doing in their lives.
Last week we talked about creating the environment of "Neighboring." Today is Missional Community.
One of the challenges in communicating about missional communities is that there are so many definitions and versions of what "missional community" means floating around out there. None of the definitions is right or wrong. However, some of the ways missional community is lived out may be more or less effective than others.
The key to effective missional community is not leaving out either the "mission" part or the "community" part of the missional community.
For instance, I frequently coach people who gather regularly with their "missional community" and study mission. So they have the "community" part down. However, studying mission is not the same as doing mission. They really have more of a study group than a missional community. The trouble with this approach is that it is essentially just another small group like we have been experiencing for the last 30 years. No one is affected by their gathering except one another. They frequently lose interest in studying mission after awhile and are ready for the next subject. People who engage in this - thinking it is missional community - have missed out on the adventure and satisfaction of actually engaging in mission!
The other side of the spectrum is the people who go out and serve the neighborhood on a regular basis but do not invest the time to know the people of that neighborhood nor do they gather with the other "missionaries" to unpack what they see happening and discern their next steps. They have a sense of "mission" but have not yet valued the "community" part. The trouble with this approach is that people treat mission as a program to be participated in occasionally rather than a lifestyle. They frequently lose interest after a season or end up too busy or too tired to continue. People who engage in this - thinking it is missional community - have missed out on the encouragement and connection of actually engaging in community!
With that said, there are basically two definitions in use among those who are indeed practicing both the "missional" as well as the "community" parts of missional community.
Reggie McNeal in his book, "Missional Communities" does us the favor of summarizing the definitions this way (p.28):
"In missional communities, the key affinity is mission. Missional affinity is approached in two basic ways, with some mixing and matching. Some communities primarily see themselves as having a mission together - a common cause that they feel called to give their lives to (serving the homeless, mentoring school children, adopting people groups, and so on). The missional community in these cases is the missionary. Other missional communities mainly see their group as a community of missionaries, each living intentionally in their life assignments, drawing encouragement and nurture for their mission from the missional community they are a part of. These communities might serve in projects together but they do not see the group as their major missional engagement with the world. Their lives are their mission trips."
Again, neither definition is right or wrong. The first definition is along the line of what 3DM (Mike Breen) would advocate. The second definition is along the line of what Dwelling 1:14 would advocate. In both cases both the "mission" and "community" of missional community is strongly in play.
Why does Dwelling 1:14 advocate the second type of missional community? It is a matter of practicality. For most busy American Christians, trying to have a time both for being together in community AND going out all together on mission is not sustainable. As I talk with leaders trying to hit that goal, they are more often than not stalled and "missional community" is more of an aspiration than reality.
However, we have seen great success as busy American Christians come together regularly to support each other as they engage their daily lives as mission trips. This version of missional community is defined by Dwelling 1:14 as "a group of people supporting each other as they learn to seek, recognize and respond to what Jesus is doing as He carries out His redemptive mission in our community." This is the missionary lifestyle that we support in our missional communities as we gather to connect with others on the adventure, tell our stories, and encourage each other to press on.
What do we do in our missional community?
In the second version of missional community as we defined it above, we gather together for a couple hours, coming out of our individual mission trips which we call "daily living." We gather at someone's home or in a local gathering spot (like a coffee shop or pub). We take a little time to reconnect, unwind and maybe have a meal. Then we begin to tell our Kingdom stories, that is, each of us has an opportunity to tell our group what happened as we put the 5 practices into play during the week. Remember, the 5 practices put us into position to enjoy people and seek, recognize and respond to what Jesus is already doing in the lives of the people we are enjoying. In other words, what happened last week as we joined Jesus on His mission? The story telling is facilitated by asking the 5 Questions which reflect the 5 Practices.
Next week we will begin to identify the 5 Practices and begin to unpack why each is simple, powerful and effective for Jesus' mission.
Finally, why is gathering in a missional community so important?
We have found that the key to joining Jesus' mission every day is putting the 5 Practices into play on a daily basis. The trouble is we rarely do that without support and accountability. Our lives get busy and self-absorbed. We just forget. However, the missional community gives us a place and a group of people who want to hear what happened as we joined Jesus' mission last week. We have found that when people have a place to tell their stories, the stories reignite their value for living missionally. This reignited value then reinforces their determination to go back out into their daily life to put the 5 Practices into play. And by putting the 5 Practices into play they will then have more missional stories to tell.
Stories reinforce values, values reinforce practices, and practices ensure there are more stories to tell!
What are your questions about missional communities?
Rev. Greg Finke
Rev. Greg Finke
