Meeting people where they are and taking them where Jesus wants them to go
This post is on the lighthearted, non-missional side. My friend and pastor Matt Carter was filming for his book The Real Win, and happened upon a bird…check out what happened:
I also appreciate a good mashup…someone else did great work incorporating Bambi:
Enjoy 
I often have conversations about missional communities, and the most asked question I receive is “what’s different about a missional community?”. I wanted to provide some distinctions from other forms small groups have often taken in this series:
In my last post, I talked about the difference between a missional community and a bible study. Here, I want to address the difference between a missional community and a community group or fellowship group.
One of the greatest felt needs of attenders in many churches is “community”. We talk about the value of it, tell people they need it, and provide lots of ways for people to engage it. As I have engaged in connecting a lot of people, mostly what they are after is finding friendships that will spur them towards Christ.
That desire is good and godly…I want the same thing!
The danger in the church aiming for “community” though, is that it typically becomes the destination. Once relationships have been established and the need for friends has been met, that’s the way a community group stays. Community groups love to spend time together and have rich friendships, and the concept of “doing life” together is easy and appealing.
But these kinds groups often struggle because they lack the imperative of mission. They meet and live life in community but do not engage in missionary activity. Once more appealing friendships or changes in life circumstances occur, a community group often dies out.
Community on this side of heaven isn’t primarily about us though. It’s about God’s glory being displayed to the world! Jesus clearly explains that the purpose of Christian unity and community is so that the world would know God the Father sent Jesus to this earth in John 17:21-24.
A missional community is different, in that they primarily see the purpose of their friendship, love and unity is to be an apologetic for the gospel to their neighbors. Community isn’t the only purpose of the group, but community has the purpose of mission.
I often have conversations about missional communities, and the most asked question I receive is “what’s different about a missional community?”. I wanted to provide some distinctions from other forms small groups have often taken in this series:
Many of us have been a part of a bible study at some point in our Christian lives. Typically, these groups gravitate to reading the bible for a set period of time on a specific day of the week. Bible studies are often great things, but they don’t constitute a Christian community in it’s entirety.
I am often asked “how is missional community different from bible study?”
The short answer is that a missional community is not a bible study, but a missional community studies the bible. So what’s the difference?
A bible study is often defined by gathering for the event of learning. A missional community is seeking to engage God’s word on a daily basis through a Life Transformation Group and seeking to obey.
The distinction is primarily in expectations – a missional community has the expectation that an individual is participating in the community to contribute something (1 Corinthians 14:26), whereas someone comes to a bible study to consume something.
People need to study the bible for sure, but to study the bible without engaging in an authentic community on mission is a fool’s errand. The purpose of studying the bible is to teach about God and conform us to the image of Christ, but it’s also to equip us for the work of ministry in the church (community) and outside the church (mission)!
If we are going to be a compelling communities that fosters obedience to the bible, our community should be natural, neutral, and regular, in the pattern and rhythm of everyday life, not a one-hour, drive-through bible study.
The typical bible study sets the bar way too low – don’t make a part of the Christian community the entire thing!
If the mantra “what you measure is what you value” is true, then we need to have a way to measure and assess the health and effectiveness of missional communities. The series that follows will summarize how we assess missional communities at The Austin Stone.
In addition to leaders self-assessing, we also add a second dimension to the assessment which comes from our pastors and coaches. We have noticed that often times leaders will have either an overly optimistic understanding of the health of their group, or conversely they are a little too hard on themselves.
In order to provide some balance and additional perspective, our leadership and coaches provide interpretation of those assessments. They also provide assessment of the stage of the group based on coaching conversations and group visits.
The coach evaluation is based on classifying groups into one of four categories:
We don’t typically share the information above with groups, but use it as leaders and coaches to know what steps we need to take with communities and leaders. This progression to help us know where we need to push on groups and where our leadership needs to invest time.
For more on coaching, you can find resources here. For more on the data trends in missional communities, you can go here.
What have you found helpful in providing insight to your groups?
This Sunday, The Austin Stone joined with many other Acts 29 Network churches to preach to our congregations about church planting and support the mission to make disciples and plant healthy churches.
I continue to be grateful for the Lord’s grace in my life to participate in church planting. As we prayed for our entire church to engage in the Great Commission, two of my friends and their church plants came to mind:
Would you join me in praying for these men, their families, and their core teams as they seek to make disciples in their cities?
Additionally, I will be launching a two year residency for aspiring pastors and church planters in this coming year (see below for an overview). Would you join me in praying for this cohort of men and their families in the coming year?
Pastoral and Church Planting Residency at The Austin Stone – PDF
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can be involved in church planting, let me know and I can help you plug in!
