Community; probably one of the most over used, yet mis-understood words in the church today. Missional; a word that implies that that group of individual has some sort of offensive purpose or objective that they desire to achieve, not passive. Missional Community; a group of believers that decide to form a close (physically, spiritually, and emotionally) relationship with the cooperative goal of seeing the life-giving Gospel of Jesus Christ advanced AMONG them.
For the last few months, Hannah and I have been increasingly curious about the idea of missional community. Studying the book of Acts recently has accelerated this curiosity to a vision. The Spirit of God has accelerated this vision into a plan. The followers of Jesus in Acts 2 committed themselves to 4 things: the apostles' teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. What would it look like for a group of believers today to join together in a place full of people who don't know Jesus, commit themselves to these four things, and believe/ask God for the hearts of those they are living among? Here's our interpretation of what it would look like:
Within a few months of the new year, Hannah and I will be moving to an apartment community near us called "The Breakers" This community is massive including 5 different "neighborhoods", a lake with boats and a walking path around it, and giant community center with a restaurant/bar where every night of the week, there are events such as karaoke night, poker night, trivia night, etc. where many residents spend time. The complex is primarily filled with two types of people: young professionals and internationals (primarily middle eastern and Indian).
John 1:14 in the message says "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood." In the same way, we, along with the partners God gives us, will "move into the neighborhood" as the Gospel not only to pursue true community, but to believe God to advance His Gospel through us there.
What will this look like? This will look like us surrendering our apartment to the Lord and opening it up for many gatherings throughout the week, and even a place for people to stay, if need be. We will have some specific nights set aside for time in the Word in the group context, some times of simple "hang out times" such as watching a Broncos game with friends and neighbors or having a game night.
Are we starting a church? No. Too much negative baggage goes along with that word in our society, especially to those alienated from God.
Will what we're doing look like a local church? Possibly in some ways, but that is not our goal. Our goal is to see the beautiful Gospel of Jesus flow through relationships and then translate into healthy, mature, reproducing followers of Jesus. We will steer away from the religious forms and order found in a local church. Our strongest asset is our ability to go extremely deep into people's lives through proximity and availability; we don't want to sacrifice that for a structured "service."
Please continue to pray for this endeavor as we are already sending people ahead of us to "pave the way" for us to show up as soon as our current lease is up. Please pray for the few relationships we already have with residents there who don't know Jesus, that those relationships would be a great launching pad. Pray for God's provision to make it possible for us to be there, and in time to be more available there.
