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I recently received God’s New Community by Graham Beynon (left) from my aunt in England. My friend, John Hindley of The Plant recommended it. If you can get a copy of this theologically grounded, gospel-centered, practically rich book, buy it immediately. Don’t let’s size deceive you. God’s New Community is dense with practical theology of the church. Commenting on the absence of mission in Acts 2:42-47, Beynon writes:
I think there is a strong hint that it wasn’t so much specific evangelistic efforts that brought people into the church, but the attractiveness of this new community’s life. People around were drawn to the church by the believers care for each other, their unity, their desire to learn, their joy in the Lord. God’s New Community, 135
Beynon is a pastor in England who occasionally writes for Beginning with Moses, which if you haven’t subscribed, go ahead and do that now. Click BT Briefings at the top and then Join our Mailing List.
Ryan Robinson, the City Demographer, spoke to PlantR yesterday. The room was cram-packed with planters who care about the city of Austin. Ryan hit it out of the park! He stimulated fresh thinking about how the gospel can address the brokenness of our city without even uttering the word “Jesus”!
Read about it here and get the PP presentation.
My experience of church is extending well beyond anything I have previously experienced in 28 years as a disciple of Jesus. What’s amazing is that this is not just my experience; it is shared by our church, by my City Group, by our city. And, no doubt, by some of you.
Too Mature for Community?
The level of authentic confession of sin, persistent belief in the gospel, love for one another, and sharing of life and mission is remarkable. This is not naive community; it is redemptive community, a community of grace that holds in common brokenness and belief, failure and success, repentance and faith. As one of our people shared during our gathering on Sunday, “You are never too spiritually mature for community.”
Too Community-centered?
Indeed, community should be common fare in the church, and I’m not talking about “fellowship”, just hanging out or feeling like you have friends. If we are not careful, our longing for and experience of community can subtly displace the gospel. Biblical community is much, much more than this. Biblical community is significant, not because it makes you feel significant but because it recognizes that Jesus is our common source of significance. The gospel, not people, becomes the means to the end of our identity. Our sense of acceptance flows from our relationship with Christ, which in turn frees us to love and serve one another, not secretly judge, demand or ostracize. We become a one anothering community, freed by the gospel, to love and serve each other. We are equally never too spiritually mature for the gospel.
Making the Gospel Central, Really
As Graham Beynon puts it: “We are to be teaching each other the gospel, to be correcting each other about the gospel with all wisdom, to be singing about the gospel with gratitude and so letting it dwell richly among us. When we come to church on a Sunday, or to our small group meeting during the week, we should come saying to ourselves, ‘I hope I will be reminded of the gospel in this meeting. I hope I will be taught about it and corrected in my understanding of it. I hope we will sing about it.” ~ God’s New Community, 119.
Does your church, your community, your small group, your missional community gather in anticipation of being reminded of the gospel, corrected in the gospel, motivated by the gospel, to sing of the gospel? If not, what can you do to reshape community expectations around the gospel, not community? Have you become too mature for community or too community centered for the gospel? Consider how to make the gospel central and community will follow.
I know saying this isn’t going to win me any friends, but someone has to tell the king he’s naked. Is it not a quiet madness for churches to largely outsource their discipleship (to parachurch agencies) and training (to theological colleges)? The best context for both discipleship and training is the people of God on mission (a.k.a. church).
Yeah, thanks to Zac I am streaming the new album for free from here right now. Select No Line On the Horizon from the drop down menu in the player. Killer. The first two tracks are mellow but contagious.
- “Magnificent” articulates Bono’s conviction that his voice was given to him from God for the magnificent One. The music is October meets Unforgettable Fire.
- “Moment of Surrender” grooves, soul..these songs will reverberate through the whole stadium live.
JR Woodward uses some fresh language to get across the responsibilities of the equippers of the church here.
Neil Cole’s new book Organic Leadership is insightful, provocative, and prophetic. The first section of the book points out the weeds growing in the soil of the American church. One particular weed is the parasitical effect of parachurch ministries. To be sure, Cole does not view all parachurch organizations as an impediment to the church; however, he prophetically points out how the parachurch has assumed the role and mission of the church leaving her weak and anemic. Consider these areas of capitulation:
- Her leadership development has been assumed by colleges, seminaries, and Bible institutes.
- Her compassion and social justice have been given over to nonprofit charitable organizations.
- Her global mission has been relinquished to mission agencies.
- Church government and decision making have often been forfeited to denominational offices.
- Her prophetic voice has been replaced by publishing houses, self-help gurus, and futurist authors.
- Her emotional and spiritual health has been taken over by psychologists, psychiatrists, and family counseling services.
The Anemic Church
Now, before you react let this settle. Detect the truth in these statements. Where can your church recover certain elements, perhaps not in totality but in measure? Cole is not sweeping all parachurches aside. Rather, he is pointing out the professionalization and specialization of the church into ministries that have left the church anemic. We have capitulated to this fragmentation of the church. Cole notes:
The world today looks at the church wondering what relevance she has. The only use they see for the church is performing the sacerdotal duties of preaching, marrying, burying, baptizing, and passing around wafers and grape juice. The church was once a catalyst for artistic expression, social change, and the founding of hospitals, schools, and missionary enterprise, but today she has settled for providing a one-hour-a-week worship concert, an offering place, and a sermon. (116)
Ralph Winter: Sodality and Modality
Cole is careful to note the distinctions made by Ralph Winter regarding sodalities and modalities. Winter’s helpful article emphasizes the more apostolic, missionary nature of certain entities like Paul’s roving, planting, missionary bands. These are sodalities. These sodalities don’t do everything that the church is responsible for, instead they specialize. Modalities, on the other hand, are a little more static though missional and are churches. The church is a modality because it is given the responsibility to do everything that God has commanded us to do (feed the poor, disciple, translate the bible, etc.). A church is modality and parachurch sodality. Sodalities can weaken or strengthen churches.
Cole affirms the need for both modalities and sodalities but contests these distinctions as a point of division between church and parachurch. He writes: “both modality and sodality are part of God’s redemptive purpose. Both are the church in the eyes of Paul. I do no think he saw himself as at all separate from the church…” (122).
What do you think? Where has your church capitulated to the parasitical parachurch? Is there a way forward? And what of the modality sodality distinction? Are both mission agencies and local churches together the church? Much more could be said on these matters.
Today I had the privilege of addressing SBC Associational Directors for megacities in the U.S. Hopefully I didn’t make a fool of myself. One of the reasons I was asked to speak was based on our experience with PlantR, a interdenominational church planting network that is seeking to catalyze a Christ-centered, context-sensitive church plant movement that renews Austin and beyond. This presentation was similar to the one I did at the recent Missional Community Leadership conference.
If our experience in PlantR can be replicated in megacities and improved upon, then I believe that networks like PlantR can play an important role in creating a church planting movements in cities across America. Ultimately movement has to be a sovereign work of the Spirit, but the Spirit consistenly used networks throughout Christian history (Jerusalem, Antioch, Celtic Mission bases, etc). I hope you’ll consider joining a local church planting network or starting one in order to see your city truly reached. After all, no one planter, denomination, or church is going to single-handedly transform an entire city. We need each other in gospel mission.
Here is my outline “From Planting to Movements: The Role of City Networks“. And props to Brandon Hatmaker who helped me think this through in the original presentation. A quote from the presentation:
We need churches with strong social ties that extend well beyond the boundaries of their buildings and families into neighborhoods and the city. In short, we need more Missional Communities not Programmed Sunday Events.
The Austin Stone Missional Community blog is putting out some good posts. This post helpfully raises missionary questions that will promote MCs that think and act more wisely, communicating the gospel with greater missional savvy. Here are some questions your MC can ask in the process of understanding your culture and mission:
- What are the emotional needs of the elderly, families, teens, singles, men, women, children?
- What are the social, economic or educational needs of the same?
- What are the flaws and difficulties with the systems of the community?
- What is their worldview?
- What redemptive analogies best fit this culture?
- What does this culture understand about the basic components of the gospel story?
- What questions are being asked in the culture that point to their need for the gospel?
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