“Missional” Communities

In my last post I talked about being the church instead of simply going to church.  The best way for us to live as the church is to be part of a smaller community of followers of Jesus that meet regularly to live life together being connected to each other and to God’s Word.  This smaller community is where growth actually happens.  Andy Stanley is known for saying, “things happen in circles that never happen in rows.”  When we step out of the classroom mentality to the active partner in living in God’s presence mentality, everything changes.

Acts 2:42-47 describes the church as the first mega-church was launched almost 2,000 years ago.  Over time that relational community has turned into something far different from the biblical description of Christ centered community.

A healthy group will move past simply talking about what the Bible says to actively doing what Jesus says.  When we do that we can really focus on the mission of being the church instead of attending church activities.  That is what “Love God, Love Others, Serve the World” is all about.  Our mission as followers of Jesus is to actively pursue being part of God’s disciple making mission, not to keep busy with inward focused activity.

As a church family we ought to be praying that we would each be connected to a group of fellow followers of Jesus.  We should also pray that those groups would become fully functioning, healthy “missional” communities.   The life-changing power of God is displayed when people get serious about living out what God says in community.  What an amazing way for people to see exactly who Jesus is.