Prayer for Wednesday, June 1

Scripture Passage for Daily Reflection

Acts 9:1-22 (New International Version)

 ¹ Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. ³ As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

 ⁵ “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

   “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. ⁶ “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

 ⁷ The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹ For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

 ¹⁰ In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

   “Yes, Lord,” he answered.

 ¹¹ The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. ¹² In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

 ¹³ “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

 ¹⁵ But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. ¹⁶ I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

 ¹⁷ Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, ¹⁹ and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

    Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. ²⁰ At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. ²¹ All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” ²² Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

Wednesday - Commissioned for the Global Community

Missionary God, you are worthy of all praise because you are not a regional god...you are the creator and sustainer of all people, all places and all times. As we seek to follow you into our neighborhood we pray that you will also keep us mindful of the vastness of your kingdom and the love and compassion you have for people everywhere. We pray that you will protect us from the narrow-mindedness of nationalism, tribalism and other self-serving mentalities. Missionary God, we pray that you will guide our small community into not only awareness of the struggles of those far off, but also to ways we can respond to your call regarding those places. We pray that Intentional People will have opportunities to partner with disciples and communities strategically placed by you to serve as your ambassadors to people across the globe.

We are contextual beings. We live in a particular place at a particular time in history. This is universal and inescapable. That means that, and listen carefully here, we cannot be everywhere at once. Therefore it stands to reason that we must take seriously the need for networks of local communities, each working with God in their particular location. Short term trips and other experiences can be ways for us to serve people all over, but for the long-term presence of Christian community to be felt, we must acknowledge that God’s mission is bigger than us and our church. What can you do, today, to be more intentional about connecting with, supporting, or encouraging someone who is living on mission with God “over there” somewhere?

Church Planting Movements and Missional Communities

As I mentioned in a previous post, we are at the end of week 4 in our season of prayer in preparation for the launch of Intentional People. In the next couple weeks we will also be starting a new missional community (or house church or whatever you want to call it), planted out of Christ Journey in preparation for the formation of a new church planting movement in this area.

I've been asked if there is a difference between forming a new missional community and a church planting movement.

The answer is simple: yes, and no...well, sometimes, sorta.

Here's the reality: the Church is intended to be the Body of Christ, at work as ambassadors and agents of God's Kingdom. The Church is meant to be a worshipping community, gathered in the name of Christ, committed to discipleship in the Way of Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit as active participants in the mission of God.

How this gets expressed is something that needs to be worked out within the local context. It may take the form of thousands of people gathered in one place, or a network of thousands gathered in smaller communities, or two people committed to living the Way of Jesus in their community and inviting others to join them as they go along.

How we are structured matters. Not because there is one approved structure, but because the way we organize affects the way we function together. We have seen/are seeing the danger of becoming institutionalized and yet there are also problems associated with jettisoning all intentionality and organization.

When I (and others) speak of a church planting movement, we're referring to churches that plant churches that plant churches. This can, and does, take different forms. So long as those forms serve to support, rather than limit the participants' call to be BOTH the gathered AND scattered church (the ones called together to worship and sent out by the One they worship), then...great.

We live in a context that is increasingly post-Christian, which is an extremely difficult place to plant the gospel. Unlike a pre-Christian context where the news of Jesus is fresh and new, or a Christian context where the news is accepted and normative, a post-Christian context tends to start from a "been there done that/ thanks but no thanks" mentality. I have seen first hand that this response can be overcome when people are introduced to the life-affirming, meaningfulness producing, adventure of following Jesus.

The process of initiating a church planting movement should include what missiologist Gailyn Van Rheenan describes as the "missional helix": theological reflection, cultural analysis, historical perspective and strategy formation. These commitments force us to take our context seriously; to exegete our culture and ask the questions, "How does the good news impact this place?" and "Where is it already breaking in?"

While it isn't flashy or inspiring, there's also a need to discern mundane matters like: "Will we incorporate as a legally recognized (by the IRS) church?" The answer to that may be "no," but either way there are ramifications which need to be considered.

I distinguish all this, in part, from the formation of a new missional community, particularly when the missional community is being formed with several disciples who are already pursuing the way of Christ together in a given place (not relocating to a new community). They will still need to engage in these same processes of reflection and discernment if they seek to plant new churches in the area, but it does not necessarily require the same level of planning and preparation BEFORE they begin. Similarly, the churches/missional communities planted "from the harvest" as it were, by a church planting movement will also often start and exist simply in similar fashion.

The beginnings are different, in my opinion, for a family or even a couple families, sent into a new area fur the purpose of church planting - even if they plan to begin simply with a missional community. In such a situation, it seems wise to begin working through the aspects of the missional helix (or a similar process) before they attempt to "officially" launch something. Such a process forces them to get to know their new neighbors and community (which is the only way to start a simple church anyway); they begin to learn the history of the area, what's been done and how its affected people's perspective.

Granted, in some models of church planting (ie the highly organic models proposed by Neil Cole, Frank Viola and others) there may never be an intentional engagement of the missional helix, even in the process of cultivating a planting movement. Personally, I have some doubts about the ability of these approaches to sustain ongoing movement, discipleship and missional engagement beyond a couple house churches.

Neil Cole and Church Multiplication Associates will point to their rapid multiplication as evidence to the contrary, but I have my suspicions about the long term viability of "rapid multiplication" movements in this culture - not just from the perspective of the lifespan of a "church," but from the depth of transformation and ongoing discipleship of individuals and families within those churches. I could be wrong, and those who believe in that approach have my prayers of encouragement.

It seems, given the context of North American culture, that there is value and a need for organically but intentionally structured movements which help train, equip, teach, inspire, organize and communicate the continued shared vision. Such movements also function together as a larger extended family that worships and works together.

The structure doesn't exist to supersede, control or micromanage. However, it does allow for the smaller communities to also collaborate, worship and serve with an extended family. Perhaps this looks like a church of 80-150 or so people, sharing life together daily in 5-10 missional communities, but gathering weekly to worship, share stories of God at work in the community, and to continually rehearse the alternative narrative of God's in breaking kingdom. Each missional community contains the dna of complete church and can/should give rise to new communities, but they are not left alone in the cold.

This is just one possible way such a movement could be expressed. Our preparation for such a movement will begin (in this case) with the formation of one missional community...and from there we will discern together, through prayer as well as theological reflection, cultural analysis, historical awareness and then strategy formation.

So...how's that for a simple response?