What Do Missional Communities Do?

Missional communities will vary across contexts, but they must be rooted in gospel;
identity first, then methods and theory. What we've found is that if Christians love the
gospel, they'll be willing to do incredible things for the sake of making Jesus known to
those around them. At The Austin Stone, we are playing this out in both groups
transitioning from traditional bible studies and groups being launched as missionary
teams into the harvest.

Our methods come from our ultimate aim of conformity to the life of Jesus, not
necessarily to a certain pattern or formula for Christian living. Our target in sanctification
must be determined by our Christology - basically, "What is Jesus like?" Traditional
American piety typically aims at developing the inner life and leaving the outer life to
church events. We're trying to lead our MCs to grow both inwardly and outwardly as a
group.

As we look at Scripture and also at how our people are wired, we've conceived of a few
simple practices that have been especially helpful for groups that are transitioning from a
bible study or small group mentality. Each is an expression of what a MC should be
doing in the natural rhythms of life.

For the outward focus of our groups (the missional part of missional community), there
are two primary practices we suggest:

• Regularly engaging in a "3rd Place", somewhere neutral and natural that your
  group regularly gathers to enjoy each other and cultivate what Hugh Halter calls
  "inclusive community."
• Seeking opportunities for Service, which happens when groups seek opportunities
  to meet the needs of and bless people in their pocket of town or around the city. In
  other words, serving the "least of these."

As we engage one another in these places, we prayerfully and intentionally start inviting
our lost friends to join us and provide space for them to belong before they believe. In
this way, the community apologetic is beginning to be lived out through creating a
natural place where those outside the community of faith can meaningfully experience
the life of Christ lived out amongst those who believe in Christ.

For the inward focus of our groups (the community part of missional community), there
are two primary things we ask of our groups:

• Rather than depending on professionals, we want groups pastoring each other in
  the mess of life. This is really just a function of believers on mission living more
  life together. Depending on the situation, we may need to comfort, rebuke,
  encourage, forgive, etc. This isn't always easy, but we see the gospel on display
  as group members begin to die to self and love each other more.
• Finally, we're often asked the question "where do I go deep?" LTG's (Life
  Transformation Groups) are something you'll recognize from Neil Cole. LTG's
  are groups of 2 or 3 people committed to confession, Scripture, and praying for
  lost friends. This is the place for important high-bar personal depth, and
  accountability to discipleship that is based on our obedience, not simply growth in
  knowledge.

Finally, we value a regular Missional Community Meeting that serves both the outward
and inward depth. It's a time for the group to share a meal together and hold a "lowbar"--
no minimum amount of Bible or theology required to participate in meaningful
discussion--Bible study. We hope that the relationships we cultivate with those far from
God would make this their next step with us toward consistent engagement with life of
our community.

As we have begun to live these practices out, we become more convinced there is no
magic formula. These are simply tools for groups to use, not to measure themselves by.
We have seen, however, that as these practices are adopted within groups, the mission
will enrich the community and the community will reinforce the mission.

2 Comments »

1. Thank you Matt, this is really good. Do you have some examples of 3rd places. Are you referring to parks, coffee shops, or joining rec leagues, running clubs? I’ve found my most fruitful efforts have been through coaching my kids sports teams. I am trying to figure out how to create that same type of inclusive community in a way that our small groups can do it together.

   Comment by Steve Chesnut - Dec 15, 2011 @ 09:14 AM

2. Oh, I love your post very much, thanks for the sharing!

   Comment by statinternet - Dec 30, 2011 @ 05:53 AM

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