Following the Verge Conference Brent Thomas wrote up some ideas for helping to transition a church from a program-driven model to a missional one. This is especially applicable as we start Engage Groups at Grace Bible Church and look to raise up and grow missional communities that happen “during life during the week” instead of “at church on Sunday”.

Go slow. . Any changes must be communicated clearly, demonstrated biblically and made slowly.

Be theological/scriptural. …missional is, above all, a theological movement. It is rooted in the Missio Dei (the “Mission of God”). God the Father sent the Son, the Father and Son Sent the Spirit and just as the Father sent the Son, so Jesus sends His people into the world (Matthew 28:18-20, John 20:21, etc.). Any transition to missional must be rooted in Scripture rather than pragmatics.

Clearly define your terms. Missional communities are small groups but they are not simply small group bible studies. Missional Communities seek to develop transparent relationships of Gospel accountability but they are not simply accountability groups. Missional communities are focused on re-orienting our entire lives around living on mission, but they are not simply outreach groups. If we are not clear in defining missional communities in our churches, tradition will be more than happy to define them for us.

Lead by example. A leader’s most powerful tool in a shift towards missional community is example. Jesus led by serving (Mark 10:45, etc.) and so should His people. … Take people with you. Lead by example.

Don’t neglect community. It’s possible that we can become so focused on mission that we find ourselves neglecting community. … We have been created to exist (and to minister) in relationship. Seek to implement ways of living missionally that are community-centered.

Center each community around a tangible mission with the clear end-goal of making disciples. … each mission must be targeted at making disciples, they must include relationships with non-believers.

Celebrate successes/share stories. It’s important to continually share stories of success. Just as we need to be led by example in community, we need to be encouraged and challenged by those who have had breakthroughs. Continually have church members share their own stories of living on mission (not just the successes but also the failures, this is a hard calling and we need to not only see success but be reminded that we’re not alone in struggle). This will not only provide a picture of what living on mission might look like for some people, it will reinforce the community piece, reminding each one of us that we’re not in this alone.

Focus on Jesus. We must never forget that this is all about Jesus. We are not on mission to get people to join our church but to know Jesus.

From Duane Smets of The Resolved Church in San Diego as posted on the Acts 29 Network Blog

Below are ten common reasons given for what keeps us from mission, coupled with ways we can work to combat their tendencies in us.

1. Too busy
2. No (Christian) community support
3. Uncertainty of one’s own beliefs
   1. Apologetics Level
   2. Gospel Application Level
   3. Discipleship Level
4. Unwillingness to seek the conversion of others
5. Don’t want to waste free time
6. Don’t have anything in common with community
7. Fear of condemnation
8. Fear of corruption
9. Fear of what to say
10. Fear of damaging the relationship

From Ed Roberts on the 9Marks Blog

missiology is the intentional, ongoing, purposeful, biblically controlled, serious and prayerful reflection on the doing of God’s mission in the world

Now that we’ve started an Engage Group at Grace, I want to start posting items that may be of benefit to the group and that can provide encouragement to start additional groups at church. To kick things off, here is a challenge from John Piper of Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis about why churches need small groups and community

Here are 10 tips for Missional Communities from Austin City Life and Jonathan Dodson

1. KNOW GOD
   • cultivate a steady devotional/prayer life
   • participate in a fight club
   • serve with the strength God supplies
2. KNOW YOUR PEOPLE
   • pastor your city group
   • notice when somebody disappears
3. KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
   • know the culture
   • know your neighbors
4. DON’T GO ALONE
   • share leadership, i.e. host, meals, prayer, mission
   • participate in monthly meetings
   • participate in monthly coaching
5. SAY WHO YOU ARE (AND WHO YOU AREN’T) EVERY WEEK
   • Deconstruct small group/biblestudy/social group
   • Reaffirm our Practices (Engage God, Engage Each Other, Engage Ann Arbor)
6. GET OUT OF THE LIVING ROOM
   • on mission
   • in celebration
7. LIVE THE 8 WAYS TO EASILY BE MISSIONAL
   • Out loud, let gospel talk be ordinary talk. Don’t hide your faith. Here’s the link and below are the 8
   • Eat with Non-Christians.
   • Walk, Don’t Drive.
   • Be a Regular.
   • Hobby with Non-Christians.
   • Talk to Your Co-workers.
   • Volunteer with Non-Profits.
   • Participate in City Events.
   • Serve your Neighbors.
8. EAT, LAUGH, PRAY, and  SERVE TOGETHER
   • a healthy group will do all 4
9. TELL YOUR STORIES
   • In the living room
   • On the blog
   • Use twitter/FB to facilitate community(not replace it)
10. COME TO SERVE (NOT JUST GET) ON SUNDAYS

Day 1 of the Acts 29 Boot Camp is over. It was a great day. Julie and I met people from all over the country and heard some powerful talks. Here’s a brief recap of what I heard. The notes aren’t going to be verbatim, mostly quotes

Session #1: “The Gospel & Ambition” – Dave Harvey

Passage: John 12-27-32, 32b-43. Some great quotes

• “Loving the glory that comes from God means loving Jesus”
• “Glory that comes from God demands a pursuit”
• “The pursuit of God’s glory is the basis of Godly ambition”
• “The search for approval is over because of the cross?
• “Ambition is from, not for, a position of approval from God”
• “Ambition should lead us to explore new opportunities to glorify God”
• We should be unwilling to settle for a completed goal

Ambition is

1. Perceiving the value of something – we’ll never ben ambitious for what we don’t value
2. Prizing what we perceive
3. Pursuing

Session #2: “The Evangelism of Church Planting” – Ed Stetzer

Wow. This was an amazing talk. This one is Julie’s favorite and could be mine. Incredibly challenging. He told us again and again and again that we need to evangelize.

Passage:  2 Timothy 4:1-5.

Evangelism in church planting is

• Action: Do
• Labor: The work of an evangelism
• Focus: do your work evangelistically

Luther said “God doesn’t need your good works but your neighbor does”

• “Do good works. Be, do, and tell Good News”
• Invitationalism is a problem. People should not bring people to you to find Jesus

Session #3: “The Church & Ambition” – Steve Timmis

Passage: Romans 15

He spoke on Paul’s ambition for Christ, the church, and the lost as represented by his call to the local church, Spain, and Jerusalem

Session #4: “Leadership & Ambition” – Darrin Patrick

Darrin spoke this one directly to the men in attendance who are church planters or want to be. He really drilled us about the need to discern ourselves and raise up young leaders

Passage: 2 Timothy 2:1-6

1. Paul discerned how he was gifted and helped others discern theirs. Paul was bold, evangelistic, and visionary (Acts 20:24). We should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought (Romans 12:3)
   We need to worship and serve to find out how we’re design
   Look at the three aspects of Jesus – Prophet, Priest, and King
2. Live life with young leaders you’re trying to develop
   1. Talk regularly about your sins and fears (1 Timothy 1:15, 2 Timothy 4:9-13)
      1. Don’t use your pulpit as a confessional
   2. Praise them publicly
      1. 2 Corinthians 8:16-23
      2. direct and indirect praise
      3. You can’t over-compliment young leaders
   3. Put young leaders in challenging situations with oversight
      1. Delegation not abdication
   4. Get and give young leaders feedback
   5. Push them to repent of their sin and believe the Gospel specifically
      1. 1 Timothy 4:12, 2 Timothy 1:6-7, Titus 2:15 all deal with fear of man issues

“You can influence from afar, but you can only impact up close”

Church Planting from the Ground Up

Session #1: Gather & Develop – Kevin Jamison

Kevin is a church planter in Middletown, OH who will be one of Julie and my assessors’s on Thursday. This talk was incredibly practical and answered many of the questions that I’ve been think about with regards to gathering a core group.

II. Develop

Core development is pastoring

Develop Yourself:

• Pastor your family
• Watch your language
  • don’t dog your core
  • Use “we”
• Watch your price
• Set the pace with repentance
• Give your wife permission to be painfully honest

Develop Your Core:

The importance of both Formal and Informal Gatherings

Formal

• Teach & discuss
• pray
• sing
• meets weekly
• still be involved in local church

Informal

• Hang out
• Get to know

A Common Language = common theology

• Clarify and define what words mean

A Common Mission

• Help people take ownership of the mission
• Ask others how we can reach their friends and familes

A Common Vision

• Practical
• “What would it look like it if the invisible kingdom were made visible in your city?”

I. Gather

• Not an open door policy, be selective
• Have people commit – sign a covenant

Who to Gather:

• New Christians to the area
• People that are F.A.T (Faithful, Available, adn Teachable)
• People on a upward trajectory with their faith, regardless of age

Who to Avoid:

• Wolves
• Thieves
• People who are skeptical
• Taking people from churches that are growing and thriving

Where to Look:

• Relational Networks
• Partnering Churches

Final Advice

• Wait for a public launch until you have 70-75
• Go slow

Assessor and Assessee Dinner

Our day closed with a dinner with the other couples being assessed and the guys who are doing the assessment. Julie and I enjoyed getting to know Kevin, Nick, and Jerry. It was encouraging to hear their heart for us and to know that they’re praying for us. Their pastoral concern for Julie and my marriage and family is a wonderful expression of the love to be found between brothers and sisters in Christ.

Scott Thomas also shared with us the rating scale for the assessments. It’s

1. Recommended
2. Recommended with conditions
3. Potential with strong conditions
4. Not recommended

He shared some of the criteria that plays into a 4 (theology problems, financial problems, marital problems). The process is a little less daunting after tonight, but there is plenty of time left for me to get nervous. I have a gut feeling what our score will be, but I’ll save that for later …

The practice of multi-site church is, in a nutshell, one church meeting in multiple locations with central leadership of the church. Some churches like Mars Hill in Seattle do multi-site across multiple states. Others, like Highview Baptist in Louisville, KY are committed to their particular city. This is a topic that warrants discussion because it goes to the very heart of what the church is called by God to be. I believe there is a particularlity to the use of church in the New Testament that defines the church as being a particular local, gathered assembly. Here’s the definition of church that I write for our Missional Ecclesiology class

A local gathered community of regenerated believers indwelt by the Holy Spirit, saved and reconciled through the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ, sent on mission all to the glory of God. The church is governed through congregational polity led by qualified male elders responsible for the right preaching of the Word. The church covenants together for holiness and discipleship; demonstrates and proclaims the true Gospel so as to evangelize the lost, bring back the wayward and serve the community; participates in the ordinances of believer’s baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper; and practices meaningful church membership and church discipline.

I’m still working on it, but it hits the main points

• Location – Church is local and gathered
• Composition-  Regenerated believers
• Polity – congregational with male elders
• Activities – discipleship, proclaim gospel, evangelism, ordinances of Lord’s Supper and Baptism, service

Southern Seminary presented a panel this week entitled “Perspectices on Multi-Site Churches” featuring R. Albert Mohler, Jr. (president of Southern), Gregg Allison (professor at Southern and in Re:Train), Kevin Ezell (Senior Pastor of Highview Baptist Church), Greg Gilbert (Senior Pastoral Assistant for Church Planting at Capital Hill Baptist Church), and Daniel Montgomery (Founding and Teaching Pastor at Sojourn Community Church) which featured both practitioners (everyone but Gilbert) and non-practitioners. It’s a great conversation and it is a testament to disagreeing in love.

Today, Thabiti Anyabwile of First Baptist Church Grand Cayman posted on the 9Marks blog about multi-site. I would say that I’m in agreement with 9Marks and their concerns about multi-site. Many of the proponents of multi-site champion its pragmatism and effectiveness. What if, though

the limits of single-site, single-serivce congregational life are limits divinely appointed to ensure careful pastoral oversight.  To ensure none of us actually have more sheep than we can handle by God’s grace.  Perhaps.

That’s a powerful reminder to me of the weight of the responsibility of shepherding the flock that God entrusts to me, even if that flock is only ever my wife and children.

The word “missional” is everywhere. Grad Schools. Books. Blogs. It colored my conversation last week with a pastor at Grace Bible. I’ll probably talk about it Friday night over dinner and definitely next week at the Acts 29 Boot Camp in Louisville. It can be a hard word to define, however. Missional means the act of being a missionary, but people can have pretty rigid preconceptions of what a missionary does, especially since most people have never lived as missionaries. If you’ve ever spent time talking to people involved in international missions, it can be hard and tiring work, bearing fruit infrequently and with much difficulty. People don’t want to think of themselves as missionaries because they want the easy way out. They want a program, not a life.

Jonathan Dodson of Austin City Life is currently writing a series on his blog about Why People Aren’t More Missional. Read it. His ideas are challenging and gospel-centered and his recent breakout session at the 2009 Acts 29 Houston Boot Camp could be my favorite talk from all the Acts 29 events, and I’ve listened to all but 3 of them.

Here’s Part 1 of the series

Do you ever struggle in motivation for mission? Do you ever see your people lacking in motivation for mission? After all the shifts in ecclesiology, the planting of many churches, and the landslide of missional literature, why aren’t people more missional? Perhaps it is because we are motivating them with the wrong things.

What should motivate us for mission? There are numerous motivations for mission in the Bible. Many of them can be grouped under three headings that point us to the goal of the gospel, the demands of the gospel, the graces of the gospel. In this first post, I’ll address our missional identity.

Missional Identity

The missio Dei, a Latin phrase meaning, “the sending of God”, reminds us that mission is not merely something we do, an action; it is something God is. Mission is an attribute of God. He’s a sending God. He sends his Son (Easter) and sends his Spirit (Pentecost) to renew the world. So, mission doesn’t start and end with us. It starts and ends with God. His mission is nothing short of the redemption of peoples and cultures, the renewal of all creation for his own glory. It’s God’s great, burdensome, and glorious mission—the renewal of all creation! My goodness, we can’t manage that, but God, in his mercy has invited us to participate in his mission. Through the gospel, He rescues us from a life of self-serving mission to participate in a life of God-serving, Christ-glorifying mission. We are remade into missional people by the redeeming work of the Spirit and the Son.

Therefore, if we are in Christ, we have a missionary identity. We are adopted into a missionary family. We serve a missionary God. Mission becomes part of our identity, because we cut from the cloth of a missionary God. So, the church is a missionary church, with missionary people, that do missionary things. It is who we are and it is also what we do. Mission is not merely for the superspiritual, an option, an appendix to Christian faith. To be Christian is to be on mission.  It’s who we are and it is what we do. We redemptively engage peoples and cultures, by sharing, showing, and embodying Christ in our context. This includes evangelism, social action, and cultural engagement, counseling, empathy, celebration. It’s bringing the renewing power of the whole gospel into the whole city.

Now, the good news of the gospel is that we get to be the blessing of mission, while God carries the burden of mission. Ultimately, it is God’s mission. The Spirit does all the changing; we simply share, show, and embody the wonderfully renewing power of gospel. However, if we aren’t walking with God, keeping in step with the Spirit, and following Christ, out life will hardly be missional. In fact, it will be rife with dangerous disobedience. If you are in Christ, you have a missional identity. To disregard your missionary identity is to reject your identity in Christ. The first motivation is the missio Dei, that mission is in our DNA, our identity. It is who we are in God, through Christ, by the Spirit.

Here’s Part 2

Despite the preponderance of missional church resources, American Christians are slow to live missionally. Why is this? In our last post, we suggested that one reason is that we are motivating the church with best practices of mission, instead of an identity of mission grounded in the Missio Dei. Today, I’d like to suggest another motivation, with a twist.

Any evangelical can tell you that they are supposed to be on mission, but very few are. They can rattle off the Great Commission by memory, while running along no differently. Yet, all four Gospels contain missional mandates from the resurrected, King Jesus himself (Matt 28, Mark 16, Luke 24/Acts 1, John 16/21)! Why does missional disobedience persist? Perhaps because…

1. We don’t take Jesus seriously. Jesus is our friend, not our Lord.
   
2. We think the missional mandates are for apostles or super Christians only.
3. We have a functional God that we like more than Jesus.
   
4. We believe that mission is optional and that we won’t be judged for our missional disobedience.
5. We don’t actually believe the gospel.

I love the church. I’ve been a part of it almost my whole life and I can bear witness to how God has changed me through it. That is why I’m very excited about our Re:Train class in two days – Missional Ecclesiology, taught by Southern Seminary professor Gregg Allison. The books we read in the pre-class work were engaging and challenging and I’m looking forward to in-class discussions that could find people in different camps (things like elder-ruled vs. elder-led, congregationalism, infant baptism, etc). As a primer for class, Dr. Allison has posted articles for the past two days on TheResurgence.com detailing six characteristics of the missional church.

The first article deals with trinitarian aspects of the church

1. Doxological: Oriented to the Glory of God

The church is doxological, or oriented to the glory of God. Like everything else that God has created—the heavens and the earth (Psalm 19:1; Psalm 108:5), the angelic realm (Psalm 29:1-2), and human beings as the divine image-bearers (Psalm 8:5), the church is characterized by an orientation to give God glory (Ephesians 3:21).

Specifically, the church is to be orthodoxological, or oriented to the proper (Gr. ortho) glory (Gr. doxa) of God. Implied in this imperative is the possibility for the church to engage in false glory giving, or idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 John 5:20-21; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4). Manifestations of the church’s false gods include money, power, societal approbation, its pastor or its programs, political persuasion, size, and the like. The church must avoid such idolatry and be oriented to the proper glory of God.

2. Logocentric: Focused on the Word

The church is logocentric, or focused on the logos, the Word, understood in two senses to refer to Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, and Scripture, the inspired Word of God. As for the first sense, the eternal Word of God, the second person of the Trinity, took on the fullness of human nature and became the incarnate God-man, Jesus Christ John 1:1, John 1:14). He promised, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18), and he is its cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20) and its head (Ephesians 1:20-23). The church is centered on this incarnate Word of God.

In the second sense of logos, the church is Word-centered in that it focuses on Scripture, the inspired Word of God. This inspired, sufficient, necessary, truthful (inerrant), clear, authoritative, and productive Word announces salvation (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14), brings new birth (1 Peter 1:23), ignites faith (Romans 10:13-17), presents sound doctrine and equips the church for good works (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and, while providing cohesion and nourishment for the church, also destabilizes it by confronting its many sins. The church is centered on this inspired Word of God.

3. Pneumadynamic: Empowered by the Spirit

The church is pneumadynamic, or created, gathered, gifted, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. He inaugurated the first church on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-5), and this church in Jerusalem multiplied and expanded through the evangelistic centrifugal movement orchestrated by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). In these churches, the Spirit distributes spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11) for “the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7), while also being the creator and sustainer of unity (Ephesians 4:3) by supplying genuine love among church members (Romans 15:30; Colossians 1:8) and fostering an atmosphere of righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14:17). Certain members are installed as leaders in the church by the appointment of the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28; Acts 13:2-3). Thus, the church is Spirit-activated.

The second article deals with the “gatheredness and sendedness of the church”.

4. Covenantal: Relationship with God and Others

The church is covenantal, or gathered as members in new covenant relationship with God and in covenant relationship with each other. As for the first covenantal aspect, the new covenant:

1. is a unilateral agreement, established by God and God alone
2. creates a structured relationship between him and his covenant partners, Christ-followers “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9)
3. features binding obligations on the part of both God and his covenant partners (e.g., 2 Corinthians 6:16-18; Matthew 22:37-40; Matthew 28:19-10; Galatians 6:2)
4. is sealed by two covenantal signs, baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

As for the second covenantal aspect, the new covenant places church members into relationship with one another (Ephesians 4:17-5:14). This aspect may be best expressed by means of a church covenant, an agreement that binds those who affirm it to life together in the church.

5. Confessional: United by Common Faith

The church is confessional, or united by both personal confession of faith in Christ and common confession of the historic Christian faith. All church members must have a credible profession of faith in Christ as they have heard about his person and work through the gospel (Romans 10:8-13). This aspect is the act of faith that leads to salvation.

Additionally, the church as a corporate assembly regularly makes a common confession of the Christian faith (e.g., 1 Timothy 3:15-16), professing together the sound doctrine that unites the church (Ephesians 4:4-6) and brings it to maturity while keeping it from going adrift (Ephesians 4:13-15). This aspect is the content of the Christian faith that marks the church throughout the ages.

6. Missional: Divinely Called and Sent

As discussed above, the church is missional, or identified as the body of divinely-called and divinely-sent ministers to proclaim the gospel and advance the kingdom of God.

7. Historical Reality, Future Hope

The church is spatio-temporal-eschatological (here and not-here, oralready but not yet), or assembled as a historical reality (located in space and time) and possessing a certain hope and clear destiny (eschatology) while it lives the strangeness of its existence in the here-and-now. Christians meet together to worship God “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24) in local churches that, while they may be anywhere (that is, the location is not the issue; John 4:20-21), they are always somewhere also. This spatial characteristic means that the church takes up physical space—often a building—and prompts reflection on an important question: Does this physical space advance or obstruct what the church is seeking to be and do?

Legacy

The temporal element means that a church has a heritage that goes before the current manifestation of gathered people, and this legacy exerts a powerful influence for either good or bad on the current expression of the church. Additionally, if the Lord wills, the church will have a future that goes beyond the current manifestation of gathered people, and this hope prompts reflection on what kind of reputation this current expression of the church will bequeath to its next iteration.

Sojourners

Beyond its being “here,” the church is also “not here,” in that what the church experiences now is only a foretaste, a down payment, of a promise of yet more to come. The church lives in a “boundary epoch” between the two advents of Jesus Christ, so it is composed of strangers and aliens (1 Peter 1:11), sojourners who are in the world and for the world, but not of the world. The eschatological church awaits a greater reality (Revelation 21-22).

Ed Stetzer writes from Taiwan about why missional churches don’t do global missions but seem more interested in local work

1. In rediscovering God’s mission, many have only discovered its personal dimensions.
2. In responding to God’s mission, many have wanted to be more mission-shaped and have therefore made everything “mission.”
3. In relating God’s mission, the message increasingly includes the hurting but less frequently includes the global lost.
4. In refocusing on God’s mission, many are focusing on being good news rather than telling good news.
5. In reiterating God’s mission, many lose the context of the church’s global mission and needed global presence.

Ed then offered four principles to consider when putting the “missions” in “missional”

Recognize it is God’s mission, and we need to be passionate about the mission as He describes it. We don’t own mission and it is not ours to define. A church vision statement is fine, but God’s mission is better and bigger. Our first task is to submit to God’s mission.

Evangelicals have understated the call to serve the poor and the hurting and need a stronger engagement in social justice. This sounds counterintuitive if we are seeking to remedy the loss of concern for articulated evangelism. But social engagement entails relational engagement, and relational engagement entails opportunities to share the gospel. The successes and experiences in our communities should awaken hearts and minds to global needs. We just need to maintain the reason for social justice: the glory of God in the worship of Jesus.

Share God’s deep concern about His mission to the nations– that His name be praised from the lips of men and women from every corner of the globe. Feel the Great Commission in your bones. Ask God to turn your heart to those you cannot see. As Paul did, develop ways to “struggle personally” (Colossians 2:1) for those far away.

Churches that are serious about joining God on his mission will obey his commands to disciple the nations. The end product of missional endeavors should be a thriving Christian ready to produce more thriving Christians.

He closed with a great exhortation to never separate the Great Commandment from the Great Commission

It appears to me that many missional churches are missing the Great Commission in the name of being missional. That makes zero sense. It is a huge (but historically common) mistake.

If we are truly interested in being missional– in joining God on His mission– our efforts should actually reflect His stated mission. We are bound to the Great Commandment as the fullest human expression of God’s love. But the Commandment is not hermetically sealed off from the Great Commission. Rather, the Great Commission provides the what of mission, while the Great Commandment provides part of the how. Answering the age-old question of “Who is my neighbor?” should result in the desire to “make disciples of all nations.”