Establishing Community, Part 2

This is the second part of a three part series called Establishing Community.  Read read the first part of the series »

Imagine you woke up one day to discover that you were a missionary in a foreign land. The language, culture, worldview and values are all different than what you know. Fortunately you are part of a team. What are you going to do?

In part 2 I want to ask the question “How do you establish an authentic, missional community?” How do you lead a group of people to be on mission for the gospel in their everyday lives?

Our church, The Crowded House, has a common phrase that says, “Who we are (our identity) drives what we do (our actions).” One of our core identities as the people of God is that we are missionaries. The whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, tells a story of God giving his people a mission to reflect his glory, bless his world and make him known. The job assignment as missionaries began in the garden at the creation of Adam and Eve.

Tim Chester, Pastor of The Crowded House in Sheffield, England, says, “…image is another word for the word, “idol”.” Even false gods are represented by their image – you know, something maybe like a little wooden statue with a big fat belly. This little statue is a reminder of the real thing. The image supposedly represents the power and authority of the god. Kings and rulers even use their image to represent their power and authority – like the image on a unit of money or the signet ring signature that kings used to use.

But the true and Living God, the LORD God, has chosen humans to be the bearers of his image. We are little representatives of God. That means that part of our identity is to be about His mission, which makes every believer a missionary! Here’s how the story goes:

The Story of God is about a good, right and perfect God giving his people a mission to reflect his glory, bless his world and make him known. Many years after Adam’s failure, God decides to choose one man, Abraham, whom he makes a promise to recreate a people that he will establish a relationship with, and eventually bless all the nations through this man’s family. This nation, Israel, grows in number and in Exodus 19:6 God defined Israel’s relationship to him and to the nations. God says, “Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” The role of a priest was to teach and model life under God’s rule and to offer sacrifices of atonement mediating a right relationship between God and man. Now, God was calling a whole nation to be priests – to model life under God’s rule so that all the nations could see that God’s rule brings life and blessing (Deut. 4:5-8). They were missionaries – reflecting God’s glory, blessing the world, and making him known. Israel failed, but a ‘Servant of the Lord’ was promised in Isaiah to be “a light for the [nations]” and “bring salvation to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49:6).” He was Abraham’s “seed” and his name was Jesus. Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise and he lived reflecting the Father’s glory so that all people, all the nations, would be blessed and could be finally restored to a right relationship with God through him.

As Israel should have been and as Jesus was, Jesus’ disciples were called to continue this mission of reflecting God’s glory, blessing the world by restoring the nations to a right relationship with him (Acts 1:8). In the same way, all believers are sent into our present cultures to restore people to God, and to make him known, through Jesus. 1 Peter 2:9 speaking about believers, says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

Now, let’s again imagine you woke up one day to discover that you were a missionary in a foreign land. The language, culture, worldview and values are all different than what you know. How does this identity determine what you do? This is a scenario is all too familiar for me, and it has had major implications for how I live and go about my daily activity. As a pastor, before moving to England, I believed doing missional activities or events produced a missionary, but I was wrong. I struggled to make God’s mission a part of my everyday life, let alone to lead others to do the same. As missionaries we think about how together we can “shine as lights” in this world and make God known. Each day, while doing my ordinary everyday life rhythms – exercising, grocery shopping, working, visiting a coffee shop, studying, eating, playing with the kids, watching TV, working in my garden or going on a date with my wife – my identity as a missionary is driving what I do. For every activity I’m trying to ask whether I could add a missional component, or how I could do these things while involving an unbeliever. My approach to life is different since I became a missionary.

But, from God’s perspective, did anything really change when I “became a missionary?” Should my approach now in England be any different from my approach as a pastor in West Michigan? 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” This is the identity of all followers of Jesus! You are a foreign missionary. The language, culture, and worldview all around you are different than what you know as a believer in Christ. So, what will you do?

Let me suggest that you find a Christian community and together you live like missionaries. Seek to connect with those in your neighborhood relationally and as these relationships are established, connect them with your believing community. Tim Chester says, “Having a great community is not enough. We must be reaching out beyond the community, welcoming others and pointing them to the Father. You are missionaries. This is your identity as a community. A true gospel community begins to be established when you identify yourself as missionaries and then begin to live like one.