The Relational Mission

A few years ago, a prominent church leader was promoting the mantra "The church is the hope of the world." I'm not entirely sure who it was, but I remember it being a popular saying. At first glance, this looks like a great way of talking about role of the church in the world. I've been thinking about it a bit more as I'm working on revisions to my next book, which are due much quicker than I'd like. It seems to me that we have to think about what we mean by church and it's mission in the world a bit more. The church's mission is itself. For many, the mission of the church is growing itself. The assumption that if the church grows that the world will be impacted. The mission of the church with this mindset it to enlist church members to help gather more people. The church has a mission. In this imagination, mission is one of the things that it does, alongside other things. Mission is the outreach activity and a part if it's church strategy. U...

As a kid, I was a leader in 4H, a youth club that focused on developing responsible leaders. Often at district and state gatherings they would invite the same speaker and he had one speech. I think I heard it four times. It was the story of a poor guy who went to school, worked hard, got scholarships and then got a job that made him lots of money. The message: anyone can dream his dream and become a multi-milllionaire like he did. The movie "Secret of My Success" actually looked reasonable after hearing him talk. But what happens when those dreams don't come true? What happens when the business fails? When you realize that marriage is harder than you thought? When kids make choices that are less than good? When expenses are always bigger than income, even when you follow the right budgeting plans? What happens when ministry proves to be hard? When people don't respond to your preaching? When the church does not grow? What happens when you look around and you are...

I've been re-reading Robert Jenson's Systematic Theology . I know that this is not one of the popular texts used in seminaries. You may not have even heard of him.  Jenson is a Lutheran theologian who has done extensive work on the writings of theologians like Karl Barth and Jonathan Edwards. This quote has convicted me and comforted me at the same time: "In our communal life we discover and live by goods that are in fact valued among us, yet which none of us finds fully available to him-or herself; in our consequent longing and resentment, we project the fullness of these goods onto the screen of eternity, where such fullness may be conceived, and we then find our comfort and hope in what we there behold, that is, in our own communal values writ large. ... The true God knows we project our values onto him and so conceive him idolatrously, and is unmoved by this childishness. He is intent on giving us new values and contravening our idolatry" (53). First ...

I have so many books on small groups that it's scary. Of course that would only make sense because a big part of my professional life has focused on editing and writing books on small groups. There are a lot of great books for small group leaders. This list is one that focuses on what I view as the best books on developing small groups that will make a difference in the world outside of the group. Small Group Vital Signs: Seven Indicators of Health That Make Groups Flourish by Michael Mack. This is a great book. It shows you how to take a group beyond fellowship and Bible study. Holy Conversations: Talking about God in Everyday Life by Richard Peace. Years ago, Peace wrote a book entitled Small Group Evangelism . Here he has re-applied these principles in a simple 12-week format that can be used in groups. Evangelism Outside the Box by Rick Richardson. Great book that reframes evangelism around relationships. Missional Small Groups: Becoming a Community that Makes a ...