The Relational Mission

Have you ever been so hungry that you eat food that is half-baked? The hunger is so great that you can't wait any longer. Sometimes this is how we try to follow Jesus. We are not willing to wait on what God has for us so we go for it and make something happen. We cannot live with the hunger that is growing so we settle for half-baked answers to fill that hunger. God is a God of: Word and action. Promises and promises kept. Proclamation and fulfillment. If you want to follow Jesus well you must view how God both states and acts. He makes promises and he comes through on what he has promised. However, for the most part, we have become very accustomed to following God as if his actions, promises keeping, and fulfillment cannot be trusted. God gives us a holy hunger for him. God stirs up a thirst for righteousness and justice. We hear his calling to live out a certain vocation or pursue a specific line of work. Then we set off on our own path to make it happen. If you want...

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." If we are truly following Jesus, we will be growing in mercy. This means that we will be offering sacrificial, other-oriented love to those around us who do not deserve it. Think about it this way: Imagine neighbors, family members, co-workers, and friends in your life. Think about them all in one large room. Now in your mind, put them into groups. Group 1: Those who can benefit you. Those who have something to offer you. And most likely they offer something to society. Group 2: Those you consider your equal. They are friends you like to hang out with. Your relationship with them is not really about what they have to offer you. They are just friends. Group 3: Those you know but you don't particularly like, for whatever reason. Maybe it's a neighbor who annoys you. Maybe it's a friend who drains you when you spend time with them. Or a family member who is a downer. Group 4: Those you know who seem ...

Recently, a friend asked my opinion about the difference between missional communities and holistic small groups, or what has traditionally been called "cell groups." Here is an open letter (slightly edited for the sake of clarification): Dear Randy, In theory, they are very similar. This is especially obvious in the international cell churches. Holistic small groups in churches like Elim in El Salvador (150,000 people) are by nature missional. They seek to provide redemptive places for both community and mission. But mission goes far beyond mere evangelism and getting new members. They are seeking to bring redemptive life to neighborhoods, not just to get people saved and into the church. However this imagination does not always transfer well to America. When small groups in the West aim to be holistic, at best a few might be evangelistic. But more often than not holistic just translates to "open" (vs. closed) which means that they are willing to add new pe...

 Last week, I wrote a post about five reasons or motivations for small groups that I've observed in various churches (See post here ). Here's a quick summary: Small groups as one of the systems required to make the church work well.  Small groups as a way to close the back door. Small groups as a way of producing the fruit of discipleship, evangelism, and developing leaders. Church is organized with systems to make the groups work.  Church is organized with systems to mobilize community that is equipped to live for the sake of the world.  The more I reflected on this over the last few days, the more I realized that there is a progression in breadth of vision.  As you move down the list, the previous are included.  If you shoot for #1, you will only get #1. But if you shoot for #2, you get #1 thrown in. And #5 gets all of the other four as a part of the package. If you think in terms of #1, the vision is small and the potential limited. But if...

With leadership comes discouragement. In fact let me so bold to say that if you never experience times of discouragement you most likely are not taking many risks. Or you don't care that much. But if you don't care you most likely are not reading this blog. Discouragement is just part of leading. You will hit walls when you don't know what to do. Your group will go through times that make you want to give up. People will disappoint you. And you will disappoint yourself. What do you do with this? Let me suggest a few things that I’ve learned about discouragement through the years of leading. First beware of the temptation to ignore the reality of what you are facing. Avoid the tendency to ignore your discouragement. Some will tell you to have faith, to get back in touch with the vision, to claim God's promises and to act as if there is not a problem. When we do this we are not dealing with reality. God knows where you are on the journey and wants to meet you In you...

Remember that rule from high school geometry? Something like: the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Well if you want to increase your hunger for righteousness, the way to get from where you are today to the point of greater hunger is not a straight line. If it were, then all that would be required is to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and by our own will, effort and hard work we would develop hunger for God's righteousness. We would just start walking to that place and make it happen. But there is no straight line to hunger and thirsting for righteousness. You cannot make it happen. This is not because Jesus was setting up something that is impossible for us to attain and therefore we are in need of grace, as if hungering for righteousness is some kind of magical gift bestowed upon us just because God wants it. No we grow in righteousness as we meander along the path of following Jesus in this life. It's what happens to us as we follow the ways o...

Church buildings dot the landscape in Western countries. Many are old and represent an bygone era. Some are very new and look more like modern shopping malls or office buildings. Most fall somewhere in between. These edifices are an unquestioned part of Western culture. The church has become so unquestioned that we rarely think about the role or the purpose the church plays from God’s perspective. For most, it is assumed that the church provides spiritual services for the sake of people who feel that they need such things. Sadly, the idea that the church is a provider of spiritual goods and services is not limited to those outside church life. Many faithful church members perceive the church as being a spiritual association that is primarily designed to provide a certain set of spiritual services. And if those services are not met according to their liking, there are plenty of church options who may meet their needs better. As a result the church is often viewed as a spiritual vend...

It is hard to find a pastor or church consultant who does not see the value of small groups. Recently Rick Warren Tweeted, "A church's # strength & # health is revealed in its small groups, not its pulpit! A Body's # life is in cells, not its mouth!" I know of few that would disagree with this statement. However, the reason for doing small groups varies greatly. Why church leaders put energy into the development of small groups will shape to the kind of strategy or system it develops. When you read the various books on small group strategies, on the surface it looks like all of them are aiming at the same thing or at least something very similar. But when you look a little deeper and when you look inside churches and how they talk about their groups, the wide variety of motivations is revealed. Consider the following: Small groups is one of the systems required to make the church work well. In other words, the goal is to set up groups to make the church a...

Here’s a sure thing for any small group: You will have problems. There will be at least one person in every season of group life that creates, well let’s call them challenges. Groups are full of people. All people are hurting and need healing in some way. And when people start revealing themselves to one another, their hurts will hurt others. Hurting people hurt people, as the old saying goes. These hurts manifest in as many different ways as there are people in groups. However, there are some consistent patterns that I’ve observed over the years. It could be illustrated by this picture: A fun activity is the name each of the people represented in this picture. For instance, the owl at the top could be called Mr. I-Know-the-Answer-but-I’m-Not-Telling. Or Mr. I’ve-Done-This-Before-So-I-Can’t-Be-Bothered. Of course this illustration is all men. Women don’t display disfunctions like these in groups. Right? Well, since I’m a man I won’t respond. Of course, most of the time, people’s...

The Bible calls us to rest in him, to enter into a life of peace and wholeness. Quite a few writers and preachers have confronted the pattern of the overfilled, frenetic lives that are common in modern society. In the 1970s when computers were being introduced, futurists were predicting a 25-30 hour work week. You probably chuckled inside at the absurdity of the reality of the unrestful world we live in. But we must rest because as we rest, we realize that God is a work, that the Spirit of God is working within us stir up the hunger and thirst for righteousness. If we are ever going to move beyond our busy efforts to try and act hungry to the point that we truly are hungry for God's righteousness, then we must rest. Sometimes I read books on the call to simplicity, rest and peacefulness. I read about people taking week-long retreats to be with God. I know pastor of a huge church who roles into the office at about 11:00 a.m. because he has his morning time with God everyday for ...

I grew up in a church where making a difference was something we programmed. It was something we did to and for the world at specific times and at specific places. We did it because the Bible told us to and it was the right thing to do. We did this through mission trips. Through weekly visitation. Through projects for the under-resourced. If I'm honest, I don't think difference making was not in our blood. It was something that we had to program to make happen. What was in our blood? Buildings, meetings, sitting and listening to sermons, hand-bell choirs and business meetings. We wanted to impact people's lives, but I'm not sure we had any idea about what that would actually look like. Recently, I read a Facebook post that stated, Missional is not feeding the hungry at the homeless shelter. Missional is sitting and eating with a homeless man. I also realize that when churched people are not used to sitting and eating with a homeless man that they need steps to g...

When I think about all of the small groups that I've led or participated in, I've concluded that the thing that matter the least is the stuff that we focus on the most in our small group strategies. Usually we focus on things like what should we study or who should be a part of the group or what will we do in our meetings. But we don't seem to focus much attention on the story that our groups tell in the way that they actually do group life. This is what makes group great. Well it's also what makes a group bleh. Let me suggest four stories that groups tell. This is a basic summary of what I've written in Missional Small Groups (a book for small group leaders) and in MissioRelate (a book for small group champions and pastors). Personal Improvement This is the small group experience where individuals participate because it is personally beneficial. The people involved are either drawn to a topic or to a group of people like themselves, and participation is high...

Usually Friday is book review day. But I've got too many deadlines. So I thought I'd answer the question: What are the five books that are influencing me the most? Disruptive Grace by Walter Brueggemann. This book opens my eyes to what covenantal spirituality looks like. The Light Has Come by Lessilie Newbigin. This commentary on the book of John reveals the character and nature of God.  The Dark Night by Saint John of the Cross. I never wanted to read this book because I always wanted to avoid the dark night experience. Well, enough said. Redeeming the Routines by Robert Banks. I read this book 20 years ago. I found it on my shelf and I realized that the author speaks to major themes that I have been working on for the last decade.  The Courage to Teach by Parker Palmer. My hope is that the book I'm writing now on leading community might come close to his wisdom about leading as a teacher. What books are influencing you right now?

Mission, being on mission, being missional—anything having to do with this topic—is popular. Just type in "missional" on Amazon and see just how many books come up. How do you navigate the various options. No church leader will disagree with the call for the church to be on mission, but there is all kinds of disagreement about what this means. The best book on this topic is The Missional Church in Perspective by Craig Van Gelder and Dwight Zscheile. In it, these authors map out the various trends by looking at tons of books on the subject. They offer 4 primary branches and additional sub-branches under each of those four. Reading this book is worth the time. I've found that most leaders have not taken the time to understand the kind of mission that they are leading people on. From my research, I've developed a simplified way of comparing the various perspectives of mission in the church. This is not so much based on any sets of books, but on how I see leaders actua...

When it comes to Jesus' words "Blessed are those who "hunger and thirst after righteousness," I think it helpful to reflect on different ways that we can relate his words. I see five ways. First, you have those who don't and don't want to. They hunger after the things of the world and they are honest about it. And they don't really want to change. Second, there are those who don't but wish they did. Their inner being hungers after what this world can give—power, position, possessions, and pleasure—but they have gotten in touch with something deep within themselves that longs for more. They feel the Spirit of God stirring up something new within them. They just don't know what to do about it. A third group includes those who hunger after that which the world offers, but they think that they hunger for righteousness. This is a most dangerous group in which to find oneself, and I must confess  that I'm all too familiar with it. This is a bl...

In my forthcoming book Difference Makers , I talk about how we make a difference with two groups of people, our neighbors and those in our networks. My hope in this book is to invite people to see how God is at work locally and discover how make a difference in the lives of those who live around us. One of the ways that we make a difference is through the ways we pray.  I'd like to suggest some ways to pray for our neighbors and those in our networks. General prayers for the your neighborhood or the places you touch in your daily life (work, school, etc.) Pray that the Kingdom would be manifest in the world around you (Mark 1:15) Pray that good news to the poor would go forth. (Luke 4:16-17) Pray that those in bondage would be set free. Pray that people could see the truth. Pray that those who are oppressed would be liberated.  Specific prayer for specific neighbors or someone in your network: Pray that the person’s heart might be “good soil” for the seed of God'...

One of the primary realities that undermines small groups in North America is the fact that Americans are not very good at relationships. Years ago, I heard someone ask a leader from Brazil why they thought that God was doing such a great work there. He responded, "We don't have TV." The fact is that we have developed anti-relational patterns. We need to train people not just in how be a good Christian or how to lead a small group. We need training in how to relate. Here are some things to consider: Level 1: Making Room Training I use this name because of the influence of Randy Frazee and his book Making Room for Life . In it he challenges specific patterns of American suburban living and provides alternatives that are practical and concrete. The point of it is to reframe how we spend time and make room for relationships. It really does not matter if we have great relationship skills and have a overwhelming desire to connect with other if we don't have the time o...

There is a growing plethora of books on the market for small group leaders. Right now, I'm even in middle of writing a new book that will add to that list. Some books speak to the overall health and vision of a small group. Others are great at providing an overview and vision for group life. Different books offer different things. The one thing that group leaders most often want to know—especially those who are relatively new to group leadership—is the answer to this question: How can I lead a meeting well? The book that I've recommended on this question is How to Lead a Great Small Group Meeting by Joel Comiskey. Now I've got an additional title that has some unique, helpful features. It's entitled Field Guide for Small Group Leaders by Sam O'Neal. While the book is not limited to information about leading a meeting, that's where it's emphasis and strengths lie. It is a compelling read as it covers all of the necessary basics that small group leader...