Missional Communities in Church Planting (and FCA)...
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“All this weighs on my mind too, dear woman.
But I would die of shame to face the men of Troy
and the Trojan women trailing their long robes
if I would shrink from battle now, a coward.
Nor does the spirit urge me on that way.
I’ve learned it all too well. To stand up bravely,
always to fight in the front ranks of Trojan soldiers,
winning my father great glory, glory for myself.”
Virtues are learned. And even if they are innate they must be refined. Hector demonstrates a man on a journey to learn the virtues of true manhood. "And so he spent his life learning that which didn’t come naturally to him, but which he desired in order to live with andreia. He learned from observation and from practice how to be brave, daring, and strong. Hector dedicated himself to an education in virile manhood."
How?
Observe and learn from men who demonstrate the virtues you desire.
Join a community where the culture is observably marked by the kinds of virtues you aspire to.
Take on challenges that will demand that you obtain and exercise the virtues you desire.
"What Sarah is drawing our attention to — which is really helpful, I think — is that authentic pathways into salvation can sometimes replace salvation. Love for being healed can replace love for the Healer. Love for community, love for being accepted, and love by a wonderful group of people can replace love for the Lord of the community.
The evidence that this has happened might be that a person experiences a return of the cancer and then a crisis of faith and a throwing away of Jesus. Or a person, and this is what Sarah is describing, may experience a deterioration of the community relationships that had been so sustaining and then throw away Jesus as they throw away the church. The way Sarah is putting her question to me is 'How can we guard ourselves and one another from mistaking a sense of belonging within the community with genuine faith in God?'"
This podcast has helped me think about another dimension of "Community" as a component of ministry. It has helped me think about a biblical philosophy of Community.
Community is such a popular word in ministry today. "We have great community" is a statement I hear all the time. "I love the community", and so on. Even Christian leaders seem to be focused on this somewhat obscure objective of building community more than they are focused on growing people into maturity in Christ.
Unfortunately I have also observed how an individual's faith is dependent upon a community and when that community is removed, so is any evidence of that person's faith. How can we guard ourselves and one another from mistaking a sense of belonging within the community with genuine faith in God?
"I say teach the word — teach these new believers who have been drawn into the new community. Make the word so pervasive, so powerful, that they know these things. Teach them the whole counsel of God. Nothing makes a new believer more stable over time than being soaked in a full exposure to the word of God...always keep Christ central, and show him and his glory as what satisfies the soul. Show the new believer who came in because of the sweetness of the community that the community is precious, not as a god or a savior, but as something that helps us know and enjoy our God and our Savior."
Community is a means not an end. It should never be more of a focus than learning and growing in Christ through His Word.
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