If you’re starting a missional community with a group of people that are already saturated in Christian culture, it’s crucial that you start with the mission rather than starting with community. Christians are great at getting together and talking about the Bible and each other’s lives, but those who have grown up in church or have several years of American christianity under their belt often struggle to embrace this missional part of a missional community.
The antidote for this is to form your communities around a mission rather than starting a community and attempting to find a mission together. Leaders should launch their community with a specific mission that they want to pursue so that those Christians who are being invited to join the community at its launch know what they’re signing on for. Whether that mission be reaching a college campus, showing God’s love to the homeless in the city, reaching single moms with the Gospel, or intentionally being on mission to those who the community members are already connected with, it’s crucial that the mission be explicit from the outset.
Doing so will prevent the missional community from devolving into being just another Bible study night or community group where those who love Jesus come to be with those who love Jesus. Neither of those are a bad things – both studying scripture and Christian community are important. They’re just not a missional community.
Three categories of mission
It’s helpful for new leaders preparing to launch a missional community to have a framework to use when thinking about and verbalizing their desired mission target. In my experience and reading, I’ve come across three main categories that a mission might fall under. I’ll describe each below, along with the strengths and challenges of each and a few ideas for nurturing a mission in that category.
1: Neighborhood
Neighborhood missions are focused on a specific physical region. It could be a literal neighborhood, like the block where you live, or it could be a larger area such as an apartment complex or college campus. The key here is proximity.
Neighborhood mission is one of the most natural, but also most challenging pathways for mission. Natural because when you live in proximity to people it takes significantly less work to connect with them. Conversation with a next door neighbor takes a lot less travel time than conversation with a person across town. Neighborhood mission is also easier for families with children, since it generally minimizes the complexity of needing to load up in a car and go somewhere and, if kids have early bedtimes, they can be put to bed if the leaders are hosting something in their home or apartment.
The challenges of neighborhood mission are significant, however. The people around you are often there to stay and you can’t pick up and leave easily. You don’t get to control who your neighbors are, so if God’s stuck you with a group of rough neighbors, your mission may be rough at the outset. The hard reality is that most people live with the “home is a sanctuary” mindset, and have little to no interest in getting to know their neighbors, so you will have to break some norms and barriers to begin getting traction in the mission. There is also the reality that there’s generally not a group of Christians living in the same neighborhood, which means some of the core members of the community may be “commuting in” for the mission.
Ideas for nurturing neighborhood mission:
- Prayer walk your “neighborhood” regularly
- Bake cookies and give them to your neighbors
- Spend more time outside
- Host an open house
2: Network
The second category for mission is network based. This type of mission is generally centered on a hobby or place or friend group. Think a city soccer league, a bar or coffee shop, or an already-existing group of friends.
Network mission can be one of the most dynamic spaces for mission. When Christians commit to being present on mission in a “third place” such as a sports league, restaurant, or the like, they can become a powerful presence there. And due to the shifting nature of such networks there will most likely be a constant stream of new people to reach.
The challenges of network mission are that they often are interest-based, meaning you will need to work hard to ensure that the community doesn’t simply become an interest-based “club” with some Jesus added in. Also, this category of mission requires intentional presence and relational investment over time, which means that those in the community must shift their schedules to align with those of the network if they are to have an impact.
Ideas for nurturing network mission:
- Find a network you’re already a part of. Commit to it.
- Pray each time before you go to that networks’ space.
- Invite those you meet one step closer (i.e. have them over to your home. Go out to dinner after work.) and take it outside the network context.
- Identify the person of peace and pursue them.
3: Need
Need or cause-based mission is fairly straightforward. Whether it be homelessness, partnering with a local non-profit, school, or something similar, needs-based mission can be a powerful opportunity to practice the service and blessing that Jesus so powerfully demonstrates in his time on earth.
The challenge of needs based mission includes finding other people who are passionate enough about the need to commit to the cause and reorient their lives to embed themselves there, ensuring that your social action doesn’t overwhelm your Gospel centeredness, and creating a depth of community in the midst of working on the identified need. However, if these challenges can be overcome (and with wisdom, patience, and practice they certainly can!) need-based mission can be a beautiful demonstration of God’s goodness.
The challenge of needs based mission includes finding other people who are passionate enough about the need to commit to the cause and reorient their lives to embed themselves there, ensuring that your social action doesn’t overwhelm your Gospel centeredness, and creating a depth of community in the midst of working on the identified need. However, if these challenges can be overcome (and with wisdom, patience, and practice they certainly can!) need-based mission can be a beautiful demonstration of God’s goodness.
Ideas for nurturing need-based mission:
- Find a need or cause and commit to it. For example, find a local non profit and let your community become their biggest champions and servants.
- Build a rhythm of serving to meet the need. Whatever the need is, identify what your community can do to meet the need, then start to build in rhythms of doing so. Start small at first, then ramp up.
- Consistently communicate why this need is a Gospel issue.
- Make one sacrifice for the sake of meeting the need.
Which category are you in?
Which category does the mission your community is pursuing fall into? Or, if you’re starting something new, which category are you called to pursue? Be prayerfully intentional about it! Take the time to articulate your mission before launching your community. Or, if you already have launched, take a few meetings to pull back and work as a group towards putting words to what your focus is.
Once that’s done, start with small steps and move into the mission with bold faith. No fear of failure. We have the amazing opportunity to humbly follow the Holy Spirit’s leading as we move out on mission, partnering with our heavenly Father and Savior in his Kingdom work. May He bless you as you go!
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