the journey of a missional community in the hudson valley
A couple of years ago Esther and I went to Northern Ireland where we visited her mother’s family. One afternoon we drove to old Slemish, an interesting small mountain in County Antrim. Apparently it’s a place of pilgrimage on St. Patrick’s Day. Tradition says that St. Patrick spent time here as a boy, and this was the place where he found God as he tended his herds.
Rhythm of Life - ”It is a pattern of spiritual disciplines that provides structure and direction for growth in holiness. When we speak of patterns in our life, we mean attitudes, behaviors, or elements that are routine, repeated, regular. Indeed, the Latin term for “rule” is regula, from which our words regular and regulate derive.” –Marjorie Thompson.
Last night the core team of our community, Sanctus Dei, got together to discuss the benefits of forming a commitment with one another to live out rhythms that might draw us closer to Christ as a community. This was somewhat of a struggle because we can easily get bogged down by planning and doing, but I’m hopeful that we can work together to sit and Jesus’ feet first before we jump. This morning I came across this post by Jason Salamun on the Rhythms of a Disciple through JR Woodward. I think these are some extremely practical things to consider as we draft up our own rhythms in seeking to live out our calling together.
Follow
Above all, we seek to know, love, and follow Jesus in our thoughts, words, and actions. In every day and every moment, we look to Jesus as our great King and example. Following Jesus is a series of next steps, each resulting in us becoming more like him. His footsteps may be large but they mark the path of the life in full.
Sent
Jesus sends us out, on mission, into culture, to be salt and light everywhere we go. In this sense, we are missionaries wherever we are.
Explore
To love God with all our minds means we are to be curious and filled with wonder at what God has revealed- in particular in the scriptures. By regularly reading the bible, we learn what it means to live the lives we’re meant to live and we are shaped by the very words of God. We also discover more about our Creator and his creation in all realms of learning through story, wisdom, song, nature, imagination, and more. However, our highest authority is our divine conversation with Jesus through the reading of scripture.
Eat
We choose not to waste our meals. We will seek to commune with others when possible and view each meal as a blessing from God. With each food and drink we consume, we will remember the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf as his body was broken and blood was shed for us.
Presence
We reject any notion that we are to create our own subculture. Instead, we dwell within culture in order to influence, shape, and redeem it. We believe this whole world and everything, and everyone in it, belong to God. Like Jesus, we choose to enter the story in order to change the story.
Listen
We are charged to love God and our neighbor as ourselves. One tangible expression of love is listening. We will take opportunities to hear the stories of others. To rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. We also will listen to God and create deliberate moments of silence and quiet our hearts before our Creator.
Party
Backyard BBQ’s, gathering at the local watering hole, inviting friends to our home for food and fun. These are just a few examples of what it means to party. We choose to celebrate and enjoy life with people inside and outside our community. This is what Jesus did. A good party is like a little drop of heaven on earth and is a way of life for the follower of Christ.
Bless
We are blessed by God to be a blessing to others. This can come in many forms. An encouraging email, a note of appreciation, a kind word, an unselfish act, a helping hand. Wherever your imagination takes you. Being a blessing is to make deposits into the accounts of people. Showing grace is to do so whether someone deserves it or not. We will look to tangibly bless others daily.
Grow
Growth is a natural byproduct of every healthy, living thing. This includes people. Since growth comes from God, we will continually fix our eyes on Christ, search our hearts for any cheap substitutes to him, and repent of our sin and place them at the feet of our King. We will seek to live lives of health and wholeness remembering there’s one throne and one source of genuine growth.
Include
The arm of God is big enough to wrap around the whole world. The least we can do is wrap our arms around our neighbor, the people we come across in our daily lives. We will not play favorites based on social status but view all people as equally valuable under an almighty God. Our community is one where people can belong before they believe and find grace overflowing. All are welcome to the table.
Pray
We will be a people of constant conversation and communion with God. As we live our lives, we will pray without ceasing according to God’s will. We will thank God, worship God, be honest to God, confess our sins to God, listen to God, and always seek opportunities to pray for others. Our hope is to be the go-to people for prayer in our relational networks without making a big show of it.
Share
We will seek to share our time, talent, and treasure with others. Generosity will flow out of the grace God has given us. We are to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share. We will be an authentic community who shares one another’s burdens with a battle cry that “no one stands alone.” This is pleasing to God and a fingerprint of a true disciple.
Fight
We will stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves and offer hope to the hopeless. We will fight against injustice and guilt-based religion by our actions and the Gospel. We agree with scripture and believe for justice to roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. In serving others, we serve Christ. We will never forget that our ultimate mission is to bring good news and be good news to those around us.
“There is a subtle difference between a mission and a promise. A mission is something you strive to accomplish – a promise is something you are compelled to keep. One is individual, the other is shared. When a mission and a promise are one and the same… that’s when mountains are moved and races are won.”
–Hala Moddelmog, President of Susan G. Komen for the Cure
This past weekend we studied Luke 8 and in that passage is the story of the disciples and the storm where Jesus is sleeping and they freak out. We learned how their lack of faith was unbelief. Jesus had told them they were going across the lake and as soon as things got stormy they stopped believing they were actually going to get there. One question we asked ourselves was, “how would should the disciples have responded?”
Twitter helped me to answer that question. “It’s not about wondering when the storm will stop but learning how to dance in the rain.” (tweet posted by Todd Heistand – #theideacamp)
A couple of months ago I was speaking with a pastor friend who was in town visiting some old friends. We were talking about the future of church and what things might look like with our ever changing culture and the advancement of technology. His perspective was that eventually church would be where people would be able to sit comfortably in their living rooms, invite over some other Christians, and turn on a video of their favorite pastor preaching. WHAT??! Man I hope not!
I told him I was a bit uncomfortable with the notion that preaching and Christianity, in that kind of setting, would just add to the already problematic consumeristic and individualistic culture we live in. For some, the seeker-friendly, attractional church model is exactly what people have needed to bring them back into the church after many years of disillusionment. But I think churches need to be careful of becoming “relevant” to a fault. Did Christ intend his church to become just another product to consume? Ultimately I believe in a community of Christ followers who seek to live holy and sacrificial lives for the Kingdom’s cause. One that strives to advance that Kingdom every day as a body. A missional community that tries to “foster an orientation within our community not inward, but outward. Not to ourselves but to others.”
I was reading bob.blog and there are some great thoughts on technology, preaching, simulcasting. Here is a sample…
“We’re talking about the death of preaching in evangelicalism by all but a small handful of Celebrity Communicators who have little knowledge about those they teach from such far distances.”
cultivating a global perspective in our home
Last weekend I spent some time doing a “crash course” on kids and their place in our faith communities. At the beginning of my search I felt discouraged and did not know where to look to get my brain going in an uphill direction. So I thought I would wander over to the Evergreen and the Well because I knew I had read stuff about kids on their sites before.
Evergreen, “Parents are the chief spiritual educators of their children, with the help of the church community, not the other way around.”
If people really believe that then why do I frequently hear from people in the traditional churches saying that they would love to be a part of a missional church but “we have to think about the kids.” What does that mean? What are they so afraid of?
As a parent involved in a missional community I have taken so much more ownership of the teaching of my kids. I have actually stopped and thought about my own sunday school experience and evaluated it. I have thought about how I was taught the Bible as individual stories but as an adult have come to find life in understanding the Bible as a whole. My kids need to be taught the Bible as a whole, not individual stories. Would I have thought that through before? Probably not.
I have thought about how as a community and as a family I want to not always be “preaching or teaching” at my kids. I want to lead through example. I want to be honest about my own failures at sharing and being thankful. I want them to hear that from other adult Christians. I don’t want them to always be stuck off in some kids room, having no place in the body.
I had all the Sunday School and theology teaching a young person could ever imagine and you want to know something? The best lesson or teacher I remember is my dad, getting up early on a Saturday morning to go clean the church or to help a single mom fix her door. Or my mom spending hours sorting through food and clothes to give away to those families in need. That is the stuff I remember – that is the stuff that has made me who I am today.
So when someone says to me “we have to think about the kids” my answer is YES we do! But have you really thought about them and what is going to shape and mold them? I believe we have a generation of 20-30’s who grew up in church programs as kids and they are not walking with the Lord today. That has got to get people thinking that if church has to change for this current generation than we desperately need to be rethinking our kids and how we are impacting them with the message of Jesus.
I loved the Well’s perspective on people in their community who are not parents, “We encourage you to welcome our children into your lives as well. Sit with a family during worship. Teach once a month in Sunday School. Play with them after the service. Before you know it, you might just find yourself at a school play or a pee-wee soccer game. The Christian community is a family and you are a part of it, even if you are single.”
Oh and one last thing, Check out Subversive Influence and what Brother Maynard has to say on “what about the kids?” – excellent thoughts! His thoughts challenged me to put my thoughts out on this as well.
For the past six months four of the families in our community have been participating in a meal sharing program. This is a unique way to lighten the load and serve others at the same time. Each week the families involved will make 4 or 5 times the recipe of a meal to feed themselves and the other families. In the process, a family will often make one extra meal that can be given away to a neighbor, friend, or someone in need.
A few times we have been able to collectively give 4 meals to a family in need and we would really like to continue doing this. What I am asking of those that are reading this blog is if you or someone you know of is in need financially or could really use some extra encouragement please contact us.
We want to share our meals with those in need. If you are interested or know of someone who we could serve please contact Esther at emalwitz@gmail.com.
♦ Dialogical Preaching – In part I, part II and part III of this series, Bob Hyatt discusses the shift we should consider taking from a monologue style of preaching to more of a dialogue, where the teaching time becomes an engaging and meaningful discussion rather than a show. He gives New Testament examples and reasoning for why this may be a more incarnational approach for our community.
♦ Missional Church? Be Prepared – In this short 4 part series, Pernell Goodyear from The Freeway // coffee house, discusses his experience as a church planter and offers some practical advice to those who may be considering taking the plunge. I appreciate his offering of transparency, giving us a sense of the challenges to be faced as they seek to be a missional presence in the city of Hamilton, ON.
♦ Spiritual Abuse – An important series of short posts at Kingdom Grace for anyone that has been effected by spiritual abuse. This will commonly happen in churches that adopt the political and power structures of the world for governing, rather than building the church with kingdom principles and values. “When a lust for power in the heart of a leader is combined with pride, an insecurity that needs to control, and a constituency that is willing to follow blindly, the conditions are present for spiritual abuse.” These 8 posts include Shattered Illusions, Spiritual Abuse Defined and Described, Betrayal When it Gets Personal, Leaving, Grieving, Healing, An Unhealthy Body.
♦ A Stimulus for the Poor – In this Editorial at the NY Times, it is suggested how congress could help provide affordable housing for our nation’s poorest families by making some adjustments to the stimulus bill.
I have been mulling some stuff over in my head these past few days and I thought I would post a few questions…
Is it better to give out of our poverty or out of our wealth?
Jesus talks about the poor all the time but why is it that as Christians we are so removed from the poor?
I feel like it is much harder to associate with the poor in suburbia. Who are the poor in suburbia?
Why is it that we can so easily justify our big homes, cars and stuff by simply giving when it is convenient for us?
We are studying Luke as a community right now and I have to be honest, it is rocking my world. In diving into Luke I am sensing God calling us, Christians – followers of Jesus Christ, to look different. And I am not talking about being different in the wear long skirts, never drink, dont dance, have lots of kids kind of way. :) But in the, be willing and ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of Christ kind of way.
We have been sold this watered down gospel that says all you need to do is smile and be nice to people and that is good enough to call yourself a follower of Jesus of Nazareth. I’m not buying it.
Any thoughts?
dmalwitz
Esther
Jason
Becca
Eric
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