Tuesday with "Shapers"
Lou Nemeth and I spent all of yesterday with Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost at a their "Shaping of Things to Come" conference in Tacoma.This conference was inspired by their book on Missional Communities/Missional Church. Below are some their thoughts (bold) and my reponse (italics) to those ideas.

The four pillars around which a missional community circles (Frost AM):
1) Proximity - to the people whom they feel called - a subculture, a particular tribe or people group. Involves frequent spontaneous rubbing up against others. "Life rubbing up against life." Yes. The community I am currently a part of suffer for lack this kind of closeness. We live in suburbia and our lives are fragmented and spread out in different places. I feel pulled toward a "neighborhood" context where people live closer, shop closer, work closer and do life in general in closer proximity to one another.
2) Presence - practicing the presence of Christ if he were living in that place, with frequency and spontanuity. Easy to say, more difficult to live out. How would he live? What would he do or not do? Loving your neighbor as yourself? Loving the "least of these?"
3) Powlessness - letting go of the power(s) of the institution, and power structures associated with it. I am reminded of the "self serving will to power" as so clearly illustrated by Rick Richardson here (the perceptions we face). Let me tell you, I can appreciate this aspect of a missional community.
4) Proclamation - of the gospel as "naming the name of Christ in your context." This idea intutively has been a part of my understanding lately of what it means to "share the gospel" - naming the name of Chirst in my context. Real relationships with others naturally and frequently over time communicates Christ. I am certain of it. Christ happens. To be a Christ follower in my context means to share Christ as accurately as i have experienced him up this point in time, as much as I know him in this moment, nothing more or more complex. It that simplicity is something I think deeper than a "clear explanation of the gospel."

Some thoughts that got me thinking...
"Everyone in your context here in the United States already know that Jesus died for their sins! Everyone already knows that. But that phrase has lost all meaning." - Frost
When he said this I was like "Duh!" Why can't we admit this? Why are we still trying say those words at every opportunity as if they really meant anything to people today? (See Franklin Grahm in his interview with Larry King for case in point here.)What does it mean to embody the whole gospel as a community and share it in community and by living it out as salt and light in rotting and dark places? What do we say? How do we recover meaning or reillustrate meaning in new ways?

"When we think of America we think 'home of the mega church'." - Frost
"The best way to transform a society is to tell an alternative story." - Hirsch
"The one another's of scripture are only meaningful when we are on mission." - Hirsch
"The church was meant to be lived out in liminal and communitas kinds of spaces" - Hirsch
"We are exiles in host empire." - Hirsch
"We are called thrive like Danniel and others in the place we live even though we know we don't belong." - Hirsch
"When God is human (in Jesus) he doesn't look as holy as we think he should." - Hirsch

There were many other significant parts of the day's conversation, but sadly I can't remember them right now. We did talk about chaos theory in ecclessiology and how that pattern may deal with "heresey" more effectively than a highly organized institutional church system.

Overall me response was mixed. I am like "yes!" mission! Lets go save the world in new ways creatively offering the hope of Christ in if varying ways. While part of me is like wow - but wait a mininute. How do we engage with 1700 years of Christendom in a more reconciling fashion than abrubtly parting company to do mission? And how can that part of our Christian history inform our mission (beyond just negatively)?

- posted by Jacob B. @ 8:53 AM