The First Time I Tried Starting a Missional Community I Failed
Have you ever tried starting a missional community from scratch?
“Missional” is a label we give to the qualitative and descriptive aspect of how a church or group of people actually lives. My buddy Hugh Halter says it simply,
“It’s about how much like Jesus people become… how much they influence, woo, and transform the culture in which they are placed.”
A family, group of friends or church that lives like this… Sounds good!
Well, a few years ago my friends all thought so too. We were excited to be rebels who were starting a missional community.
Excited, that is, until things progressed to where we moved beyond our weekly meal and discussion about being missional. It was time to start heading out and building new relationships, serving those in need in our city… actually making disciples.
That’s when everyone recoiled a bit.
Let’s Try This Missional Community Thing Again
Now I’ve learned how to make discipleship and mission a reality–something simple that everyone can live out in everyday life.
What I didn’t know back in those earlier days of starting a missional community was that while most Christians want to make disciples and live on mission with God, they also feel way to busy!
Often, when moving toward a lifestyle of discipleship and mission, people become overwhelmed with what they perceive as the risk of their family time, “margins” and sanity!
The secret is moving from “additional” to “intentional” in our thinking.
Discipleship is not a set of activities we need to jam into our lives, or a series classes that we need to take. And a missional community is more than just a weekly meeting of our small group with a name change.
It’s a series of simple, rhythms or “moves” we can easily, and intentionally, engage in our everyday life. Step by step.
Imagine…
- Making new friendships that naturally lead to “doing life” together.
(I can show you how.) - Or knowing how to talk with others about spiritual things without feeling awkward or pushy.
Discipleship becomes a way of life that includes your kids, close friends and neighbors.
That’s what my family and friends now experience.
If you want it… I’m here to get you started without all the headaches, stop/starts and frustration.
The best part? It’s 7 simple steps.
This process takes a little effort and intentionality. But it’s not complicated. And it’s one of the fastest ways I’ve discovered to get started with others making disciples and building community.
(You can do Steps 1 and 2 today!)
I want to give you access to this free Start-Up Guide (including ‘How To Start a Missional Community From Scratch’). Just click the button below and I’ll send it over.
Asynchronous Discipleship: The Future Is Already Here
Most of us grew up with one assumption baked into discipleship: real community means being in the same room. Online connection was a backup plan — a compromise when you couldn’t do it the right way. But what if that assumption is costing us the very relationships we’re supposed to be building?
In this episode of the Everyday Disciple Podcast, Caesar breaks down the startling case for asynchronous and online discipleship — and why some of the most powerful disciple-making happening today is taking place outside the walls of any building. Plus: practical ideas for using hybrid and digital methods to release more people into leadership than ever before.
In This Episode You’ll Learn:
- Why online gatherings are not a “forsaking of the gathering of the saints”
- How God has always given us new ways to build relationships and stay connected
- The difference between synchronous, asynchronous, and hybrid discipleship — and why all three matter
- How digital methods can actually release more people into leadership
Why You’re Blessed to Be a Blessing
While there are a zillion things I may still want in life, (okay, maybe just a few thousand) my life has certainly been filled with an abundance of blessings and awesomeness. While driving the other night, my wife, Tina, and I spent a little time discussing some of the things we have to be thankful for.
The things on our list may be similar to yours. Things like our relationship with God. How close we are relationally to our grown children and how much fun we’re having these days with all of them. Our home and community. If I went for the long list it would fill several pages and would include many more large blessings ie. health, friendships etc. and smaller things like my iPad, guitars and so on. But there would be a lot.
Cigars, Theology & Discipleship
To disciple someone in all aspects of life requires a deliberate level of intentionality. It is essential to engage in everyday activities together and integrate discipleship and training into these ordinary moments.
This week on the Everyday Disciple Podcast, we talk about a form of discipleship that includes cigars, fireplaces, and maybe an occasional glass of fine spirits. Some of you will LOVE this… some will be freaked out!
In This Episode You’ll Learn:
- A little about the environment that Jesus discipled in. (Hint: it was never a classroom.)
- Why it’s vital to disciple and model the gospel in normal rhythms of life.
- Caesar and Heath’s personal experience and model for doing “Cigars & Theology” as a part of their community life and discipleship.
- Alternatives that may work better in your church and context.
These 3 Things Are True Discipleship Killers
For many of us discipleship either conjures up images of a standardized series of classes we once went through, or it’s this mysterious and foggy image of spiritual practices and a knowledge base to be passed on to others. Either way, most Christians just aren’t doing it.
I’m not even saying that these two common images are biblically accurate, but many find themselves stuck personally or in their attempts to get their churches onboard with discipleship. (more…)
Shifting Your Small Groups to Vibrant Missional Communities
Around the world thousands of churches have loads of people involved in what we’ve come to know as “small groups”. And that’s a good thing. But often these groups can become very inward focused–not a lot of outward or missional impulse. It’s time to shift those small groups to missional communities!
Transitioning small groups or community groups to missional communities is much more than a name change. It’s much more than a weekly meeting (of mostly Christians) and it’s not just a monthly service project added in and called “mission”. (more…)
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ABOUT ME
I am the author of the top selling book, The Gospel Primer. My latest books, Transformed and Small is Big, Slow is Fast came out recently on Zondervan.
I help those with a high commitment to intentional living in the areas of their discipleship, family and mission acquire the leadership skills and tools necessary to succeed and leave a lasting legacy.