The Zone Gathering

As we move forward together as a congregation at NCC, it is important that we understand our collective vision and continue to use the resources that are available to us as we think about community. Keeping in mind some of the challenges we face in the world today, as outlined in last week’s post, let us examine the foundational elements that we have put into place when it comes to our community building. This includes an investigation of how we are doing things church-wide via small groups and ministry. It is equally important however, that we spend time thinking about how we, as individuals, are leading our everyday lives. The two cannot be mutually exclusive, and the more we de- compartmentalize our lives, the more we will begin really living in a way that Jesus intended for His disciples.

Equipping or Evangelistic

Jesus taught His disciples in many different settings with varying styles and methods. He taught the masses with His disciples on hand as well as spending time alone with them. It was during this time that Jesus elaborated on some of the teaching that He had given earlier, and we see Him further explaining parables to them. These smaller, more intimate meetings were what can be considered as equipping time. It is here that the disciples were refreshed and rejuvenated. Without these moments of intimate community, the level of the disciples’ effectiveness would surely have been lessened.

We need to follow this model. It is vital that we as individual believers have places to which we can retreat with others. It is in our retreat that our faith is reinforced, accountability happens, and vision is solidified. This is a place of equipping, and it is a place that every believer needs. Find people and surround yourself with those that will push you and prevent you from becoming static or settling for the status quo.

The word equipping does have a natural assumption tied to it, and Jesus was not pouring into the disciples merely for their own good. One is equipped ‘for something.’ In the lives of the disciples and for every modern day Christian, this ‘something’ is a manifestation of the Great Commission. The fulfilling of the Great Commission, or evangelism, will look different for each of us, but nonetheless is the common goal for all Christ followers. What implication does this Great Commission then have for further community outside of the body of the church?

As we grow together as a body of Christ followers, help equip one another, and seek to fulfill the Great Commission, we must start building communities that are open to the outside world. The more we create community-driven structures that are accessible to all people, the more natural opportunities we are going to have to share our faith. People’s eyes are opened to the Gospel, as Christ-followers, who have been properly equipped, move outward and generate opportunities to expose individuals in a radical way about the love of Christ. It is a powerful testimony when these individuals’ need for community is fulfilled by Christ followers in a way that they had not previously experienced in the world. This is the true message of John 13:34-35.

Small Groups

Over the years in the American church landscape, there has been a movement toward building church community outside of the traditional Sunday morning service. To accomplish this, congregations have tried to install more meetings, events or groups that gather throughout the week. Out of this desire came the small group or cell group model. Unfortunately for many, this merely meant that “church” was now on Sunday and on Wednesday, therefore proving that the problematic thinking that “church” is either a place or a time, was never really solved.

To really grow in the renewing of our minds on this issue, we should stop thinking of church community in terms of ‘number of meetings per week’ and begin understanding it as a fundamental necessity of life. The equation of: become Christian, join church, join small group, grow, evangelize… cannot remain linear. When we think of these things in a linear, cut and dry way, we become ineffective in creating the proper understanding of Christ’s model.

At NCC, discipleship and community happens primarily in a small group system that embraces a non-linear format. Instead of membership, we encourage those who want to be an active part of the congregation to dig into a small group and work within a ministry. It is within the context of these two arenas that faith building, relationship forming and disciple-making is to occur. NCC has also been committed to work on a semester system, which brings rhythm to the calendar year. This model was created in order to best serve the congregation, its leaders, and those looking to explore the church. However, Pastor Heather has always made it very clear, that this system is set up to help groups function better, rather than to restrict them. Each leader is empowered to assess his or her group and create an atmosphere and rhythm that best serves their needs and goals. The layout of things like group focus, semester dates, etc. are not a means to an end unto themselves, rather they are to be utilized as a base upon which a leader can build. It is then up to these individual leaders to use their God-given creativity and gifts to create an environment that is hospitable for spiritual growth and community. If a group or a leader is surviving based solely on the crutch of the structure; then though the group may continue to exist, it has ceased to fulfill its purpose.

Purpose vs. Method

Methods without purpose more often than not become hollow and counterproductive. We can devise the perfect method, but unless the purpose of this method is being achieved it could and should be rendered fruitless. Methods should always be secondary and supportive of purpose, yet far too often more than due attention is paid to methods, while purpose is slowly lost. We need to begin to see and understand the purpose for community building. Many of us, as we experience it for the first time, will be amazed at its power and effectiveness. Remember, community is not merely about meeting together. I understand that the focus or topic of each small group varies, but community is something that can be built by every group. We must also be careful in restricting the focus of our time to equipping, and be adamantly promoting community that is outwardly focused and evangelistic. As the community deepens, the level of commitment to one another among those involved should also increase.

Time

There will never be the perfect opportunity to try to create community if we wait until we have enough time or resources. Like many of the other spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, fasting, and bible reading, we cannot hold out for times when it best suits us to fulfill these intricate activities. It is also this way with community. Community is something for which we need to grow a hunger. As we grow in faith and continue to walk our unique paths, we also have to be strategically seeking out those people and places where a life of sharing can occur. Much of the church today would claim that it strives to model the early church. We read the book of Acts together and covet the fellowship that is displayed in those verses, yet often we feel as if we have fallen short of that standard. John Ortberg captures this so well in his book “Everybody’s Normal Until You Get to Know Them.” When writing on community he says:

We try to create first-century community on a twenty-first-century timetable – and it doesn’t work. Maybe the biggest single barrier to deep connectedness for most of us is simply the pace of our lives. How often do you hear (or say) things like, “We’ve got to get together soon” or “Let’s do lunch in a few weeks when things settle down”?
The requirement for true intimacy is chunks of unhurried time. If you think you can fit deep community into the cracks of an overloaded schedule – think again. Wise people do not try to microwave friendship, parenting, or marriage. You can’t do community in a hurry

Is that convicting? In a place like Washington, D.C. busyness is the norm. This city is a microcosm of our country at large. We have people living here from all over the U.S. There is also a thriving international community. Individuals from many different backgrounds, lifestyles, traditions and social statuses have made the D.C. metro area their home. Many are here searching to carve out a new life, get a career started, or even work to better the world. Still others are here, stuck in a cycle of poverty or merely just stuck due to missed travel connections. In a place so diverse and transient, the likelihood for automatic community is minimal. On the contrary, however, the probability for isolation and loneliness, or even worse shallow relationship, is very high. This, mixed together with some of the statistics provided last week, allows for a dreary reality where individuals who were created to live in community with one another are left isolated and uninspired.

This is the opportunity for the church to come into its own and fulfill the duties set out by Christ. It is vital that we look at our own lives as individual Christians, as well as our corporate initiatives as a congregation. Where can we continue to equip ourselves? Where can we display our lives of love and community as an evangelistic tool? We need to be involved in both, because the spreading of the Kingdom of God is rested solely upon these things.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 24th, 2007 at 10:58 am and is filed under Leadership Lessons, News and Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.