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.
Is Your Church Successful? New Benchmarks
Jesus was immeasurably the most successful person in human history. In every way. Yet, if we were to measure his lifetime effectiveness using today’s Church benchmarks of success, Jesus would probably find it hard to get hired on at most churches. What are you measuring?
This week on the Everyday Disciple Podcast, we look at why some of the traditional ways we’ve been measuring church success are not producing kingdom growth and mature disciples. Here are the new benchmarks of a successful church.
Your church or community really can shift toward missional engagement. By changing what you measure, you’ll begin to change your focus to accomplishing the Church’s true mission and its ultimate purpose.
In This Episode You’ll Learn:
- Why what your church is measuring may actually be toxic.
- How our current standards of success are very different than Jesus’.
- What happens when we begin to measure and fund different goals.
- 10 new benchmarks of a successful, missional church.
What Would You Do If Time and Money Were No Object?
I seem to always be looking forward…looking ahead to what’s next. Much of life, work, family or ministry seems to be filled up with the stuff we have to do. But this causes me to give considerable time to thinking about what I really want to do.
What would you do if time and money were no object? Seriously. Give yourself permission to dream a little here. In fact, while you’re at it, dream bigger!
Halloween: Your Neighborhood Mission
Halloween has some “dark history”, and many of us were taught that this was a holiday you were supposed to avoid if you’re a Christian. But the truth behind this annual event may surprise you. There’s no reason to miss out on this HUGE chance to bring redemption to your neighborhood.
In this episode, Caesar and Heath Hollensbe discuss the amazing opportunity that our current cultural experience of Halloween provides as we live on mission and make disciples.
In This Episode You’ll Learn:
- The history of Halloween and how the Church may have actually invented it.
- How the Gospel redeems culture instead of avoiding it.
- Why Christians can and should participate with radical generosity.
- 7 ideas on ways to be more intentional and missional this year.
How Seasonal Rhythms Serve Our Disciple-making
Regardless of where you live, the changing seasons can provide you with diverse opportunities for gospel growth and disciple-making. God designed it that way!
In this episode of the Everyday Disciple Podcast, we explore how seasonal rhythms can positively impact relationships and discipleship–if you embrace them.
In This Episode You’ll Learn:
- Seasonal rhythms and their significance in discipleship are defined.
- How there is a natural “breathing in and breathing out” relationally as seasons change.
- Why your own seasons of life play an important role in your discipleship pace.
- 6 Discipleship Rhythms that you can engage in regardless of the weather.
How To Lead Your Small Group or Church Toward True Missional Living
In this episode of Ask Caesar #7, Chris asks the question: “How do I begin to lead my Small Group or church toward true missional living? I want our folks to really live an authentic ‘everyday faith’ in community with others. How do we begin?”
Thanks for asking Chris, I have been EXACTLY where you’re at, and it can seem daunting to say the least!
My wife and I stumbled around this stuff for years too, but now, after living this way, and training others around the world, we’ve found that there are some foundational steps that absolutely cannot be missed. (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.