So, How?

How can we share life together?

Eat together, play together, walk the dog together, celebrate together, relax together, paint the living room together, jog together, rejoice together, mourn together. Babysit for one another, serve one another, make time for one another, share your possessions with one another.

1 Thessalonians 2:8 “We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.”

How can we share life intentionally for the gospel?

In the midst of sharing life: serve together, read the Bible together, pray together. Encourage one another, share one another’s burdens, teach one another, correct one another, accept service from one another, accept support from one another, pray for one another.

Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

How can we live on mission together?

In the midst of sharing life: Make new friends together, reach out together, learn how to share the gospel together, “understand the times” together, focus your time and efforts together, pray together, be hospitable together, be good neighbors together, challenge one another. Live radical, Christ-centered, counter-cultural lives together.

Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

All of life discipleship and all of life mission

Let your house be a blessing to God’s people and those who don’t yet know Him. Let your dinner table be a blessing to God’s people and those who don’t yet know Him. Let your hobbies be a blessing to God’s people and those who don’t yet know Him. Let your gifts and skills be a blessing to God’s people and those who don’t yet know Him. Let your favorite TV shows and sports games be a blessing to God’s people and those who don’t yet know Him. Let your prayers be a blessing to God’s people and those who don’t yet know Him. Let your lunch break be a blessing to God’s people and those who don’t yet know Him. Let your marriage or your singleness be a blessing to God’s people and those who don’t yet know Him. Let your time and priorities be a blessing to God’s people and those who don’t yet know Him…

You get the idea. Run with it!

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light!”

We’ve explained the WHY of Gospel Communities; now let’s look at the HOW.

First and foremost, I don’t want to be too prescriptive here. In boy-meets-girl relationships there are no cookie-cutter instructions (Step 2: Tell your date “I love your dress”), but there are Biblical principles (“Do not stir up love until it pleases” SOS 8:4) and there is wisdom in applying those principles (Now is not be a good time to awaken love, because I don’t have a job). The same goes for Gospel Communities.

The challenge for each of our Gospel Communities is to wrestle with how we are going to live out the imperatives of the Gospel – how we can wisely apply the principles we’ve been looking at in previous discussions. The result will look different in every case, because every Gospel Community is facing a different situation and has different members bringing their unique mix of giftings, personalities, passions, and experiences to the table. That’s the beauty of it! But that’s also the difficulty of it. So with this post, I’m going to try to kick-start your imagination, not define it.

How can we share life together? How can we share life intentionally for the gospel? How can we live on mission together?

Let’s brainstorm a little.

What if you watched Top Gear together with a bunch of folks from your Gospel Community, rather than each on your own? What if you made a point to spend 10 minutes praying before starting the show? What if you invited a friend along too?

What if you made sure that nobody in your gospel community celebrated a holiday alone? What if you made sure that your neighbors never had to celebrate a holiday alone? What if you made a point to regularly celebrate together as a Gospel Community what God has done?

What if you invited someone from your Gospel Community over for dinner once a week? What if you admitted your struggles to them and ask for their prayer and support? What if you invited a neighbor over for dinner once a week? What if you did both at once?

What if your Gospel Community made a commitment to show love to those who our society seems to ignore? What if, when you throw a party, you invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind? What if your Gospel Community threw a party for precisely that reason?

What if you babysat the kids so someone in your Gospel Community could have a date night? What if you made a point to ask them beforehand how you can pray for their marriage? What if you did the same for a friend?

What if you help your coworker become friends with the whole Gospel Community? What if the first time your coworker visits Element, they already know lots of people from the friendships first built at a Gospel Community cookout, or movie night, or murder mystery night, or hike, or…?

What if you took into account your Gospel Community when you decide where to live, what hobbies to pick up, and what opportunities to pursue? What if you took into account the mission of your Gospel Community when you made those decisions? What if you joined a book club with some folks from your Gospel Community so you could meet new people? What if you bought an extra sofa for your living room, rather than a new phone?

What if you stopped by someone’s house on the way home from work for a quick chat? What if you help fold the laundry while you are talking? What if you point someone back to the Scriptures a little bit every day (while folding laundry), rather than wait until a crisis?

The Honeymoon is Over: Welcome to Gospel Ministry

What if your grocery bill goes up? What if you find it hard to love someone in your Gospel Community? What if your Gospel Community wants to focus in an area in which you have no interest? What if your Gospel Community finds out that you don’t have perfectly behaved kids and a perpetually clean house? What if someone newer in the faith rightly rebukes you? What if someone folds your laundry the wrong way? What if someone asks you a question that you don’t know? What if a friend turns their back on you because the gospel offended them? What if progress is slow and no one seems to be coming to faith? What if your group grows, and decides to plant a new Gospel Community? What if you have to say goodbye after nurturing such close friendships?

2 Timothy 2:8-13; “Always remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David, was raised from the dead. This is the Good News I preach. And because I preach this Good News, I am suffering and have been chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained. So I am willing to endure anything if it will bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen.

“This is a trustworthy saying:

If we die with him, we will also live with him.

If we endure hardship, we will reign with him.

If we deny him, he will deny us.

If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful –  for he cannot deny who he is.”

In Part I we talked about What Gospel Communities Are, today we'll look at why Element takes this approach to community...

Why Does Element Take This Approach to Community?

1) Because community is important, and we want to put it into practice! Have you ever noticed how many times commands in The New Testament include the phrase “one another”? We are commanded to love one another, serve one another, be devoted to one another, accept one another, instruct one another, encourage one another, build each other up… and the list goes on and on. I counted 44 occurrences. Those commands are not optional extras – rather, they are fundamental to what looks like to live as God’s family – to bear the family resemblance of Jesus! They are the fruit of the Gospel at work in our lives. GC’s are an excellent context for us to put those commands into practice. Because all too often in larger groups and larger settings, “fellowship” gets downgraded to a shallow chat over coffee; “family” gets downgraded to a theoretical relationship we have with 200 other people we barely know; and the “one anothers” get applied to people we like, but tend to conveniently exclude people we don’t like or people who are not like us.

2) We want to give everyone the opportunity to use their God-given gifts for the good of the church and the good of the city. GC’s are small enough that everyone is a critical member. Your contributions to your GC are critical! Your input and involvement is vital for the health of the GC! Christian ministry is not just for professionals, or paid staff, or super-Christians; we may not all be gifted speakers or skilled theologians, but the Bible is clear that all believers have a role to play (Ephesians 4:1-16, 1 Peter 4).

3) We want to reach more people. With multiple GC’s, each with their own unique group dynamic and situation, we will be able to reach more diverse sets of people. When John glimpses the throne room of the Lamb, it is filled with people from every nation, tribe and language – a diverse crowd united around Jesus. Imagine if we had GC’s reaching young and old, rich and poor, influential and marginalized in Santa Maria. GC’s are a great way for people to see the body of Christ in action – people who may otherwise never walk into a church building. GC’s are a great way to for us to connect with folks who are new to Element.

4) Conviction. We believe this is how we are called to live as God’s people. This approach is not meant to be a condemnation of other ways of doing church. We are not saying this is the only way! Rather, we are trying to take the principles we see in the Bible and best apply them in our unique situation: Central Coast, California, 2011. We believe that the bar can and should be so raised. Challenging? Certainly. Impossible? Yes – except that we have a God who is gracious, patient, loving, forgiving, and in control, a God who is growing His church and building His kingdom, a God who calls us and equips us. And because of that, we can confidently follow wherever He leads.

In future posts we’ll dig a little deeper and give some ideas of what GC life might look like in practice. But I’ll close with this encouragement:

“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:8-11

So far, we have discussed why community is so important (Part I & II). We saw how mankind reflects our Trinitarian God who is God-in-Community with Himself and who defines perfect community. We also looked at how community relates to the Gospel; how the Christian community is a tool the Spirit uses to grow us in Christ; and how the Christian community is Jesus’ persuasive witness in the world. Now we are going to look at how Gospel Communities fit into the picture.

What are Gospel Communities?

First, we need to define Gospel Communities. Gospel Communities (GC’s) are smaller groups of people (around 8 to 20) committed to each other and to the lost – their desire is to see the Gospel transform lives. Thus, GC’s open their lives to one another (Acts 2:42-46) and are inviting to those who do not know Jesus. GC’s are simply ordinary people doing ordinary things with a Gospel mindset, together.

It’s all in the name – communities of, by, and for the Gospel:

• GC’s are about people loving each other as family – because God has invited us into His family.
• GC’s are about people serving together – because Jesus is our servant-Savior.
• GC’s are about people learning together – because we are given the Spirit of truth.
• GC’s are about caring for each other – because God has richly supplied all our needs in Christ.
• GC’s are about people submitting to one another – because Christ submitted to the Father.
• GC’s are about people worshiping together – because of the cross and resurrection.
• GC’s are about people welcoming others – because God welcomed us.
• GC’s are about people proclaiming the Gospel together – because Jesus first reached out to us and commissioned His church to do the same.

Fundamentally, GC’s are all about seeing the Gospel advance deeper in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and impact our city. They are all about normal Christians (warts and all) living extraordinary lives together for the Gospel – lives that bring glory to God from believers and unbelievers alike.

Check back next week to see why Element takes this approach...