This will be at least a two parter. Halter and Smay are veteran church planters that changed up their model and started a "faith community" in Denver, mostly by accident. It has multiplied. They tell their story and propose this model as a way to reach post-moderns (as opposed to the big attractional church.) I am excited about their new book coming out in April called "AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church" where they try to bridge the attractional/missional divide and propose that both models have something to offer.
Notice: I am not a professional book reviewer. When I read a book, I try to make a list of all the key quotes that spoke to me. Here they are.
The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community, The Posture and Practices of Ancient Church Now by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay
Missional and incarnational- two words that describe ancient faith communities in the Book of Acts who lived a countercultural, communal experience that always influenced the cultures they found themselves in.
We leaders need to model a new way of life, live Christ’s alternative ways in the world again. Make the Kingdom of God tangible.
Jesus asked us to accomplish the proliferation of global blessing and the making of apprentices of Jesus (people that look, act, and sound like he did!)
Christians must learn to live the gospel as a distinct people who no longer occupy the center of society, build relational bridges that win a hearing.
To move forward, we can’t keep everything we’ve always had. Ancient faith communities were lean. When you don’t have all the “stuff,” you’re left with a lot of time to spend with people.
Don’t throw out the church folks that won’t necessarily see the vision and “do,” they can help support the old and new structures that will allow others to go out.
We can’t try to fix church from the inside-out, we must go out and then let church reemerge as a reflection and the natural outgrowth of our missional way of life.
Missional has an inseparable twin. It’s called incarnational.
Non-Christians find it highly offensive when Christians try to tell them truths without any tangible relationship.
1 Thessalonians 2:8 So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves
Our posture with sojourners (temporary, spiritually curious but disoriented God seekers) must be correct. When posture is wrong, we are perceived as enemy. When correct, we are perceived as an advocate. Sojourners belong before they believe. Belonging may be a long process.
Correct posture- caring in a way that touches another soul, person to person, rather than trying to fix that person from a position of superiority. John 8 – Jesus “bent down” to physically get on the adulteress’ level. He lowers himself and becomes her advocate. He challenges her to sin no more, but not before he postured himself as her advocate.
Jesus doesn’t need for us to stick up for him; he needs us to represent him, to be like him, to look like him and to talk like him, to be with people that he would be with.
Pre-institutional church – small groups of faithful countercultural people did incredible things to influence their world from the margins. Their lives exposed and challenged the present value system with new Kingdom values.
People will always be interested in good news if it is observable.
Community open to all- I trust that as we continue to provide him a place in our community he too will prefer our views because of what he sees in us.
Jesus knew that the only people who would find his news to be bad news would be people who didn’t want to lose control of their lives. Everyone else would view his gospel as an attractive alternative to the life they were experiencing.
Blessing – the life of God flowing tangibly onto his people.
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