Ramblings from late night conversations…
I spent the evening last night holding an exciting conversation with Trey, a friend and partner with me in an LTG. For several months, he and I have been growing closer as friends, and last night Katrina and I shared with him our dream to see a vibrant family of Jesus in close reach to every person in Abilene. Trey caught the vision immediately, and began brainstorming what an indigenous faith community might look like in a living room in Abilene, Texas. Below are just a few ideas floating through my head as I sort through yesterday’s conversation.
Could, in just a year or two, we plant a church in this city, see leadership develop, connect them with other churches in the city, then pull out and let locals lead? That is the burning question on my mind right now.
I’m also thinking theologically; every church begins first with a group of people. This group of people waits for God to give them purpose and mission, and then they are sent out to a specific field. Do ordinary Christians, empowered by the Holy Spirit have the capacity to plant a church? I have to believe they do.
One of the crazy things that Trey brought up as we were talking last night was the fact that Abilene, as aware of the Christian-faith as it is, could not support a city-wide turning to Jesus – something that many churches regularly pray for. If you counted the seats, pews and chairs in every church building, they would fall WAY short in accepting such a wide-spread acceptance of Jesus. Our buildings would not hold them, and our leadership structures could not keep them; they would float into a church and back out again once they realized they were not noticed and needed. But imagine a church movement that was able to house every church inside a living room, park, or coffeeshop! The seating capacity, the leadership structure, and the retention of new converts would be infinite!
Starting a new church in your own home is fine and dandy, but why start one there? Why not start right out where you hope it ends up – the harvest field? Jesus seems to talk in Luke 10 and Matthew 10 about finding the right person, then sticking with them, allowing the community of faith to grow around their leadership – not yours. I like that idea…now can we be bold enough to do it?
Finally, I kept hearing our conversation revolve around the concept of week long, life long church. Rather than the common perception that church is an event, see it instead as the community life that happens week long. Counting heads in attendance is now a non-issue, what counts is meaningful relationships that don’t just put up with each other for one hour a week, but find time to “break bread daily”. I long for a church like this…
