The layer of Christian Community found at the “Meso” level is named such because of its “middle” level in all the layers. It is the center both in terms of size and importance.  It is the turning point for the rest of the layers.  “Meso” is phonetically connected to the word “messy” and there is no doubt that this level is the messiest – where passions, expectations, and personalities rear their heads most overtly.  But it is in the messiness that profound transformation and growth can occur if it is allowed to.  In fact, it is the crucible where salvation (on a personal, communal, and societal level) is experienced.

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What is the Meso Layer anyway?

We see the Meso layer as the centerpiece to the organic church network, the “Onion” we’re exploring (peeling?) in this series.  In our network it is the “simple church” the “house church family” – a gathering of about 8-25 people.  For Jesus it was his 12 disciples.  This was Jesus’ daily expression of Church – and what he referred to in the few times he used the word.  For Jesus it was his spiritual family – his “brothers, sisters, and mothers” all in hot pursuit of the Way.

Today however, so often when we think of a church – we think of an organization with qualified leaders, impressive architecture, regular practices and recited doctrines.  But what is missing?

JESUS!

Why make the one who is Head of the Church anything but the central picture of what a church is? 

Simply put – Church is Jesus followed.

In other words: the Church is:

“The presence of Jesus among His people called out as a spiritual family to pursue His mission on this planet.” — CMA

Let that sink in for a moment.  What does that mean for a crew of 12 followers of Jesus in our world today who choose to join together as a simple church?

1) It means you belong to a Family.

Similar to the African proverb, we believe “It takes a Church to raise a Christian.” We may come to faith as individuals, but we grow in community.

The Church is God’s tangible ANSWER to everything that sin created on earth, and the Meso Layer, the vibrant family of Jesus, is the primary expression of the Church.  No government program, no hierarchical structure, can ever force us to love our enemies or take care of our poor and sick; only a church family can do that.  And your personal transformation toward Christ-likeness is stunted if you try to do it on your own – you need a family.   The world needs this Layer of the Church to shine!

Think of the Meso Layer as the family that you can belong to.  Cheers: “Where everybody knows your name.”  The “household” – the “oikos” or group of friends that meet regularly (preferably at least once a week) sharing life, serving their mission field, and listening to God together.

Just because you are family together doesn’t mean there won’t be conflict.  In fact, one of the watermarks of following Jesus is unity in diversity.  Learning to love the “other.”  It wasn’t long before the earliest Jewish Christians realized that Christ’s message was for the world, and then came the difficult work of overcoming stereotypes, personal vices, and inviting those incorrigible Gentiles into your household.  What they no doubt discovered in the process was that it was not their household to begin with, it was God’s.  Jewish Christians weren’t bringing Gentiles into God’s family, they were all together joining a brand new Family made up of very different people.  Suddenly the Jewish Christians’ high theological platitudes of the Church being for the whole world suddenly found its expression sitting in the living room through a smelly guy who loves a good pork sandwich.  And they realized:

“Brotherhood doesn’t come in a package. It is not a commodity to be taken down from the shelf with one hand — it is an accomplishment of soul-searching, prayer and perseverance.” — Oveta Culp Hobby

and

“He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Its only in recent days and among Western societies that the notion of “When it comes to spirituality, I do my own thing,” has popped up.  Maybe a development from the fierce American individualism alongside its distrust of submission and authority.  But when will we see that first, we are communal beings? Our spirituality cannot flourish in isolation.

“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community, and let him who cannot be in community beware of being alone.” – Bonhoeffer.

2) It means you have a Purpose.

Imagine a strand of DNA.  Two twisting rails with a series of ascending rungs holding it all together.  In this simple structure holds the design of a person’s very essence.  It is the instructions and in someways the destiny of the organism it references.  Church may find its essence and destiny in its DNA.

That DNA is Divine Truth, Nurturing Relationships, and Apostolic Mission.

Our aim is to see the DNA express itself overtly in all levels of the Onion, and its clear that if the Meso Layer doesn’t express the DNA of the Church, no other layer will either.

We find the Church’s DNA wrapped up in its genome, the Bible, most clearly seen in the Great Commandment (“Love God…” (Divine Truth), and “Love your Neighbor…” (Nurturing Relationships)), and the Great Commission (“Go into all the world, making disciples,” Apostolic Mission).

— D —

A consistent connecting to God through worship, Bible study, and listening to God’s voice in prayer are what keep the N and the A moving in the right direction.  It is the seed that is planted in the soil of a community.  It is the incarnation of God’s Divine Word in a frail human community sharing God himself through the simplest of gifts; bread, wine, song, Scripture, prayer…

The more a Meso level community is able to cross-pollinate spiritual resources and Divine Truth to its own members, the healthier it will be. (Rom 12:6-8)  Each member of the community is granted a ministry to the other members of the community; from rich to poor, young to old.

When a simple church gathers together, its aim is to share what its members collected during their time apart, sharing stories, songs, Scriptures, and meals.  Essentially, they are gathering the scattered fragments of the Kingdom. They are creating a “spiritual potluck” or an “open mic” where each person brings what God gave them. (1 Cor 14:26)  No one comes empty-handed, and they leave with abundance in order to offer the world a portion of the sacred bounty!

— N —

There is no doubt: WE NEED COMMUNITY – but what is the purpose of a church?

Through the “N in the DNA,” a nurturing church family at the Meso Layer is all about “equipping” the saints.  But what does “equip” mean?  Essentially the word means to “put a bone in right relationship with the rest of the body.”

The Meso Layer of church is the primary place for nurturing the Christian in the context of a spiritual family.  It is where we engage as healed sinners in the Kingdom-community.

Here are a few functions through which a church family may equip its members: common Love and Compassion (unity in diversity, Eph 4:1-7), common Identity and Purpose (faith, hope, love // Being of the same mind – Phil 2:1-2 ), common Nurture and Service (the “one anothers” of Scripture, Spiritual Parenting and Counsel, and  Inner-Healing Prayer), common Discernment (SASHET/ VIRKLER, communal discernment and spiritual direction), common Forgiveness and Reconciliation (through elements like shared meals, Baptism, and Communion), common Authority and Submission (sharing possessions, accepting the wisdom of others), and finally, common Worship and Prayer.

— A —

In addition, the Meso Layer of the Church is the primary catalyst for world transformation and presenting Christ to the world.  The purpose of the church is not itself.  The Church does not exist for our sake.  We ARE the Church, for the sake of the world – and to the glory of our groom, Christ.

The Church does not have a mission.  The Mission has a Church.

Merely holding a family together is not a big enough story for the role we have to play in this world.  While pastors would rather keep the sheep in the pen, the purpose of a healthy family is to present to the world the dynamic, unique and redeemed life of Jesus in a contextual way.  In fact, a deeper level of community (communitas) is forged in a church when it strikes out on a mission together.  Dream big dreams – make no small plans.

A broad summary of the New Testament mission and most Jesus-led missional movements throughout the ages included the work of God and the partnership of God’s Church family – specifically at the Meso Level.  The church has always had the virus of apostolic mission – God calling, preparing and sending communities as little capsules of the Kingdom.

This is the underlying current beneath every missional church.  From the church that met in Aquilla and Priscilla’s house in the 1st Century, to St. Patrick’s edgy “barbarian missions” in the 4th Century to the church in America today.

The Church is an Organism

At the Meso Level, we see the fluid nature of the church at its best.  It is essentially the crossroads of the Onion – it is where 3 or 4 Micro level communities (like LTG’s) make the the MesoLevel group of 12 people, and a Macro Level worship event is a collective of several different Meso groups.  We should never underestimate the power of these small groups – these simple churches – these “vibrant families of Jesus.”

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead

Because we believe in the power of the Meso Layer addressing and solving the ills of society and the brokenness in each individual, we have made the planting of these communities our central missions focus:

“Our mission is to see a vibrant family of Jesus Christ in close reach, culturally and geographically, of every person in Chicago.”

Organic things grow, and reproduce in time.  Organic churches follow God’s call to “be fruitful and multiply.”  Overtime, this creates a a grassroots network of faith families!  There is no true beginning or end to this liquid network of organic churches, connecting to Christians in every church, denomination and region on earth.  Yes, there may be names of church fellowships in cities and regions, but truly the Church – the network – of Christ goes on forever, both in time and space – one unified Body of Christ on earth!

*Below are some notes I took while reading through part of Kenneth Boa’s Conformed to His Image. Some lines are direct quotes, others are my own thoughts – my college professors would hate to see them all mixed up like this – but consider yourself warned.

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God created us as relational beings; and because of this we thrive best in community. Community is the hotbed of spiritual growth and renewal, yet it is a fragile and vulnerable space for the Evil One to invade and undermine.

In the Western world, we are seeing an attack on community (not just spiritual community) on just about every level.  There is a fierce pursuit of autonomy, self-actualization, privatization, avoidance of accountability, and a nuanced form of narcissism called “self-esteem.”  Read up on this in the foundational book Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam.  In addition, we as Americans have a heritage of distrusting institutions, traditions and especially authority.

This blog post is not about wishing for days gone by, but about recapturing the biblical vision of covenantal community.

Certain Christians groups emphasize either the individual, or the corporate.  Evangelicals really push their attention to the individual’s justification of self before God.  Other groups accent social justice and relevance in culture.  The dangers of irrelevant privatization on one side or mere social ethics on the other are the pits on both sides of the path.  Scripture seems to find a balance by affirming the good news of kingdom living in the present tense.  The spiritual life is both personal and social; both dependent on God and active in the world.

God IS Community

Scripture clearly shows God as a relational being. Even before the creation of the world God is in a pure, loving community of three (Father, Word, Spirit).  Since God made us in his likeness, we have been created for community with him and with one another.  As we make the choice to enter into that original divine relationship, we become members of a new community that is called to reflect the Godhead in its corporate unity. [youversion]John 17:22-26[/youversion] In essence, our Lord tells us, “If you love me, you will love the people I love.”

The private/corporate polarities mentioned above are reflected on well in one of my favorite books on the topic, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together:

“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and the community…You cannot escape from yourself; for God has singled you out.  Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. Into community you were called, the call was not meant for you alone; You are never alone, even in death…If you scorn the fellowship of the brethren, you reject the call of Jesus, and thus your solitude can only be hurtful to you.”

[youversion]Luke 6:12-19[/youversion] is an excellent text on moving from Solitude to Community to Ministry.  Jesus spent the night in solitude with God, in the morning he formed a community by inviting his disciples to follow him, then in the afternoon Jesus ministered with his disciples to the physical and spiritual needs of the crowds.  This is a path we can follow too.  Community is the bridge that connects solitude (intimacy with God) with ministry to the world.

True community is not a collection of lonely or isolated individuals but a dynamic interaction of people who know they are accepted in Christ.  God does not call us to be” Christians at large” or “a colony of hermits” but a vital organism of others-centered people of which Christ is the head.  True solitude and true community enrich each other through their creative interplay where the horizontal meets the vertical.

The corporate life of the body of Christ is not optional.  Its never easy, but we are impoverished without it.  Among other things, it provides:

• relational enrichment and commitment
• trust, love, and acceptance
• mutual submission out of reverence for Christ
• physical, psychological and spiritual healing
• nourishment from the common work of listening to God’s voice together in Scripture, prayer, and life.

Challenges to Community

The Church has always had its manipulators, controllers, and faction builders.  Even worse, few of these people even realize the the corporate damage they inflict, and usually paint a veneer of concern for the best interests of the group.  Just look at the church in Corinth.

In [youversion]Phil 2:3,4[/youversion], Paul recommends “Do nothing out of selfish or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”  Learning to please only Christ, the irony is that we can then find the right position to truly meet the needs of others.

The fundamental threat to community is self-centeredness, the vital builder of community is others-centeredness rooted in Christ-centeredness.

Hell is self-centered and isolational; heaven is others-centered and relational.  Having a corporate spirituality is costly because it asks us to go against the grain of our fallen instincts for privatization and personal control.  But Scripture reminds us that joy is only experienced in full when it is shared, and atrophies when it is hoarded.  Thomas Merton has said plainly, “We are not at peace with each other because we are not at peace with ourselves.  And we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God.”

The Key to Creating Community

Surrender and self-denial in Christ is the KEY to biblical community. It is in this context we can read Augustine’s profound prayer, “Lord, your best servants are those who wish to shape their life on your answers rather than shape your answers on their wishes.”

The Church does not exist for the individual – it is inappropriate to leave a church when it no longer “feeds you.”  Maybe its a calling from God to bring some of your own spiritual food to the potluck!

You cannot wait for the perfect group of people to arrive to “start your church” – you must surrender your ideal of community to allow the one before you to thrive.

So you think you really want a taste of this divine community?

True community in Christ is not created by attempts to “make it happen;” instead, it is a by-product of others-centeredness – which comes from losing our life to seek Jesus. [youversion]Matt 16:25[/youversion] Death is the only way to resurrection.  Conversion to Christ and to the cross should in turn lead to conversion to community.  Everything you do alone in the Lord is useless without it. [youversion]1 Cor 13:1[/youversion]

Stop for just a moment and think.  Clear your mind and take a breath.  Consider your worldview – your perspectives, points of view, political leanings, religious beliefs…the very lens through which you see your world.  Now, think carefully – who is the person that represents the most complete opposite end of the spectrum?  Generally, humans reserve trust and friendship with people they believe are most like them – and tend to demonize and stereotype those most different from them.

For many in America today, conservative Christians and the liberal secularists are on opposite ends of the spectrum.  One tends to hang out on Sunday mornings, the other on Saturday nights.  One votes for the Democrat, the other votes for the Republican.   The worst evil for one is social deviance, whereas the other shuns bigotry.  One is urban, one is suburban.  One wears suits, the other has dreadlocks.    One is PC one is Mac.  You get the picture.

Both live in worlds in which the other has no place.  Both exist in tight bubbles that exclude others.  In these secluded tribes, they can lob ideological grenades at other tribes and receive comfort from their peers.  All the while the chasm between people and Truth grows wider.

I had never heard of Matthew Raley when I picked up The Diversity Culture: Creating Conversations of Faith with Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hippies, Political Activists, and Everyone in Between. He speaks to this reality of ideological tribalism with humility and truth.  He draws on the story of Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the well, [youversion]John 4:1-26[/youversion], as a prime example of how Jesus engaged the “other” not as a propped-up caricature, but as a unique individual.  Samaritans and Jews distrusted each other politically, religiously, and even the other tribe’s very right to exist. Sounds familiar even today, doesn’t it?

Jesus sat down next to the well, and began to cross barriers – claiming that mistakes had been made in both Jewish and Samaritan tribes in the identity of the other – both groups had inherited from their tribesmen lies about the other group.  When she showed signs that she was willing to take people (and life) case by case (rather than broad brushing stereotypes) he was able to work with her – and introduce her to the Living Water.

But herein lies the rub – do people make life-changing decisions about faith and worldview as a group, or as individuals?  Raley says its about “crowbar-ing people away from their groupthink” (whether Christian or secular or whatever) and asking them to think critically about what they personally believe to be true.  It is at this point that I think I differ from Raley.

I agree that to really help someone think critically about an issue, sometimes you have to remove their normal filters and lenses their culture gives them and let them try their best to think for themselves.  Other times there’s just not enough will-power in the person to do that, and if done properly, “salvation can come to the whole household,” as it does all over Acts.  Sometimes people come to Christ as individuals, extricated from their culture (Ethiopian eunuch, Samaritan woman at the well), and sometimes its through their community (Philippian jailer’s family, Cornelius’ household, etc.).

He admits that most people in the “Diversity Culture” as he coins it, grow up with a “street postmodernism” – and are not really sure why they hold such pluralistic views – they know perfectly well that right and wrong exist, but “what they don’t necessarily know is how to integrate unchanging principles into lives that are full of change.” (Raley, 50) Christians too believe things without knowing exactly why – and they still are distrustful of those with different views.  What ends up happening is a world full of people who hate each other for reasons they can’t explain.  Back to stereotypes.

Remember that archetypal person who you distrust the most, and put an actual face on them – someone you know at work, etc.  Find their uniqueness – something that shatters the stereotype you have of them.  Maybe its a hipster who listens to Kenny-G, or a liberal who secretly watches reruns of Glenn Beck.  You might just find yourself like the Samaritan woman at the well did, face to face with a the most important relationship of your life that you never saw coming.