At the Vine, we are constantly reminded that the city groups are the heart of the church.  City groups are where community primarily happens—we live life together, rejoicing in the good and encouraging one another through our struggles.  

Community is important because it is a primary attribute of God who is perfect community in the Father, Son, and Spirit who seeks to commune with his creation despite our rejection of him through sin.

Often we see faithful pursuit of community at odds with faithful pursuit of mission, spreading the gospel to unreached co-workers, neighbors and friends.  Lean too heavily on one calling and the other suffers.

Seth McBee, a pastor at Soma Community in Renton, Washington, shares why community and mission are intertwined and that real community thrives with multiplication of disciples and vice versa:

Most small groups in churches believe their goal is to get to know each other or form a close bond. If this is the goal, multiplication will never be desired. Drawing close to one another is not the goal of missional community, but making disciples who make disciples is (being fruitful and multiplying images of Jesus). Drawing close to one another happens because Jesus has given us the same Father, and we are a part of the same family. So, forming a close bond is a bi-product rather than the goal of living together on mission as family.

Read more.

Tim Chester, pastor at The Crowded House Church in Sheffield, England, has some great thoughts on how our core values as a church (gospel, community, mission) intersect with everyday life, as we gather around the dining table:

Jesus didn’t run projects, establish ministries, create programs, or put on events. He ate meals. If you routinely share meals and you have a passion for Jesus, then you’ll be doing mission.

On the idea of gospel-centered mission in ordinary life:

Meals bring mission into the ordinary. But that’s where most people are—living in the ordinary. That’s where we need to go to reach them. We too readily think of mission as extraordinary. Perhaps that’s because we find it awkward to talk about Jesus out-side a church gathering. Perhaps it’s because we think God moves through the spectacular rather than the witness of people like us. Perhaps it’s because we want to outsource mission to the professionals, so we invite people to guest services where an “expert” can do mission for us. But most people live in the ordinary, and most people will be reached by ordinary people. Even those who attend a special event will, for the most part, have first been befriended by a Christian. “For those looking to connect with people in the local community it isn’t that hard if you really want to. Just invite people round, let them know they can go home if they need to and then enjoy a meal together. You’re going to eat anyway, so why not do it with others!”

On combining community with other believers and mission to those outside the church:

People often complain that they lack time for mission. But we all have to eat. Three meals a day, seven days a week. That’s twenty-one opportunities for mission and community without adding anything to your schedule. You could meet up with another Christian for breakfast on the way to work—read the Bible together, offer accountability, pray for one another. You could meet up with colleagues at lunchtime. Put down this book and chat to the person across the table from you in the cafeteria. You could invite your neighbors over for a meal. Better still, invite them over with another family from church. That way you get to do mission and community at the same time; plus your unbelieving neighbors will get to see the way the gospel impacts our relationships as Christians (John 13:34–35; 17:20–21). You could invite someone who lives alone to share your family meal and follow it with board games, giving your children an opportunity to serve others through their welcome.

Continuing the same theme of racial reconciliation that Zach Nielsen explored in his sermon this week, what is it like to be a part of a church in a multi-ethnic neighborhood?  The above clip shows a glimpse of a new church plant in Seattle's Rainier Valley, one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the country, but also a neighborhood stricken with poverty, crime, and other social problems.

Deacon Danny Chi remarks about the church's diversity:

We’re not here to be diversified just to be diversified. That’s what the world wants. But the difference between the world and us is that we want to be multi-ethnic and multi-cultural because Jesus has a heart for that.

Indeed, there is a great temptation within us to keep our churches "safe", which often leads intentionally or unintentionally to monoculture.  Much like the ancient city of Babel, we can fail by creating an atmosphere of exclusion beyond our four walls, erecting within our hearts a tower to the testament of our own superiority.

Jesus' heart for the church is the exact opposite—welcoming in "aliens and strangers" and "breaking down the dividing wall of hostility" (Ephesians 2)—so that all peoples of all colors and tongues might be welcomed in to celebrate God come down to be with his people.

Community: Taking Your Small Group off Life Support from Crossway on Vimeo.

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