Jesus vision did not fit any of these paradigms and, as a result, most people did not see or hear what Jesus was up to. He created a kingdom of God movement by establishing a Jesus community that stood in contrast to the popular versions of community at the time.
Often our small group visions fall short of Jesus community in similar ways.
Realistic community:
Instead of starting with God’s dream to redeem all things, we start with the realities we face in life. Since we are busy, overwhelmed and underresourced, we look at how we can lead groups in a way that does not infringe too much on group members. We lower expectations to something like “attend the meeting.”
Radical community:
With these group leaders, there is no room for compromise. They call Christians to step out and go above and beyond, to sacrifice to extremes. Activism, mission and outreach consume small groups that take this approach. Zealous progress toward passionate Christianity and getting something done for the kingdom is the focus. The focus too often lies so much on the action or the mission that these groups end up doing violence to others and themselves. They rally around the cause, but in doing so they miss the way of Jesus.
Exclusive community:
The most common form this takes is called “Bible study.” We get together to talk about the information of the Bible and learn some very good facts about the Bible. Insider information shaped by insider language creates a group that has little to do with normal life outside the group, and new people are welcome only if they speak our language.
Idealistic community:
Idealism causes us to find the “right” way of doing church and small groups. We assume that if we unlock this right way, we will unlock the life of God in our midst. Usually this involves arguments about the way the early church operated and how to follow that biblical approach. Here’s the problem: Through the years there have been so many “right” interpretations of the way New Testament house churches operated that any claim to rightness can be countered endlessly. We just don’t have enough detailed explanation about first-century house churches to define an ideal New Testament model.
Jesus offers us something that we all want, but we cannot produce. We can produce the four visions of community listed above. But only the life of Christ through the power of the Spirit can generate Jesus community.
We enter into this life by embracing the three rhythms of Jesus life together.
- Communion with God.
- Relating well to one another.
- Engagement with our world.
Discipleship or spiritual information is simply learning to do these three things with one another.
