The New Discipleship: Converted to a Cause before Christ

I like the term "missional community" because I think it contains two very important elements for people. People want to belong, and as this guy says, they want to belong before they believe. The other key, though, is that people want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. This is where mission comes in. The mission of God is the biggest thing that we could ever involve ourselves in. This writer believes that the mission, or, another way of stating it, the "getting involved", is more important to a lot of people than community (belonging).

"I would submit that it is mission that provides the motion from which community is created... In this scenario, community isn't the key for reaching the lost, but CAUSE is the key."

A Starbucks Conversation - John Burke

Ideally, pastors would be cultural anthropologists or experts on the unchurched. Instead, non-Christians often complain that pastors can’t relate to them or their culture. As a pastor,
do you interact with non-Christians on a daily basis? Do you know what the average unchurched person thinks about Jesus, heaven and hell, and Christians in general? What would make him or her willing to explore Christianity? Maybe even at your church?

If you haven’t asked these questions lately, much less gotten answers, you may unknowingly have lost touch with the culture and the very people you’re trying to reach. Get reacquainted with your “target audience,” as you listen in on this casual conversation with Jennifer, 29, Lalit, 33, Sree, 35, Geno, 28, James, 40, and Lars, 34, who share with Gateway Community Church’s Pastor John Burke the insights you need to know to reach them.