• Who are you?
• Is the Gospel dangerous?
• What does risk look like in following Jesus?
• How are we called and equipped for the risk that comes with mission?
• How does entertainment prohibit mission?
• How does the gospel compel risky mission?

I wrote a follow up article to work out the idea of a “Dangerous Gospel.”

While you are at it, you can check out other reflections from Verge:

Here (contending that missional communities are NOT a model)

Here (nice review of the main sessions)

]]> http://jonathandodson.org/2010/02/verge-posts-from-reformissionary/feed/ 1 http://jonathandodson.org/2010/02/alan-hirsch-verge-video/ http://jonathandodson.org/2010/02/alan-hirsch-verge-video/#comments Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:19:59 +0000 Jonathan Dodson http://jonathandodson.org/?p=3521 Here one of the outstanding videos of Alan Hirsch unpacking the 6 elements of Missional DNA. This video focuses on communitas. I’ll be posting the rest of the videos throughout the week. Together they constitute a great summary of his book The Forgotten Ways.

… {keep reading}

Alan Hirsch launched the wave with some dense missional aphorisms, followed by a host of speakers and breakouts that seem to build and build. I’m hopeful that the dam of disobedience will break, in my life and all our lives. Hopefully we all walk away motivated for mission, not by mission, but by Spirit. Here’s a quotation sprint through VERGE.

Alan Hirsch returned mission to it’s inception for every Christian:

Your baptism is your commission.

Matt Carter called us to Gospel before Mission:

If you love your mission, more than you love your Savior, then your Savior will have no part of your mission.”

Stetzer fired us up with his impassioned plea to release the church into mission:

“You shouldn’t have to say missional disciples; disciples are mission.”

Something is happening. Maybe it will result in a movement, maybe not. It depends on us…depending on the Spirit. It will require an absolute shift from mission as leisure to mission as lifestyle. But this missional movement will die out, burn out, and go nowhere if we aren’t continually brought to repentance and faith in Christ ourselves, over and over again, for our idolatry of mission and indifference to mission. May Christ be more precious than mission, but may mission be more precious than our very own lives.

Today I spent the whole day with other missional leaders in the VERGE pre-conference. We thought hard about how the gospel should work through the church in our culture on mission. Alan Hirsch & Leadership Network facilitated our time together by leading us through best practices conversations. Mega and Micro churches were represented. Here are a few take-aways:

• We need a Missional Imagination to break through our inherited forms of church and really see the gospel take root in our communities and cultures. Falling back on top down, heavy-handed methods have moved us away from the DNA of gospel movements.
• Church as Family must permeate everything, from the way we run staff meetings (less telling people what to do and more listening to people) to how we spend our time (more missional less administrative “staff”).
• Invite people into my life, not just my Missional Community. Mission must be everyday life, not an occasional event, a monthly practice, a new Christian language. I am excited about upping this in my own life, about inviting our City Group leaders into my life more. More dinners and mission together, less formal meetings and trainings.

• Missional Community Training: I will be doing some training for the Midtown Team on missional community during Verge. If you’re interested in having me do this for your team, drop me a comment or a line. We are working on getting some of our Missional Community training out in the form of more in-person trainings and a booklet on Gospel-centered Missional Communities.
• Fight Clubs at Verge: I’ve had a number of requests for Fight Clubs books to be available during Verge. I will have 150 copies available for discounted price of $5 at the Acts 29 display/table.
• Coming to Verge? Drop a comment if you’re coming. Hopefully we can meet up.

What is VERGE for?

My old friend Michael Stewart, Pastor of Missional Community at Austin Stone, is the VERGE conference architect. Stew’s strategic gifting is through the roof. VERGE will be proof. I recently asked Stew to clarify just what VERGE is (in 160 characters or less)! He replied:

To equip & unleash ordinary people to pursue Jesus, be gospel-centered missionaries, recover a movement ethos, & multiply MC.

As you can imagine, planning a conference this big requires a lot of energy and time. Much of the Austin Stone staff has been devoting time to VERGE. Curious how this workload is affecting Stew, I asked him it has shaped his view of mission and Jesus. He replied:

A deeper affection for the person and work of Jesus on our behalf as the propulsion in any gospel movement. Jesus is not just an example, he is our source, our strength, our refuge, our good news, our hope, our wisdom, our joy…he is everything to everything and renewer of all things, even me, us, our neighborhoods, our communities, and our cities.

That’s the kind of architect you want behind a conference. This God-sized, Jesus-centered goal is inspiring! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if God granted Stew’s hope and aim?

What Will Happen at Verge?

The unlikely line-up of VERGE speakers around a topic like Missional Community is intriguing. Mega and Micro churches are represented, theoreticians and practitioners, and despite differences in philosophy of ministry, all these speakers agree on one thing—the centrality of Jesus in the Mission of the Church. This united but diverse focus will prove helpful and interesting as the missional church dialog continues at VERGE.

What will happen at Verge? It largely depends on you. Will you come to engage, repent, adjust, encourage, affirm, critique, dialog, and strategize? If you do, great things could happen. Let’s pray they would, starting now. Let’s come, not just to consume, but to give and strengthen one another in the great task of gospel leadership and the mission of the church.

Missional Lunch Break-outs

Some news on VERGE offerings. Several new break-outs are now being offered. Register here.

“For the City: Theology, Principles & Practices of Mercy Ministries” (pre-conference)

World Vision Gospel Quest Dinner
Friday, February 5, 5-7PM
Limited Seating
BBQ Dinner by Rudy’s
Cost: $10

International Justice Mission Brunch
Saturday, February 6, 10:45-12PM
Limited Seating
Brunch
Cost: $10

Hope to see you at VERGE!

As Halter & Smay point out, when a church grows, slowly or by leaps and bounds, something is needed to continually reproduce your missional values. Their response was the Primer.

The Primer offers helpful exercises, thought-provoking questions, and insightful comments along the way. Here are a smattering of those:

• The reason we struggle to live a missional life is that it pulls against every natural fiber, sin, rhythm, habit, muscle, and thought pattern we’re used to. viii
• Right now, what is hindering you from living a missional life?
• Imagine what could change if the Good news of Jesus was allowed to shape and inform all the area of our lives.
• What personal interests and hobbies can you turn into communal ones?

Although the Primer is highly structured, it provides very practical help in cultivating missional communities. On the other hand, I find it difficult to imagine our church working through a 200 page primer (I thought primers were supposed to be short!). In the end, every pastor and leader must find the methods that best suit their people and their context. No doubt the TK Primer will be a good one for many!