We then discussed who we need to include.  One question referred to the ‘working class’ – as if lower income is the discriminating factor?  We asked: are middle-class people too comfortable to really search for God?  In large part, maybe yes, but does being working class create more spiritual need?  We thought this was the wrong axis and came back to talk about people in whom God is working (be they rich tax collector types or at the bottom of the economic ladder).  People of peace.

The discussion got into ‘but how many people can we really befriend, and can we really befriend people we don’t really relate to so well?’  We concluded that we will all have some deep friendships but we are called to ‘scatter the net wide’ too in some sense and maintain broader passing relationships, showing acceptance to all we come across, in the hope that they will search Jesus out (via us) when they are ready, just like it was the ‘tax collectors and sinners’ who searched Jesus out.  I gave the example of an acquaintance of my mothers who was a faithful Christian witness over a 20 year period and really helped my mother as a true friend when the chips were down.

Concretely this might mean taking that initiative of acceptance and inviting all kinds of people we cross paths with for a meal or coffee, but not pushing it (if we don’t get a sign they want to develop the friendship a lot further).

We considered that unity does not necessarily mean homogeneity, as long as the divisions remain amicable. Different denominations can co-exist if they subscribe to the essentials: for us the Resurrection and Jesus being both God and man. Unity can be shown in working together to meet need in the community and by caring for each other on a day-to-day basis, while making it clear that the gospel is the power source for these actions.

Inviting outsiders to church activities can be problematic. The events which are most attractive to “outsiders”: summer fêtes, dances…, are those which can be considered as “fringe” activities by church members, but at least they allow contacts between people. The “expatriate“ situation in Maisons-Laffitte can be a double-edged sword: it brings people who might never go near a church in their home country into the community, but there is a danger of losing the focus on the gospel message and failing to help them progress from belonging to believing. We also questioned what the most effective community was: the whole church membership, a home group or a Christian family ready to reach out to others.

As practical expression of this theme, we will try to practise friendship in acts like inviting someone for coffee and also pray about these meetings beforehand so that they will become real gospel opportunities.

The bible base was a passage from Paul’s first letter to Timothy (here). We noted that Paul said that « the household of God is the church » rather than « the church is the household of God ».

Our experiences of our own extended families were quite varied and we decided that an ideal family, rather than any particular one, should be a model for the church. In a family you can truly be yourself, but there is also the memory of what you have been (to your Mum you are still a little boy/girl). Families may have disputes (often over money or belongings) but the members’ love for one another is unconditional – the Prodigal remains a part of the family whatever he/she has done. The family is God’s revelation of what relationships should be like, a place where everyone is valued.

Back to Paul’s letter to Timothy, the key word for relationships in the family/church seems to be “respect” (here) – between generations and between masters and slaves. The family hierarchy is “flatter” than that of a typical church set-up; most decisions are taken by consensus after discussion, although sometimes the head of the family has to decide. Importantly, a family is made up of several generations and each is important. Teaching goes in both directions – parents often learn from their children. We noted that we are often more exacting with the younger generation than we are with ourselves: we expect children to apologise when they do something wrong, but rarely say “sorry” to them. The same comment could be made about many church communities.

We talked around the comment that for some people families can become an idol; by putting their family first they avoid their duty to God. However, biblical teaching describes the family as something special and the relationship to a husband or wife the closest one after the relationship with God. In the same letter of Paul to Timothy, it is taught that Christians have a duty to care for their relatives (here) and Jesus made provision for His mother from the Cross (here). A Christian family is a base from which to go out to others (read the last two paragraphs of Little Dorrit for an example).

As ideas for action we came up with hospitality – informal invitations to Sunday lunch for example, and volunteering for types of service in the church that you would not normally do, to meet other parts of the family (like me going to the crèche).

Family matters were obviously very much in our prayers as well. We thank God for our families and hold their needs before Him, confident that He will comfort and sustain them and us.

We all identified with the situation highlighted in the first chapter:  a rota needs to be filled and there is a shortage of people to fill it, so we step (more or less reluctantly) into the gap.  Clearly, there is an element of personal development in participating in activities that we are not naturally drawn to.  We may discover with joy that we have a previously unsuspected talent!

This chapter, however, asserts quite firmly that the church should first of all seek to understand the gifts of its members and the needs around it; and then starting from the available gifts, identify how they can be best used.  How do we understand the gifts available in the church?  We thought the most natural way was simply to spend time with our fellow church members – get to know people.  In this way, we will discover more about people’s character and nature which helps us to see the person as God sees them; helps us to spot frustrations building up where there are unused gifts going to waste; and helps to avoid the ever-present danger of joyless mininstry, undertaken only because “nobody else will”.

On to buildings:  not much was said on this one, but we noted the fact that when it is cold or wet it is quite convenient to have somewhere warm and dry to meet!  Yes, buildings should not drive ministry (and I wonder if we spend proportionally more or less on the upkeep of our church building than our homes?) – but having somewhere constant to meet is definitely a plus.  (For homegroups-as-church it helps if the location doesn’t randomly change from week to week!)

Er, that’s it really for those chapters. No real controversy.  Can anyone add something I’ve missed?

We spent some time discussing the question “what would change if we in Passion Fruit saw ourselves as a primary expression of church, rather than as a sub-set of ‘proper’ church?”  We all had various degrees of comfort with the idea, but it did seem that there was a suggestion that the former idea (primary expression) may lead to more mission focus than the secondary.

The Church Of England has this idea of a ‘mixed economy’ of churches where fresh expressions of church sit alongside traditional forms, mutually feeding and being fed by each other.  So it might not be a black and white decision, but it is worth giving some thought to the idea of what expression of church would lead to the most effective gospel ministry in our context.  Your thoughts please!

We then moved on to talking about how mission is long-term, low-key and relational; and of the idea of ‘intentional gospel-focus’: committing to building relationships, modelling the faith and talking about the Gospel as a natural part of conversation.

We tried to come up with some ideas of what this gospel intentionality would look like:

• Praying through our agenda for the day, praying before lunch appointments, etc.?
• Taking the same train each day?
• Working in a coffee shop rather than in a closed office/home?

Here are some more ideas from Steve Timmis

• … buying from local shops.
• … frequenting a local coffee shop or pub.
• … playing for a local sports team.
• … always tipping generously in local restaurants.
• … being the kind of neighbor everyone wants to have as a neighbor.
• … volunteering at a local charity shop along with a couple of others from church.
• … doing ordinary things in community.
• … opening your home to, and sharing your food with others.
• … walking the same route to work at the same time or catching the same train each day.
• … we do EVERYTHING for the sake of the gospel!

Of Jeff Vanderstelt:

• LISTEN: Part of our job is to listen well to the Word of God and the Spirit of God. We are good at talking to God but not listening to God. Scripture says where words are many, sin is not absent.
• CELEBRATE: In every culture there are celebrations going on. Your job as a christian is to engage in the celebration with the people. We are to bring what is lacking.
• BLESS: Bless your food. Physical hunger reminds us that we have a spiritual hunger for something external (God’s Word) to feed us daily.
• EAT: Do what you already do but with gospel intentionality. You should be opening up your table regularly to those who don’t know Christ.
• RECREATE: We should enjoy life and joyfully create and work as though its unto the Lord. What if Christians were the more creative, playful, and caring people in your community.

Or how about this list from Matt Swaney:

• If I am going to watch football for example I could just do it by myself. But instead I  will try and do it with someone else that I would like to build a relationship with.
• If I am going to the park on a walk I will go with someone and I will choose to talk about something encouraging.
• If I am working out at the gym I will not wear earphones because I want to be accessible for a conversation with someone.
• The park, gym, and football are all normal things I am already doing. But now I am living out the gospel in these ordinary life situations. I am bringing the gospel to bear in the nooks and crannies of my everyday life. We are taking what we ORDINARILY do and making it PURPOSEFUL.

Your thoughts on these would be welcome.  Let’s talk more about it next week too…. we need to roll up our sleeves and do this stuff!

The first challenge was to consider how our ministry could be ‘contemporary, daring and Biblical’. The need for this was made clear when you think about the reach of existing forms of ministry. Our estimate was than in Maisons-Laffitte (25000 people) there might (optimistically) be 5 churches of 200 people, so 1000.  Assuming (very optimistically) that all the churchgoers are passionate Christians, then each would have to be reaching 25 people (with no overlap) for everyone in Maisons-Laffitte to be reached!  This is clearly not the case, so a high proportion of people will have practically no contact with the gospel.

The questions under ‘ideas for action’ on p31 are very much the issues that we are having to wrestle with now we are a smaller group. What is the appropriate way for Passion Fruit to engage in contemporary, daring and Biblical ways to reach beyond ourselves?  Please pray and meditate on this question.

The chapter on ‘Mission without fear’ – simply made the point that it is better to ‘take initiatives that fail’ than to ‘fail to take initiatives’.  I think we all agreed on this point.  Robbie asked ‘what would have happened if, in the parable of the talents, one servant invested big-time and lost it all?’ and we thought that the fact that that scenario isn’t considered is in itself a message!

So as Passion Fruit thinks about our next step – let’s have courage to try things, see what works and what doesn’t, and continue to let our Biblical reflections stir up our imagination for creative and contemporary ways of making disciples of all people…

And here is another based on recent posts – another interesting set of words!