There are three kinds of churches: Trader Joe’s, SuperTarget, and the Farmer’s market.
If we want to be incarnational and missional, it doesn’t really matter what the forms are. There’s nothing inherently good or bad about any of these models. The incarnational, missional life of Jesus can be expressed regardless of the form or size of a church. They’re simply different ways of accomplishing the same ends: the great commandment and the great commission.
But they do represent different organizing principles for getting there. If your organizing principle is a congregation, that colors how you go about it. You need a pastor, programs, somewhere to meet, etc. If your organizing principle is raising leaders from the harvest, you may start organically, yet still end up with a weekly service. Where you’re trying to go determines how you should go about getting there.
In the next three days we’ll talk about the benefits of each of these kinds of churches: Trader Joe’s, SuperTarget, and the Farmer’s Market.