Instead of copying Joe's full description of the three parts, I refer you to his own explanation. The gist of it is this:
The Table, represented by a circle, is the hospitality and friendship aspect of personal and corporate ministry. Steve's explanation fleshes this out as ranging from neutral third-place relationship-building to private dinners or coffee with people.
The Pulpit, represented by a triangle, is the gathered activities of the church, including corporate worship, equipping ministries, and community groups.
The Square, represented by a square, is the civic engagement aspect of personal and corporate ministry.
I like this paradigm for a few reasons:
1. Every aspect of life is involved.
2. It is doable. Everyone and anyone can sign on.
3. It is memorable.
This really isn't all that much different from the connecting, maturing, and unleashing mission of Bear Valley. One could even propose the following one-to-one relationships:
Connecting = The Table
Maturing = The Pulpit
Unleashing = The Square
Maybe that can give us some food for thought—or at least a clearer mental model.
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4 comments:
I had a thought this morning about our community groups: What if our "fellowship night" were recast as a "hospitality night"? Even though the idea of "fellowship night" includes this, I wonder if it would help place our minds in a more outward and other-serving orientation rather than a "get to know each other and hang out" orientation. This would be the community group implementation of the Circle from the model I described in this post, and hopefully the way we think about our community group activities will carry over to the way we think of our own individual mission opportunities. Plus, doesn't the word "hospitality" just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? :)
the more I have reflected on our "fellowship" night the more I agree with you. It seems to be a great place to practice hospitality. Still, the thing i think about most... how many non-Christians friends do you have? One of our problems is that most believers in Regen have been believers for a long time and do not have very many significant relationships with non-Christians. Another reason hospitality is important, we need to learn to make more friends with non-Christians and equip people to communicate the gospel.
I agree that we need to build more friendships beyond our community, and it seems to me that the Circle is the key to doing that. I think that Joe is challenging every family in his church to invite others into their homes at least once a month. That might make sense for young married people, but I wonder if it fits the single young adult well. I don't know that we (in general) see where we live as a home so much as a place where we eat and sleep. Plus, who ever invites you over just to share a meal together? It seems like we generally invite people over to do something: a game, movie, whatever. (Maybe hospitality is an underdeveloped element of our culture that needs to be redeemed, so people would be blessed by something that, in general, our culture doesn't do well. I dunno....)
I think we need to set a general tone in our lives of offering hospitality, neither aiming it principally at those from the Christian subculture nor reserving it as a means of "outreach" to unbelievers, but just doing it as an expression of love toward everybody around us.
Who are the examples of people doing this? One good example I can think of is Arun with his weekly basketball games. I don't know whether he perceives that as missional, but I think it is great. Who else?
At any rate, I think that we need to grow in hospitality both at the community group level and at the individual level. It takes time for values to take hold in a group, so don't be discouraged. Little by little I think we are going to "get it", especially as we start to see some examples of people doing it right.
I don't know about you, guys, but have you LOOKED around at all the wonderful and hospitable women in our group lately?
Shannon is a good example, Alyssa is a good example, and of course Crystal is a GREAT example of how to bring people into our homes and treat them with kindness and respect. Jeni, too. Charity and Christine are wonderful examples of how women use their wonderful culinary gifts to bless others continually week to week.
Although I totally see what you are saying, that we need to be more missional about our hospitality, and to widen "the circle", as it were, to simply include everyone (not just Christians and not just non-Christians). This is definitely something that we can all think more about.
But I just wanted to remind you of all the wonderful women you two thinking men have around you. Don't forget your lovely friends and resources.
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