extra-potent-ials

Welcome to the conversation.

I concluded my post yesterday with the thought that a group of people living out their potential together is mission.

This is church. It is about a group of people living life beyond themselves, for the sake of others, and this involves movement. This is a community with purpose. Victor Turner calls the spirit of such community, communitas - it is about commitment, integrity, hard work, and courage in a common purpose. A collective name for such a group might be "an adventure of people (who understand God has a purpose for their lives)."

This will mean living with uncertainty because requiring us to leave the familiar and move into vital relationship. Indeed vital relationships are a mark or defining characteristic of these communities, as Victor Turner describes the leading edge people: Prophets and artists tend to be liminal people, "edgemen," who strive with a passionate sincerity to rid themselves of the cliches associated with status incumbency and role-playing and to enter into vital relations with other men in fact or imagination. (quoted in Michael Frost's Exiles)

Liminal people living in vital relationships for the sake of others, is essential if we are to live life towards greater clarity and understanding and expression, because they allow the future to open up before them as they are willing to live with the uncertainty of thought and activity - passionate people freed to live creatively.

There is another important element to all of this. If we do not live missionally - that is, living out our potential - then we "lose it". Jesus told a story in two ways (Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27) in which one of the characters/servants has taken back what had been invested in him. Even as this servant tries to give back exactly what he'd been given, he finds the reality is that he is giving back less - it has already reduced through lack of use - because it ought to have had some interest on it.

I have been using the phrase missional community but perhaps N T Wright provides a more accurate phrase in messianic community because we are meant to be nothing less than the community of Jesus, the body of Christ, living out the mandate of Jesus in our communities. Jesus knew that the potential we share together is very great indeed, enough to represent him in living the good news - on one occasion Jesus suggested 'all who have faith in me will do even greater things than these,' (referring to his work, John 14:12).

What do you think?