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Key: Create neutral space

What is our greatest opportunity to maximize exposure to Jesus?

We must transition from only building community inside the “four walls of the church” to building transformational communities throughout our neighborhoods and cities. 

Let’s start by defining what we mean by a “transformational community.” A transformational community is a group of people who are learning, building friendships, and serving their city together. But the key to the growth and impact of a transformational community is using neutral space.

If the only invitation to community we offer is to a Christian environment, then we may be missing the majority of the people in our area. It will change depending on the culture, but more often than we may realize, most people in our communities are uncomfortable or unwilling to be in an explicitly Christian environment. Now, as we explored in overflow, Christian environments are necessary for growing deeper relationships with God and with His family, but environments where we sing worship songs, explore Biblical passages, and pray are very challenging for those who are not already familiar with them.

This doesn’t mean we should stop inviting people to join these spiritually-focused environments where people can know and experience God in powerful ways! What it does mean, is we have to intentionally think of what environments maximize our neighborhood and city’s exposure to Jesus. 

A neutral-space environment is where there is no requirement of conversion or uniquely Christian practice in order to participate. Neutral space communities can be some of the best soil to plant the Gospel, but we need to know how to create them.

Think about a painter with a blank canvas. If he is getting ready to start his painting, he actually only needs the three primary colors to paint a magnificent painting. With red, yellow, and blue, he can mix the colors together to form stunning new colors and create a unique work of art. From just three colors, a masterpiece can be painted.

In the same way that there are three primary colors for painting, there are three primary ways to create neutral spaces; learning, building friendships, and serving together. And just like the colors, when these areas are mixed together, we can see God paint a beautiful picture of a transformational community!

Let’s take a look at each of these three areas.

Learning Communities

People all throughout our cities are looking to learn! They are asking questions like, “How can I be a better parent?”, “How can I be a better spouse?”, “What are ways I can better take care of my finances?”, “What are some new job skills I can learn?”.

In church communities, we often create a Christian environment to address these important life questions. Discussing them in a setting of the family of God can be an essential way for us to grow in these areas, but we can also see how people who don’t know Jesus all over our city are also asking similar questions. Learning together in a neutral space is an opportunity that people are already searching for. 

As we are growing with people in our Jerusalems, Judea, and Samaria, let’s look for common desires to learn that can shape learning communities.

Friendship Communities

I’m sure you’ve heard someone say something to the effect of, “We are more connected than ever before, but at the same time more disconnected from each other personally.” Especially in life after a global pandemic, people in our cities are rediscovering how to have in-person communities of friends.

We have the opportunity to facilitate space for people to connect in a meaningful way, but with no agenda. Hosting a group that simply grabs coffee after work every Wednesday or plays basketball on Saturdays or gets together to cook, watch a movie, or exercise regularly is exactly what people in our cities are looking for. Authentic friendships with no agenda but connection.

As we build deeper relationships with people in our local communities, let’s pay attention to interesting ways in which we can form friendship communities.

Serving Communities

We all want to make a difference. In our cities, people can easily identify that there is brokenness. Everything isn’t “as it should be.” Whether we know Jesus or don’t, we all want to see our communities be safe, connected, and healthy places to live. This is a huge opportunity to build community.

As we invite people from our Jerusalems, Judea, and Samaria to serve together, we discover special bonds and experiences that only come from participating in something bigger than ourselves. As they say at Serve the City, “Many people doing small things together, can make a big difference!” Caring for those in need is not only an opportunity to sow into the lives of those we’re serving, but also to shine our light to those we’re serving with.

As we get to know what is important to the people in our cities, let’s form serving communities where we can make a difference together.

Communities of learning, friendships, and serving are huge opportunities to invite people from our Jerusalems, Judea, and Samaria to be part of something bigger together! Then, just as the painter does with the three primary colors, we must pay attention to how we can start mixing these three areas of community together. Maybe the people we grab coffee with each week would like to go and volunteer together. Maybe those we’re connecting with while we serve are also interested in learning a new skill together. Seeing these three areas of community uniquely mix together is again, what we call a transformational community. 

In transformational communities, our neighbors are witnessing our faith in action. Especially for those who are uncomfortable being in an explicitly Christian environment, transformational communities can be our best opportunities to maximize exposure to Jesus!

Think of the parable of the sower. The farmer throws seeds on the path, rocks, and thorns along with the good soil. In this story, Jesus was primarily making a point about how people respond to God’s word in their lives. But imagine the next time the farmer were to go out to scatter seeds, he first prepared his land and created a garden of good soil. What if he cleared out the thorns and rocks? Then, looking at strategically prepared, good soil, he sowed the seeds. 

This may be a different way to think about the parable, but it can also be an important reminder of the seriousness of the mission. If we’re not intentionally cultivating good soil, we can just be tossing the seeds all over the place like the path, rocks, and thorns and still feel like we did our job because we shared the message. But if we’re talking about the people we care most about in our lives like our family or close friends, there’s no way we would be ok with a casual, one-time effort. Rather, let’s put as much thought and initiative as we can into creating the best soil for the Gospel. Transformational communities are long-term, relational, growing, authentic, action-oriented gardens to plant God’s word.