My desire is to be part of community life that is both authentic/supportive AND missional. Mike Lyon, of Organic Connection, sent out this email on "Breaking Camp." I thought it was so important that I would quote it here in its entirety:
Every so often, you have to break camp.
I think the act of spiritually "breaking camp" is essential to the health, growth and depth of you and your church.
What do I mean by breaking camp?
In camping it's what you have to do to move on. Any real camper knows the objective is not to stay in one place. It's an adventure, and there is a lot to experience out there. When it's time to move on in the journey, you pack everything, throw out the waste, rearrange your load, and head out to the next destination.
It grieves me to see and hear about Christians who are fruitless or house churches that are struggling because they don't want to, or are afraid to, "break camp." Could it be that some of us don't yet realize that we HAVE TO break camp to follow a moving Jesus?
A couple of weeks ago, I introduced this concept to our church. The reactions ranged from excitement to fear. No matter how much you love the people in your church, someone eventually has to break camp. Sometimes it's gradual; sometimes it's sudden. But without it, eventually you'll implode, dry up, get bored or just become a group of friends.
Let's not forget it should be in the DNA of every church to become a discipleship movement that by itself, given enough time, could reach the entire world.
My house church is amazing. Seasoned, mature and solid. They are really a group of elders. I look at our community and I see the potential of four churches. It's time to break camp. At least that's my opinion. It's up to the Holy Spirit to reveal to the others what that means for them.
I guess I raised a few eyebrows when I brought up the topic, but it was a very good thing. From my experience, if your group has been together for a significant period of time (6 months to a year) without any significant change, it may be time to ask God His plans for you and your church.
I'm convinced of one thing. The church is to be a force of discipleship - growing, reproducing, equipping and releasing...and doing so quickly! Our call is to GO. Apostles and Prophets be faithful in laying the foundation, moving out of the way of the Teachers, Shepherds, and Evangelists to then build His moving church.
Keep moving. Time is short. It's a whole lot more exciting when you're on the move!
