MY GREATEST MISSIONAL COMMUNITY CHALLENGE: The Desire for Convenience

When thinking about challenges facing a leader of a missional community, it’s like being a magician asking an audience member to “pick a card…any card.” Unfortunately for those with a missional community mindset, there are more than 52 challenges to choose from. To narrow it down to the greatest challenge is a challenge in and of itself, but here it goes:

The greatest challenge facing our missional community is the desire for convenience.

Like a slow leak from a faucet, it drips and drips until it overflows, leaving everyone to wonder what happened and how it happened.

I hate to admit it but I like convenience. I like things neat and tidy (except for my desk). I prefer to compartmentalize my life; family time, office time, prayer time, TV time...you get the idea. So here’s the problem: when you are building and facilitating a missional community, it’s inconvenient and terribly messy.

I launched Cast Member Church at Walt Disney World with the idea of a clean model for a really cool church. Disney was known for its excellence—bordering on perfection—so why not do the same thing with a church? With 25 years of full-time ministry experience, clean and convenient was all I ever knew.

God revealed the church He wanted at Walt Disney World was to be rooted in the missional community paradigm. With that revelation, my desire for “clean and convenient” was disqualified, by none other than God Himself. Unfortunately, I didn’t surrender that desire willingly and I still often struggle with the temptation to look for the “quick and easy.” The funny thing is I never find it.

This desire for “quick and easy” can drip in our communities.

I have found that when you share the vision of a missional community…

Everyone loves the idea.
Everyone loves the idea of making disciples.
Everyone loves the idea of living their faith in the open.
Everyone loves the idea of living life as a community.

Do you recognize a pattern?

Everyone loves the idea of something until it means adapting, changing, compromising, improvising, or—dare I say it—be inconvenienced.

This happened over and over again in Cast Member Church. People would contact us wanting to be a part of our efforts. We would be open and honest about what was required to engage and disciple Disney Cast Members. No one ever voiced an objection.

Here’s the thing: Disney Cast Members work for a company that never closes. Work schedules are all over the place. Walt Disney World is always changing. Add to that a culture that is filled with lives that are shattered and off the rails. If you are going to build a community in this kind of environment, you are going to be terribly inconvenienced.

You meet at times when you’d rather be in bed.
You have people in your home all the time.
You answer phone calls and texts in the middle of the night.

As a missional community leader yourself, you could add much more to this list.

Being a part of a missional community is not for the faint of heart or the preservers of convenience. We have to be willing to get into the mud and muck of life with those we are trying to reach. Few are cut out for it, especially if they come from a clean and convenient church background.

Over the course of time, we have lost several leaders who simply couldn’t surrender their personal preferences and conveniences. It doesn’t bother me now as it did early on. A missional community requires leadership that is willing to surrender whatever it takes for the sake of the Gospel and the Great Commission. Once you find people who are willing to do so, it’s A-MAZ-ING… and well worth the struggle to get there. I’ll get back to that part at the end of this post.

The desire for convenience is rampant throughout our mission field.

I have no doubt that it runs through yours as well. We are constantly being bombarded with the mindset of “convenient, quick, and easy.”

Our world is looking for simple solutions to complicated problems. The idea of surrendering your personal agenda (not to mention your life) to Jesus is not an attractive process. Inviting those around us into a messy way of life—at least on the surface—is challenging for them. That’s why Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me.”

So here’s how we face the challenge of the desire for convenience:

We communicate (and model) the importance of commitment to Jesus and to each other.

Living for Jesus is not just a priority; He should consume every aspect of our lives. There is no greater joy than following Jesus wherever AND whenever He leads. We, as leaders must be willing to not only talk about it but also demonstrating what it looks like. As I have said to my leaders, “being inconvenienced by Jesus has led to some of the most miraculous moments I have ever seen.” Commitment can be contagious when lived out with joy and anticipation.

We confess our own battles with commitment.

As I stated earlier, I continue to battle the temptation to seek convenience. I’m no different from any other person I serve or serve with. Admitting it to each other gives us the room to encourage and challenge as we live out this beautiful mission we have been given. None of us can be a perfect example—far from it—but we can be honest, living examples.

We celebrate the fruit of commitment.

If you have ever been on a sports team, played in a band, or worked on a group project, you understand what this means. Win or lose, there is a sense of having been through it together. There is a bond that cannot be broken. The fruit of commitment is FAMILY. Families laugh, cry, fight, celebrate, and ultimately endure together. They face the world as ONE. No bond is greater…especially when Jesus is at the heart of it all.

And THAT is incredibly appealing to a world drowning in convenience.

Here’s a closing thought:

The desire for convenience has given us the fast-food meal that comes in cardboard and styrofoam. Is it quick and easy? Yes. But it can never replace the home cooked meal that is lovingly prepared from scratch. That takes time. It takes commitment. But nothing tastes better. The world around us is built upon the quick and the easy, but deep down it knows there must be something more. When those around us see a family surrendered and committed to a cause (Jesus), to each other (the Church), and to serving the world around us (our mission), they are going to be curious. It’s up to us to reward them for their curiosity.

And I would say that Jesus can satisfy that curiosity better than any convenience ever could.