I’ve been working on developing some rhythms for our church community so that we can live out the mission of God in the everyday “stuff” of life – our eating, drinking, sleeping, going to work life. These rhythms flow out of the simple liturgy we follow each week in our Sunday gatherings.

If we believe that this is God’s world, and God is at work in it, and if we accept the most obvious outcomes of this belief, then we realize that God can be found in the midst in so-called “everyday” life. Eugene Peterson, paraphrasing Peter, sums this sort of posture up well.

Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.

1 Peter 2:11-12 (MSG)

Simply stated, we, as the church, are to be a display people in the everyday stuff of life so that all may see and experience the glory of God and be drawn to him. This attraction to God was never meant to be an event – the church’s Sunday gathering – but the Kingdom of God being displayed in the everyday life of God’s people.

Theologian Tim Chester states that:

Church is not an event. It is a community.
Mission is not an event. It is a lifestyle.
We are called to live ordinary life with Gospel intentionality.

In other words, the forms and activities of that the church equips for and leads her people into must be the stuff of everyday life or the church just becomes another “thing” we attend as we struggle to fit it in and around the rest of our life. If we keep this sort of posture we will be robbed of living the Gospel out in the everyday or will find ourselves living a life packed with church programs which only serve to pull us out of our missionary context.

But we have been called and sent to be the church on mission for God’s glory all the time whenever we gather, wherever we go, and in whatever we do. So in order to see all of life as mission we must find and practice some everyday rhythms. First up is eating together.

Eat

Meals are a daily reminder of our common need for God and his faithful provision. The command Jesus gives in regards to worship is to remember him and his sacrifice for us through a meal. When we eat together, we commune around this truth.

. . . unto God

Whatever we do, whether we eat or drink, we do unto God. Every meal we eat really is a demonstration of the Gospel. We become hungry – a real need. Our need is graciously met by God since whatever we have is from God.

. . . with each other

When we eat together we commune over our common need for God and God’s provision. In doing this, we demonstrate the Gospel to each other week after week. In some ways, we preach the Gospel to each other because every time we gather together as a church community we eat and drink in remembrance of Christ – looking back to the cross and forward to his return.

. . . with unbelievers

A shared meal is very symbolic and communicative. Who we eat with demonstrates who we care for. This is why Jesus regularly shared his meals with those who were considered dirty, unreligious, and visibly or socially unacceptable. The table is one of the most powerful display of God’s love and acceptance of sinners.

Therefore, let us, weekly, eat a meal with those who are not in our immediate family or circle of close friends, discipling them toward of life if dependence on God.

[source]

So what are your thoughts?
What are some of the rhythms of your life? Your church’s life