Taking Third Place

[Trey Finley]

David Frost, in his book The Shaping of Things to Come, talks about proximity. That's a big fancy word for this question: "Who do you spend your time with?"

So, I give that question to each of you who contribute to this discussion: Do you have friends who are not Christians, and if so, where? Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to think beyond your home and workplace to a THIRD PLACE where you may interact with people who are non-believers.

On June 24th, I'll be at High Pointe Church of Christ in McKinney to discuss with participants in that church the places where we find ourselves interacting with non-believers. And fair warning--I'll be using the results from this discussion! :)

[Trey Finley]

It's only fair that I start things off--my third place is my church family. The closest thing to an ongoing relationship I have with a non-believer is with our neighbors, who are very vocal agnostics.

[Lynn S. Nored]

My wife and I have the following third places that we frequent: Collin County Bee Association; Collin County Jail ( Martha)--while she is there, I am frequently at Panera Bread or Starbucks; some with neighbors

[Chris Walker]

Steve Pate brings up this idea in his book Evangelism Where You Live: Engaging Your Community.

I used to think church needed to be the third space, but I've moved beyond that. When I worked outside of the home, Starbucks and similar places were my third place. Where I am now, I don't have that luxury.

I still minister in a context where there are church meetings of some kind still 4 nights a week -- it's a cultural expectation (church culture that is). I read a paper where "If we want to be the church God calls us to be we need to have Sunday morning, sunday night, fasting service, prayer meeting, bible institute and friday night power services. We don't need church 'lite.' Ugh.

So I break those expectations and still only attend Sunday mornings.

Where do I have non-Christian relationships -- neighbors, clients, customers in my business, and friendly competitors in my industry. These are people that I meet with, we do life as we do business together. . .

Chris.

[Trey Finley]

Lynn and Chris,

Thanks for sharing. I'd be curious to hear stories about specific individuals you engage with in your "third places." For example, our neighbors and I share gardening and yard tips with one another, and our kids swim in their pool from time to time.

[Chris Campbell]

Having school-aged children that are involved in a variety of sports, Robin and I get plenty of opportunities to engage non-Christians in the theatre of youth sports. While we're both ultra-competitive and LOVE to win...we are also mindful of the example we are setting for the kids and for their parents.

[Lance Caughfield]

I, and about 12 million other folks, play a game called World of Warcraft. I also use facebook several hours a week to chat and keep in touch with friends. I think increasingly these "virtual" places are becoming true "third spaces." In fact there was a recent article about Warcraft fitting that bill quite nicely for some folks - http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10161861-62.html. Our culture is very cynical when it comes to new relationships. Increasingly, teens (and some adults) isolate themselves by immersion in these virtual places. Games and social networks are "safe" enough that they can sometimes drop the act and engage on a level of honesty that they might not engage in face-to-face. I've actually had long conversations with teens about their relationships with their fathers, problems at school, relationship blowups, and so on, and have been able to share Christ by doing so, all without ever meeting any one of them. It's a very fertile mission field.

[James Nored]

Lance, this is great stuff. You've given us good insight into our culture. I recently wrote a D.Min. paper on using online social networking for outreach which I will publish here soon. I had not considered World of Warcraft. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!

Lance Caughfield said:

I, and about 12 million other folks, play a game called World of Warcraft. I also use facebook several hours a week to chat and keep in touch with friends. I think increasingly these "virtual" places are becoming true "third spaces." In fact there was a recent article about Warcraft fitting that bill quite nicely for some folks - http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10161861-62.html. Our culture is very cynical when it comes to new relationships. Increasingly, teens (and some adults) isolate themselves by immersion in these virtual places. Games and social networks are "safe" enough that they can sometimes drop the act and engage on a level of honesty that they might not engage in face-to-face. I've actually had long conversations with teens about their relationships with their fathers, problems at school, relationship blowups, and so on, and have been able to share Christ by doing so, all without ever meeting any one of them. It's a very fertile mission field.

[Trey Finley]

Great stuff, Lance. Maybe I can use that to convince Marla to get me a PS3. :)

In all seriousness, your thoughtful response is appreciated. Perhaps we'll have an opportunity to get together for lunch sometime.

Blessings, my friend.

[Amziah Christman]

This is Amziah Christman.I am responsible for the direction of small groups at the Northeast Church in Oklahoma City. I have been following the idea of "missional" work for some time and have been trying to bring this orientation to our members who are not as challenged sometimes to think beyond ourselves concerning these other Biblical approaches; if you know what I mean.

We are in the process of re-focusing our cell groups and one of the tools of thinking is, becoming more missional minded. I know that God is doing things in the world that is bigger than our scope. Thus, " the third place." I know that we are in and out of thse places all the time, but many times not to get connected with the Lord's target group, "un-churched people." I agree with many of you that our presence in these various gathering spaces allow a great opportunity for expanding the walls of the Kingdom. I want to say that this is exactly what we must do in view of God's greater mission.

Pray for our cell groups that they will hear what the Lord is saying through me and others and start doing what He has been doing from the inception of the "Church." I will try to stay posted and engaged as much as I can.

P.S. Is Cyber-church doable?(can it be acceptable to Christ)

[James Nored]

Brother Christman, thank you for sharing where you are with your small groups. This online community is here to help support and encourage one another. We are also here to pray, and we will pray for your small groups. There is also a prayer group on this site.

Just by taking what we normally do out in the public sphere, we can increase our reach to the unchurched. Last Wed night our church went out and had picnics throughout the area. We had non-Christians join these fellowships--which never would have happened if we had stayed inside our walls.

I'll have to get back with you on the cyber-church question. A great question for today.

[James Nored]

Trey, we are looking forward to you coming to High Pointe tomorrow! We'll start out by singing a few songs, I'll introduce you, and then the time will be yours. So you will have about 45 minutes. See you soon!

[Rhonda Peterson]

The biggest third place in which I have been involved over the past four years is our local Farmer's Market. I am on the team that organizes it for our local Chamber of Commerce. It gives me great opportunities to connect with a wide variety of people; fellow team members, vendors selling their goods and customers of the market.