At it’s core, I envision RadicalNow! as a Community of Practice. But what is a Community of Practice?

RadicalNow! is an online extension of a community of people that’s been gathering for a few years. Together, we’ve planted churches, created schools. launched businesses, built organizations, and grown families. We’re pretty diverse, but what unites us all is our real and practical pursuit of the Kingdom of God. That’s means we’re united not by rhetoric but by practice — by who we are demonstrated in what we do. Do you feel like you need a community of people like that — more than a string of endless meetings, a sequence of mediocre events, or a repetition of meaningless hang-outs? A crew that knows you, builds with you, supports you, and holds you accountable to living out your unique calling in Christ and actual effective obedience? Sounds like a dream right?

There’s Community, Then There’s Community of Practice.

When people say “community”, they can mean a lot of things. For some, it’s a group that shares values, culture, or a cause: the BIPOC community, for example. It could simply be the people we live around: I live in the Port Jervis community. Some might mean a group connected by interests or consumption: My son considers himself part of the gaming community.

The broad use of the term means we often have to ask, “what do you mean by ‘your community'”? Well, my definition starts with the teachings of Jesus:

His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent to him, calling him.  A multitude was sitting around him, and they told him, “Behold, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside looking for you.”

He answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”  Looking around at those who sat around him, he said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God is my brother, my sister, and mother.”

Mark 3:31-35 WEB

Community, according to Jesus, is a family defined by those who unite on execution of God’s will. It’s not blood. It’s not need or interest. It’s not culture. And it’s not just sitting around talking about it. Jesus defines community as a “community of practice” — a group of people who are united in obedient action to God’s will.

There have been several people who have articulated ideas about community that help me align to what Jesus is talking about:

Wendell Berry, a luminary writing about society, ecology, and place, defines community as a people who share affection, care, responsibility, and discipline as they care for each other and a specific place. This adds up to loving and belonging to a place as a cause — a shared origin and purpose. This is very different from a public — a group built on transaction that exists to promote abstract ideals and the individual interests of it’s members. According to Berry, publics are in danger of replacing communities in much of our lives as abstract goals like “progress” and “growth” replace concrete realities related to true care and localized thriving.

Missiologist Alan Hirsch borrowed a Latin term from anthropology circles — “communitas” — to advocate breaking away from the usual definition of community for a more adventurous comradery that forges deep identity and interdependent connection in the face of the uncertainty and labor of a joint mission. For Hirsch, a community can be static and maintenance-oriented. But communitas is going somewhere and doing something.

Not long after the explosion of YouTube, Kansas State Anthropology Professor Michael Wesch published his seminal “An anthropological introduction to YouTube” (now +2.1 million views). I remember watching it at the time and thinking how true it was. Mesch speaks about the inherent tension modern humans live in: in a world were we are increasingly individuals and individualistic — getting exactly what each on wants in any moment — we deeply crave the connection of community. The problem with that connection is that it comes with constraints — they other person can make a claim on us, expect something from us, or disapprove or reject us. One key thing social media technologies give us is “connection without constraint“. While Wesch had no idea at the time the human devastation and mental health epidemic this would give us, he accurately described how this technology has radically altered the rooted and accountable nature of true community.

All these concepts inform my understanding of “community of practice”. While I agree, its “a group of people who ‘share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly‘”, I also add in the idea of affection and responsibility for people and places and the adventurous comradery of the spiritual life-and-death struggle inherent in the Gospel. This helps me flesh out the reality of serious discipleship Jesus is talking about. His family will do his Father’s will — they will care and build each other as they work deeply to accomplish his mission for this planet. Not some of them. All of them.

How Is RadicalNow! Going to Be a Community of Practice?

Good question. I realize it’s a website and an App. But I realized how much I was using social media to connect to my existing community of practice when we weren’t in person. I kept thinking to myself, “what if we could do this in a space we design, with our rules — and without all the mess and distraction of big social media.”

“If only I knew someone who God had taught about creating private social networks. Wait a sec! That’s me!”

But one thing I learned from my old life in the Tech industry:

Technology doesn’t create community. People do.

So then the next thing I thought was, “What if my people created this to multiply Jesus-powered communities of practice — groups who connect for constraint; to bind their individualism into service to Christ so we can be woven into the life of our Father and each other as we’re meant to be?”

How would we do that. We’ll things may change, but here’s my current plan:

Ok, How Do I Join?

There are two ways you can be involved in RadicalNow! right now. (1) You can create an account as our website and App get underway and help us build this online community. (2) If you’re not quite ready for that, but you’d like to stay tuned to what we’re doing, you can join our email list below to get updates (about once a week).