Frequently Asked Questions
We hope the following Q&As will help you to see where we are coming from.
At the bottom are the profiles of some characters we think are present in most churches. In preparing for the course in your setting, you may find it helpful to read about them and think about your own situation.
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Integral mission is a new way to explain a very old concept. It has emerged from the Church in Latin America to describe joined-up or holistic Christian mission that integrates actions and words. ‘Pan integral’ means wholemeal bread, bread with no part of the grain left out. Similarly, integral mission is more than lots of things held together, it communicates the fullness and integrity of mission which leaves nothing out, embracing the fullness of God’s work to restore and redeem the whole of creation. It is a concept very much rooted in the Bible’s insistence that faith and action must go hand in hand. E.g. ‘Faith by itself, if not accompanied with action, is dead’ (James 2:17).
The biblical challenge is to integrate our faith with our actions. We need to talk about mission in an integrated way that draws together the different aspects of the church’s activity rather than drives them apart. One of the greatest debates has been between the importance of ‘proclaiming’ the gospel and ‘demonstrating’ the gospel through actions. We contend that prioritising either at the expense of the other sends mission in an unhealthy and unbiblical direction.
Community mission is the outworking of the theology of integral mission. We use the phrase to describe social activism that is generous and inclusive but is also rooted confidently in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe the Church is at its best as a community of people in mission, who reach and serve their local communities practically through the love of God.
Sometimes it is hard for others to see why and how social justice and
social action are vital to the church’s mission. We can easily become
frustrated or disillusioned when the things we are passionate about are
sidelined and ignored (there is a role-play in session 2 which explores
this very theme!). Perhaps it might be better to use other resources
such as our Why Social Action? Bible study pack or the Evangelical
Alliance’s Square Mile resources? We do hope that the materials on this site helps you promote the course within your church. To run the course as a large group it is obviously vital to have your leader or leadership team fully behind running the course. However, there is also the small group version which might be more appropriate if there is less widespread enthusiasm for the course.
No. Our confidence and faith is in what God has done, is doing and will complete in the future rather than simply on what we can do or achieve. The course does focus on justice and how Christians can live lives in line with God’s passion for the poor and marginalised but we believe that there is nothing more evangelistic (which speaks of the good news of Jesus) than when Christians live lives full of justice, mercy and humility. We believe that in today’s world working for justice is one of the best ways to share our faith in God – especially when we are ready to explain what drives what we do. We hope the course equips people for mission where living out our faith and talking about our faith are integrated. Why not use the course to invite those who are on the margins of the church, who care about justice but are not sure about the Church?
No. Social justice is an issue that is relevant to churches everywhere. Sure the focus might differ in different areas of the UK – but we are finding that churches all over Britain are aware that there are marginalised groups within their communities the church could be engaging with and making a difference for. Also, Just People? is not just about the ‘problem of poverty’ but also ‘the problem of wealth’ – Jesus spoke so many challenging words about how we use the influence that we have. If we are relatively wealthy and powerful, we find the Bible challenges us about how we are using our power to benefit the ‘least of these’ (Matthew 25:40).
It depends on the way it is done. Inevitably there is a danger of tokenism when you do something one-off as part of a course. But this can be minimised by making sure that the project is as helpful as possible, and by some good planning. We suggest a focus on doing something in line with the kinds of work your church is already involved in - e.g. do you have close relationships with a local school or care home already? Do you have a strong relationship with a local charity or a justice group? If you can serve existing relationships and assist the work that you are already doing then it is amazing how much one dedicated day of action can achieve.
Remember that nothing will help the group’s collective learning and reflection more than getting people on their feet doing something. It may not change the world but it will change the whole dynamic of the group’s learning and we guarantee that it will be the most memorable aspect of the course.
Sermons and Bible studies are important aspects of discipleship but there are some things we learn only by getting our hands dirty. Action brings theory to life; the experiences and stories that result deepen our engagement with Scripture and teaching and our connection to the journey of the course. People remember far more about what they do than what they hear or see. The take-away actions in each session are absolutely fundamental to the course and are not optional extras. Course leaders need to establish a culture on the course where the take-away action is viewed as a real priority. The best way you can do this is to show by example and ensure that week 2 includes plenty of time for you and others to share what happened as a result of the action. Hopefully it will be the stories and experiences from others that will do the work for you.
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Meet some friends of ours…
(You’ll meet these characters again in the role play in Session 2 of the Just People? course)
David is a church leader of a medium sized church in a small town with quite a mixed community in terms of wealth. He is interested in community mission generally but is not sure about how popular a theme ‘social justice’ will be with the church. He knows that justice is a big theme in the Bible but he is unsure of how it links into the Christian life and even more unsure of what a church can do about it anyway. On David’s leadership team are four people: Alan, Clare, Ben and Ellen.
Alan believes that the overriding real need people have in Britain (and around the world) is to become Christians. Alan heads up the evangelism team and he is only interested in initiatives that will result in people being ‘saved’; otherwise it is probably a waste of time. Alan was brought up in a poor family, and believes the most important thing is for people to pull themselves up through hard work like he did.
Clare co-ordinates the pastoral teams. She feels increasingly fearful of what is happening in the local neighbourhood. She is fearful of negative influences on her young family. She is not at all sure that the church should reach into the community because it may bring disruption and make the church feel less safe. She feels there is a lot more to do to care for people within the church before we look outside of it.
Ben is concerned to help people because he believes the church should be a place of care and compassion. He enjoyed a privileged upbringing and wants to help people whenever he can. He would love to see the church set up more practical projects to serve the needs of those around him but he gets a bit concerned with all the talk about ‘justice’. To him, it sounds too political and that’s not the church’s role.
Ellen is angry about social injustice both locally and across the world. She feels that many in the church do not care enough about how many people face poverty. Her faith in God is strong but she worries that the church is too much of a comfortable, middle-class club. She likes to quote provocative verses from books like Amos and James to shake people up - she knows she sometimes goes too far and alienates herself from the others, but she wants to stand up for what she believes.
Do any of these characters sound familiar to you? They are all sincere Christians but when they start discussing mission and what the church’s priorities are, they can get into some really heated debate. As a leader, David is often tempted to stick to non-controversial issues where people are more likely to agree.
We want to help all those involved in church leaders develop what we call ‘community mission’ and to help develop a more integrated approach to living out our faith in a way which addresses the concerns of the characters above rather than causing further divisions.
We hope these FAQs have been helpful. If you have a question or an issue that is not reflected here, please email us and we will try to address it, it may be something that others are asking too...
If you would like to speak to someone in a similar church environment or situation where they have successfully run the Just People? course, please call Jill Clark on 020 7452 2018 or email jclark@livability.org.uk and we will try to help.