Of Matrix Movies, Missional Moves and Munchies...

If you've seen The Matrix trilogy, you will no doubt recall the creepy looking Sentinels that plague the groups of human freedom fighters throughout the series.  They are the sort of "bug + octopus" looking robots sent to destroy human ships, fortifications and centers of activity, and, to quote the film, they are "... exceedingly good at it."

Armed with multiple mechanical arms, thermal lasers, exceptional speed and strength and intelligence, a single Sentinel can make short work of just about any enemy. But that’s not the real reason that they’re scary. They’re scary because it’s never “just one Sentinel”. They hunt in groups, forming swarms and billowing clouds of metal and energy that coalesce into singular forces operating in unison that are simply more than even the best of the human resistance can really expect to defeat. In the third film of the series (Matrix Revolutions), more than a quarter-million of these mechanical beasts launch an all-out assault on Zion, the last human city, and even while remembering that the film is largely just actors and cgi images, the Sentinels are a thing of awe-inspiring panic as they overrun the rag-tag human resistance forces who are absolutely ill-equipped to deal with that kind of massively coordinated collective assault. 

Ironically, this same idea is the kind of thing we’re trying to cultivate here at GCC over the next couple of years as we look to combine both Centralized and Decentralized expressions of our life together into impact within our community and around the world. Except… you know… as advancers of the Kingdom of God and purveyors of Light and Hope (and not the final guarantors of Mankind’s destruction like the Sentinels). We are seeking to be individual lives and families that are formidable forces for the Kingdom of God in our homes, our schools and neighborhoods, our workplaces and our recreational activities. On our own, we are infiltrating every domain of society in order to shine the Light and Hope of a Savior who believes that Darkness and Evil have no place in His Kingdom. But we are also seeking to join ourselves together into a mass of like-minded individuals who function as Missional Communities, Essential Churches, Ongoing Ministry Teams, Short-term projects, Access Events and even all of the church together (and other churches around us) as a whole in some instances.  As such, we will be content with nothing short of every soul living On Mission and together forming a Force to be reckoned with in our community and our world.

On April 11th, Rob Wegner and i will have the privilege of addressing area pastors and business friends personally through the Aspen Group for a lunch where we'll get to talk about the kinds of things mentioned above. If you're interested in attending, you can sign up here to grab a spot. You'll get a copy of Missional Moves in the process, and some tasty food as well!