Avengers Assemble!!

Being a proud super-geek, I've been tracking the progress of the Marvel super-heroes movie series that led up to the recent Avengers Assemble movie with an avid interest bordering on mild obsession. Ever since that first tantalising post-credits clip of Nick Fury inviting Tony Stark to join the top secret S.H.I.E.L.D. initiative in Iron Man (2008), my spidey sense tingled every time a potential Avenger was given license for the silver screen. I waited excitedly to see who would be in the starting lineup, and as The Incredible Hulk, Captain America and Thor were each introduced to the non-geek public, I have to say I was not disappointed. With Hawk Eye and The Black Widow making the final selection (there were apparently some injury doubts, hence they didn't get their own films) it was a strong team (although personally I would have kept Hawkeye on the bench and put Vision on for some extra attacking power up front - you geeks know what I'm saying).

But what on earth (or Asgard) has this got to do with new monastic bar communities?? Well, at this stage in the journey we have a venue, we have a strong vision that is catching, we have lots of support from people who think it's a great idea, we have examples of other places where similar visions are actually working, but what we DO NOT yet have is....a team. I am feeling decidedly Nick Fury-esque as I search for folk who God is calling to form the core group of this emerging community, who own its values and vision, who will commit to serving Christ in this context. Incidentally this is not a bad place to be, even Jesus went through the stage of calling together his team (although, to be honest, I'm not sure the dozen plonkers he found could be classed as anything approaching superheroes).

However, this does raise for me a number of questions. For example, where should the team come from? Should it comprise of people who are already following Jesus, in other words the wider church? There are problems inherent in that, especially the issue of 'all being on the same page'. Folk who have been in the church for a long time have preconceptions about what a faith-community should be, which in the long run could become agendas that derail the community's identity. What about church leavers, those folk who are fed up with traditional church so are looking for something different? Problem here is the community could become a 'home for the terminally disaffected with church', which again sets a tone that could pervert the vision. Should I even be looking for a team at all, or simply waiting for God to send the right people my way through the cheesily termed 'God-appointment' philosophy (shudder)?

Or maybe I'm worrying too much. After all, going back to JC's approach, he began with a bunch of folk who each were messed up in their own special way, but were transformed as they journeyed together with The Master. It's always a good principle to do things as Jesus did them.

I'm off to the nearest lake to find some fishermen.