As followers of Jesus seek God's renewal of the neighborhoods they inhabit, as they begin to discern how to be the church together in everyday life, it's inevitable that myths will arise. Here are five myths I've already discovered about this type of ministry.

#1. That the gathering doesn't matter
You've likely heard this phrase many times: "We need to BE the church, not just attend the church." I couldn't agree more. When we talk about "going to church," we reconfigure the church into something we either produce or consume. So it's easy to overcorrect by assuming that the weekly gathering or liturgy doesn't actually matter. That's a grave mistake. The truth is, the more deeply embedded a community is in their context, the more important it becomes to remember, to reflect, and to discern together the Story of God.

#2. That it's small Last summer I visited neighborhoods in over 35 cities around North America, and then a few cities in England. In each and every neighborhood, I saw courageous, ...