The “third place” is a place where we go to find community outside of our home and workplace. Home is the first place, our work is the second place, (fill in the blank) ________ is our third place. It’s culture seems steeply rooted in Starbucks because that is exactly what Starbucks set out to create and where a lot of us spend time away from home and work. It’s of particular interest to Christians that seek a place to engage those that do not share our faith. So, I was interested to see a post on JR Woodward’s blog that described the third place as an English pub. It was actually a guest post by Mark Steffey, but it was something that I feel will cause Christians to be divided again. It’s definitely a polarizing issue. The main question here is should Christians engage the culture and relate to those of the world by meeting up with them and sharing their faith (and life in-general) while sharing drinks at the local bar? What if it was a pastor that did this? Oh boy, I could see the headlines now! Quoting from the book The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church, Steffey goes on to make the point that it allows Christians to be relevant and to be the light of Christ in what is generally a very dark place in the world:
Frost and Hirsch express the kind of interaction that must take place in our culture if we are to impact people with the truth and hope of the Gospel, “The missional church is incarnational, not attractional, in its ecclesiology. By incarnational we mean it does not create sanctified spaces into which unbelievers must come to encounter the gospel. Rather, the missional church disassembles itself and seeps into the cracks and crevices of a society in order to be Christ to those who don’t yet know him”
Not only that, but the reason cited in the book for this approach of seeking a bar as our third place is this:
One the most common of “third places” for many people is a bar or pub. Subsequently, Christians should consider how they might frequent such establishments as a “missional outpost.” Frost says, “Two of the core ingredients that make third places fertile for mission are food and alcohol. Although it makes many conservative Christians uncomfortable, it’s a fact that many not-yet-Christians really open up about important issues over a meal and few drinks
What do you think about that? I would appreciate seeing some of your comments on this!
Related posts:
- Perry Noble on engaging those outside of the church
- Do you know missional? Would you like to?
- Is Missional the same as Emergent?
- Third Culture
- Is diversity a taboo subject within the church?
Tags: alan hirsch, jr woodward, mark steffey, michael frost, third place
I have written a paper on this very subject. It dealt mainly with the Journey Church in St. Loius MO which holds a theological discussion in a bar. I would love to be able to attach it in an email to you. So feel free to contact me through my email address above and I will attach it for you.