What is Missional Church?
16 04 2007Yesterday, I was doing the second talk in a new series “Thinking Missionally”. It would be too long to do in one post, so I will do so it in several parts. Part 1 today …
What is Missional Church?
Is missional church just a new fad in the church? Is it another way of describing evangelism, just because we don’t like the “e-word”? Or is this a fundamental shift that God is bringing to the church in the way we see our mission?
Before I launch in let me state clearly a few things:
- I do believe that we need to look at our (God’s) mission in light of Scripture. We need to allow the grand story of God to shape our missiology. But let me also say: I think we have often so narrowed the gospel to make it something that Jesus never intended it to be.
- I do believe the greatest thing for every human is to connect with Jesus - the God who created the earth and the universe, who made us, and knows us. What a privilege! I just don’t like all the ways we have gone about achieving that (our methodology) in the evangelical world.
- I do believe the only way any human being can have access to God is because of Jesus … his birth, life, teaching, death and resurrection. This Christ event does stand at the epoch of human history.
- I do believe in sin … I personally prefer to call it selfishness, as I think that is more meaningful to most people, and is closer to real meaning of the word sin that we read in Scripture. It means we are self-centred; we know best; we want; we live for ourselves. It is part of the human condition. And it stops us moving towards God … by definition, how can we move towards God when we are ultimately focused on ME.
For me, missional church isn’t a new way of packaging evangelism. If we think we can carry on doing what we have always done, and call it missional, I think we have missed the point entirely. That doesn’t mean we ditch everything … but I do think it means we need to reassess what we do in light of an understanding of “Missio Dei” and missional church.
Understanding Missional Church starts with understanding God’s mission (Missio Dei). Right from Genesis 1 & 2, God is on a mission: a mission to create men and women to be fruitful, to rule or govern, to have a contribution, to care and tend the earth. I think you could sum this by saying that the mandate given to human beings was to be God’s ambassadors on Planet Earth. And this is before sin even came into the world! To narrow God’s mission to the rescue of human beings, guaranteeing them a place in heaven, in my opinion, ignores much of the wider scope of the Biblical narrative.
Evil and Sin are real aspects of the human condition. And they do stop us fulfilling God’s mandate. But dealing with sin is NOT the end of God’s ambition … but restoring humanity and creation to His original intent.
To further His mission, the Father sent the Son. It is whole scope of the Christ event that furthers the mission of the Father: the incarnation, the life, the teaching, and yes the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus declares his mission from Isa 61 … which if we take in context of the whole chapter is about restoration. It is about setting people free, healing, binding up, release … but to rebuild, to restore, to renew (vs 6).
And so after the Christ event, the Father and the Son send the Spirit; and The Father, The Son and The Spirit sends the church, to be involved in what God is already doing. He is already working to bring restoration, and He invites us to be involved.
Here are a couple of images that show the difference between traditional church and missional church, from Brian McLaren’s book, Generous Orthodoxy:
Although these diagrams don’t completely depict the Missio Dei concept (where would you place God in these images?), the Missional Church diagram below does show the difference of our place in the grand scheme:
So what is our job?
Perhaps before I post some of my thoughts on that … how about we have a bit of discussion on this. What is God’s responsibility? What is ours?
And what do you make of my understanding of God’s mission?
Tags: Evangelism, Missional Church, Missio Dei, Brian McLaren, Generous Orthodoxy
First of all, thanks for preaching on this topic. Its good to get some church-wide discussion going on this. One point on the actual preach — I think it would be really good to offer a Q&A time immediately after the talk, especially if its new material, controversial, complex, etc. I’m sure there were lots of questions…
Regarding the diagrams, I have to admit I don’t really understand them. Can you provide some more commentary?
What I said during the service regarding the meaning of missional church kinda sums up my understanding at the moment: we need to be missionaries to our own culture, and even sub-cultures. This missional approach needs to extend not only to our evangelism (our communication of the gospel), but to the way we do church. In other words, we need to have a theology and a practice like this:
christiology -> missiology -> eclessiology
I don’t know where I came across the above, but it sums up what I’ve been trying to say for years.
What is God’s responsibility? Well, I guess it is to draw people to him, to convict them of sin, and to bring them into his church/people. That’s a start, I’m sure we could add to this.
What is our responsibility? Making disciples is a start. Again, lots we could add.
Some good stuff on this topic here, at Open Source Theology, with input from the Stuart Murray Williams and N T Wright. I like this:
Stuart Murray talks about three principles to work with for ‘thinking theologically’ about mission. If I remember rightly (it’s a little while since I read it!) they are…
1. Missio Dei - the missionary works of God
2. Incarnation
3. Kingdom of God
As I understand that, in essence…
1. the mode of mission is working for the ends that God intends (cf. ‘Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does.’ John 10:37);
2. the means of mission is eschatological and corporeal simultaneously - that which is of the world to come is instantiated in the world that is by the people of God as ‘little Christs’ and especially as disciples of Jesus of Nazareth;
3. and the mindset of mission is about extending the Kingdom of God (in its Wright-esque sense, with a lovely eschatological twist) to the world with generosity and justice (i.e. putting things right) - the emphasis maybe being more towards offering life before death, being and telling true good news to the poor and the marginalised, than life after death.
Good comments once again. You are right about questions at the end, especially as a talk that was designed to get us to think rather than “respond” there and then. I was a bit worried about the time, which was the only reason i didn’t do so.
Good point about the diagrams … i think i’ll post something separate. They were a bit of an after thought and weren’t explained well.
I have heard steve chalke talk about the christology, missiology, ecclesiology progression you are talking about (but i guess others have been saying it too) … and i think it is good and right.
I love the quote too … especially about life before death … that is something i have been thinking about recently, and i think is very much lacking in our traditional gospel message, where the emphasis is more on salvation from hell, to heaven.
I maybe wrong here, but i sense that God is broadening our view of the gospel … we are searching the scripture afresh to find what we have missed of the gospel in our modern mindset, and we need to recapture in our postmodern culture (i wonder if that is what NT Wright is alluding to in the link?). I find that tremendously exciting. What do you think?
Some more material relevant to this topic:
An interview with N T Wright on post-modern evangelism and mission, and how they cannot be separated.
TallSkinnyKiwi: what comes first: mission or theology?
Also another quote from Wright which I am trying to unpack in my mind: “What Jesus was for Israel, the Church is for the World”.
How do you understand the quote from Wright?
well that’sa fun topic to ease back into blogging with
I think you are right to widen out the mission of God to more than just dealing with sin and/or getting us to heaven - they are great parts of the story but only parts - and indeed can sound awefully selfish/self centred/focussed in a i’m ok sort of way. I find it usegul to thinkthat we are not chosen by God for a priviledged destination that our neighbours can’t get too but for service in order to help our neighbours by being helped by God.
I like the way that you go back to Genesis and the desire of God to have a people in his image, who are created to tend and serve creation - that even God is holding creation back until we are ready to resume that role a la Romans 8. That the mission of God is as much about restoring our humanity, about reconnecting us as the people of God, image-bearers, God idol’s, kingdom subjects etc. That God has been on a mission to call that people into being and will not rest until he has done so. That God came as man to show us this humanity and to restore and reconnect us through the way of Jesus, the way of obedenience to the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit - a life that is other centred, loving, serving and a death and resurection that provides hope that our humanity that is broken will be made new and what a great body we’ll have when we get our life fully back…
In terms of responsibility - i think we need to be aware that God reveals himself and sweeps down to us and lifts us up to him - that self revelation is key. I think we however have the responsibility to be a witness to that act of revelation as it impacts on our own lives and as we are changed and transformed by God in his image to be more generous, gracious, loving, serving, giving etc. To make ourselves available and to share the blessing as we are blessed.
I think missional could maybe could be called intentional life…
Yes Paul … so often i have heard it said that after we are saved, the only reason we are around on earth, it to see other people saved … but i think it is so much more than that - and i love the way you express that.
I think i agree with you about intentional life, but i guess i wonder:
intentional about what?
Could you unpack that a bit more?
I suppose i am thinking that there are many folks who would see themselves being intentional, but perhaps aren’t missional? What do you think?
Thanks Rupert. I think we have ended up with our brand of gnostic escapism where it’s about bailing out to heaven and getting souls there rather than to hell - forgetting about bodily resurection and heaven coming to earth rather than gettig a better cloud or more harp time in front of the throne - but i know i’m preaching to the choir at this point
I think in my point about intentional life i am trying to get away from the notion of right belief - i think we often can subscribe to what we think is the right way of believing but that has little impact on our actions - so we subcribe to advocatig a missional life, read books and blogs on being missional, think great thoughts about how to define it and do it and then never do anything missional.
Worse is having a pop at those people who are not missional like me but who probably have done more missional stuff than i ever have - but that’s a different hobby horse of mine that i won’t ride off on now
When i say that i am not having a pop anyone other than myself - but somehow i can fool myself into subscribig to the idealogy of missional but not have a do-logy
So by intentional i am trying to get to the point of doing - i don’t really care what label we slap on it or underpin it with, more than we are living life intentionally so we get involved, make time for, love and serve those around us - i think John Wimber used to talk about people being naturally supernatural and i guess i am talking us being naturally intentional in the same sort of way. Or to ground it in practice during the 40 days of faith i have been praying for a number of people everyday and looking for opportunities to get involved in their life, meet with them, connect and hoping that in doing so God will be their pervading that space too - i have been intentional in choosing them and intentional in commiting myself to them.
Does that help explain where i was coming from?
or put it another way, I don’t think Jesus will ask the Q were you missional but did you intentionally use what i blessed you with to bless others…
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