Defining Missional
An excerpt from a Bob Roberts post.
So what is “missional?” It’s living incarnationally beyond your own culture to the end of the establishment of the Kingdom of God. Your own culture--that’s a given. One step removed--that’s someone of your race but of a different tribe or homogenous unit. Two steps removed--that’s a different ethic in your nation. Three steps removed--that’s a western culture or nation--though different--still has western under-pinning. No doubt, these take a certain amount of stretch to happen. Four steps removed--it’s the least, the farthest, the most different, the other side of the world. This requires loving like God--Jesus coming to the “sick” who were nothing like Him, but He made the connection. This requires the Holy Spirit--the modern missionary to the transformation of the believer and his conformity to God.
posted by Brian at 11:34 AM
7 Comments:
I've debated whether to comment on this post or not... but... I'm not sure I agree with Bob on this. Either that, or I don't like what he said.
When I first read his post see the whole thing here (scroll down to "Missional-Only if You're 4 steps Removed"), it sounded a little arrogant to me. Kind of like, 'I love more people than you love, so God loves me more than he does you.' I doubt that that is what he meant, but it seems to me there is a difference between being "missions-minded" and being "missional."
I think Wikipedia has a decent generic definition of missional click here. And Andrew Jones has an even more indepth definition click here.
One thing Jones brings out is that "The emphasis was put on God's mission rather than ours - we participate with the Triune God in what he is doing." I believe that, while it is possible that God might be leading you or your church community to carry out a part of his mission to another ethnic group on the other side of the world, I believe he leads others to minister in their neighborhood within their own culture - and neither is "better" than the other. Can't BOTH be "missional" in that they are helping to carry out God's mission?
Maybe I just don't understand it correctly. Or, maybe I'm more "cynical" than "missional."
Bob Roberts were certainly agree that both are missional -- community transformation and overseas transformation.
Here is a quick story that caused me pain: Fran Leeman, Eddie Hammond, and I flew to a Glocalnet conference to talk to Bob Roberts about church planting. This would be the third missional component.
Fran told him we wanted to plant churches and wondered what he would suggest. He looked at us and said, "Boys if all you want to do is plant a few churches around Chicago, you're wasting my time. If you really want to do something, go some place really hard in the world and invest yourselves there for the next 20 years, and then you will know what you need to do in Chicago."
It probably sounds arrogant but I read him as passionate. I thought he made a good, but painful point, that I would be a lot more useful to my community and to church planting in general, if I would find myself someplace really hard on a regular basis for the rest of my life. Our church is planning on beginning this commitment by getting involved in a pioneering area of Haiti, flying down two to three times a year.
I have already invested 10 years in Europe and plan to do at least another 10 so that would be my 20 in a very hard place. I welcome anyone who wants to invest time in missions in a post-Christian, post-modern, etc culture to come and work with us in Sweden. Here your world-view will be challenged. You learn very quickly what really matters.
I believe that being "missional" is showing or giving the compassion of Christ to a broken world no matter where you are. That will transform any culture. I like what John Burke wrote in No Perfect People Allowed; "Our secret weapon for reaching people far from God will not be rockin' music, relevant messages, awesome kids programs, or crazy videos ...our secret weapon is you!"
Missional = "Love God, Love People, Serve God, Serve People
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I have been reading/studying The Present Future with 3 different groups so I have been thinking about what missional means. It seems Bob Roberts defines it geographically. Where would Jesus fit in? He only made a few forays across the border--and one time he resisted a foreigner who came to him.
Defining missional geographically perpetuates the mentality I see in some of the CGGC pastors. "If it ain't oversees, it ain't missions."
Can't we be missional right where we are. I see it as developing the same outlook at home that we expect someone to have when the serve oversees--looking for ways to connect with the people and culture instead of finding more ways to get people to come to us.
I have worked cross culturally and I met a lot more people at the gym then I did at a Bible Study at church.
Great comment from vieuxloup. There is a little more to Bob Roberts thinking, but first I'd have to ask if the Apostle Paul was not following Jesus since he spent most of his ministry in foreign lands? I'm not sure the argument holds up that Jesus stayed local so we should stay local.
Which brings me to the deeper issue. The world has become smaller and flatter. At no time in recent history has it become more important that we become a global people, more so for Americans than anyone else. Our future will not be in staying local as a nation, neither economically, politically, or spiritually.
Rereading the original post, I might back up and say "one step removed" from your own culture these days would probably be ministering to someone outside your own home. It feels like most people "live differently" than me. It feels like a culture shock just leaving my house.
I'm just learning. I'm taking my first trip "overseas" this fall, but what I'm starting to suspect is that when I enter a foreign culture, suddenly it is going to become so much clearer what is truly important, when everything I'm comfortable with is gone.
I also think Bob is exaggerating a bit because we as a church (at least my church) are so weak when it comes to global issues. We need a bigger push in this area.
And finally, I do know for a fact that Bob's church really pushes hard to minister to their local community, and I heard him say that he hears people say to him, "You care more about global issues than local issues." Then others say the opposite, "Bob, you care more about local issues than global." It is better than having arguments over pews/chairs.
Another quick thought on global missions. I remember Tony Campolo spoke at a missions conference and I thought he said if I wasn't willing to go overseas I wasn't much of a Christian, if one at all. I was actually able to find him and talk briefly with him. He apologized because he felt he must have miscommunicated.
That being said, I am now feeling an urging to go, but not as a missionary, but more as a church. I'm not trying to set down an either/or. I'm exploring where God is calling me, and certainly calling many others. And does seem that every church ought to have some type of global emphasis in this day and age.
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