Being missional...
Just started reading Dan Kimball's They Like Jesus But Not The Church. He has a list of what it means to be MISSIONAL on p. 20:
- Being missional means that the church sees itself as being missionaries, rather than having a missions department, and that we see ourselves as missionaries right where we live.
- Being missional means that we see ourselves as representatives of Jesus "sent" into our communities, and that the church aligns everything it does with the missio dei (mission of God).
- Being missional means we see the church not as a place we go only on Sunday, but as something we are throughout the week.
- Being missional means that we understand we don't "bring Jesus" to people but that we realize Jesus is active in culture and we join him in what he is doing.
- Being missional means we are very much in the world and engaged in culture but we are not conforming to the world.
- Being missional means we serve our communities, and that we build relationships with the people in them, rather than seeing them as evangelistic targets.
- Being missional means being all the more dependent on Jesus and the Spirit through prayer, the Scriptures, and each other in community.
posted by dan at 3:15 PM
5 Comments:
Glenn Smith consulted with the General Conference on the future of Church Planting this week in Findlay, OH. It was a great meeting and I plan on making a post about it as time allows (but not today).
He gave this tidbit about the recent history of the church and being missional.
In the 70's, the mantra was "Every member invite."
In the 80's, the mantra was "Every member is a minister."
Today, the mantra is "Every member is a missionary."
I noted that Rick Warren at Saddleback had a 401 class called Missions, but they actually never developed it and hardly anyone ever took it. They focused most heavily on 301, which was Ministry.
The Postmodern side of me wonders, have we now arrived (with the right mantra) or will we find in another ten years we weren't quite there either.
Thanks, Dan.
I can't wait to add this book to my library.
Brian - does it really matter? If its all about the label sure. But why should the fact that a label exists have any bearing on if we follow Christ and serve God?
I'm not sure I understand the question. In the case of the 70's and 80's, the "label" made a tremendous difference on the way the church functioned. If we think we are functioning without a label now and that we are just simply "following Christ," we are naive.
Good to hear from you Julie. Looking forward to seeing you again.
Sorry. I completely agree that there are all sorts of labels/filters/biases that we function under. I guess I've heard too often recently - "oh you're just (insert label here), so therefore you/your thoughts don't matter and your belief isn't real."
Post a Comment
<< Home