Missional Church seams to be catching on as a ID tag for just about every church now days, just like so many thing that are NOW and Hip, to keep up with the Jones. But the key really is not identifying ones church as being Missional the real questions is what mission are they on.
As so many church are claming to be missional my questing to them, the more important question is define the mission that makes you Missional.
In the truest sense of the movement to be missional both as a body/church and as an individual is that you are on Missio Dei, the Mission of God. And that your definition of Missio Dei, Mission of God is the true mission of God on earth.
And I can tell you that most church on not on Missio Dei, they are on a religious mission, a self defined mission that they justify by saying it is the God’s Mission.
Most would include as their definition building projects, say that part of God’s Missio Dei is about building bigger and more elaborate building with the latest hi-tech devise and creature comforts. And I can tell you buildings are not part of Missio Dei, in fact I can say that they are counter to Missio Dei.
Tell you that Missio Dei consist of church programs, those are not even on God’s blue prints, tell you about new schemes to get people to come to their churches, not so, Missio Dei is all about being sent out, taking the gospel to the world, not manipulating them into come to you.
That the Sunday services are the main focus of the church, not so, the Gospel and taking it to the world is the main focus.
So it is not as simple that church adapt the catch phrase Missional, define them selves as Missional, but that they become Missional and that their definition of Mission is Missio Dei, the real mission of God and are joining Him on it and not making up their own mission, AKA the traditional way of doing American church. But are being transformed in to a body of people who are Missional, living Missional and that their body/church corporately is functioning Missional by being on Missio Dei. If, and only if each member of a body is on Missio Dei can this be done. Because if they are not gospel centered and living Missionaly, then when they assemble together they cannot functions as a whole Missionaly, because for a whole body to be Missional, each part, member must be living Missional daily, that is the only way a church can be Missional, that is being on God’s mission. And when the church body as a whole is living on God’s mission there is no longer a need for building projects, programs or for Sunday services to be the main focus, because the church is being sent out like it should be.
So the question is, what is your churches definition the mission they are on, is it Missio Dei and is their definition of it God’s, the Gospel, and is every one in the church on it, living it 24/7?Labels: living missional, lmissional, missional church
