You Are Now Entering the Mission Field

Many of us have been at this "Christian-thing" and "church-thing" a long time. I think what happens to a lot of us over time is that while we have our Bible Study Programs, Worship Programs, Fellowship Programs, Self-help Programs, Missions Programs; the way in which we live our life is not changed by a relationship with Christ. As a result, even through all of these Christian activities, you probably begin to experience emptiness in a lot of your actions. What I mean is that you can be so busy doing church-stuff, that you miss out on the point of the church. Christians are called to be a communal, worshipful, incarnational, transformational, evangelical, simple people; and I believe all of that culminates in the idea of missional living.

Before I go further, let me note that over the past 15 years, the word "missional" has confused and frustrated many people. Alan Hirsch rightly states that "the word 'missional' over the years has tended to become very fluid and as it was quickly co-opted by those wishing to find new and trendy tags for what they themselves were doing, be they missional or not. It is often used as a substitute it for seeker-sensitive, cell-group church, or other church growth concepts, thus obscuring its original meaning." As a result, missional is often looked upon as just another phase or program. But we error when we do so for missional is more than just another movement, it is a full expression of who the people and church of Christ is and what we are called to be and do.

"Missional is a Shift in Thinking"

Missional Living is the view that being a follower of Jesus Christ involves simultaneously both an inner transformation toward Christlikeness and an active participation in the mission of God's Kingdom.

-Tom Bulick has covered why I highlight inner transformation in his blogpost HERE.

-I highlight active participation in God's Mission because there IS a difference between being mindful and supportive of God's Mission and being participants in gospel mission of reconciliation with God. (*for the call to participate, see 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 and 1 Corinthians 9:23)

-I highlight simultaneously because it would be a mistake to believe that you must achieve some higher level of personal spiritual formation before you begin serving, leading, and loving others as participants in the mission.

The Missional Church views its own context as a constantly changing mission field. Churches of this nature are both engaged in and supportive of missions. They recognize that mission includes both the Great Commission (making new disciples) and the Great Commandment (loving God and loving others as self); and that all people are both the “subject” and “object” of God’s mission. Missional churches are engaged in the transformation of people, churches, communities and cultures as they multiply disciples, their church, and their mission.

What does this look like?

A missional church is a gathering of believers who participate in God's mission because they understand themselves as a sent people. This shifts a church from a supportive "come-and-see" mentality to a "go-and-be/tell/do" mentality.

Missional churches see the church body as the place of ministry and conversion. This means that every member of a missional church should be participating in loving and meeting needs of unchurched peoples. (We should begin to see conversion happening outside of Church walls, [which then become a gathering place for sending].)

God is about revealing Himself and He purposes that as we see Him, we respond by joining ourselves to His mission. We cannot do that well simply by going to church activities, or even by inviting others to our church. WE MUST BE THE KINGDOM ON MISSION…this is the church (God’s people reflecting His own image.)

**I also like this definition from Wikipedia: "Missional living" is a Christian term that describes a missionary lifestyle; adopting the posture, thinking, behaviors, and practices of a missionary in order to engage others with the gospel message.