Continued from What is Missional: Part 1, Part 2.
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The second theological foundation for the missional conversation involves recognizing how the ministry of Jesus should influence and form our own ministry engagement.
The Missional Church is about incarnational ministry in a post-Christendom context.
Those with a missional perspective no longer see the church service as the primary connecting point for those outside the church. While there is nothing wrong with attracting people to participate in various meetings of the church, the missional church is moreconcerned about sending the people in the church out among the people of the world, rather than getting the people of the world in among the people of the church. Some have described this missional-attractional distinction as a challenge to “go and be” as opposed to “come and see.” The attractional model, which has dominated the church in the West for the past several decades, seeks toreach out to the culture and draw people into the church. However, this approach only works when there are no significant cultural barriers to overcome whenmaking the required move from outside to inside the church.
On the other hand, missional churches see their primary function as one of actively moving into a community to embody and enflesh the word, deed, and life of Jesus into every nook and cranny. Alan Hirsch speaks of the “missional-incarnational impulse,” where the word “missional” expresses the sending nature of the church, while “incarnational” represents the “embedding” of the gospel into a local context. In other words, “missional” speaks to our direction – we are sent; while being “incarnational” is more about how we go, and what we do as we go. Eugene Peterson’s “incarnational” rendering of John 1:14 in the Message paraphrase illustrates this well when it states, “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.”
What might it look like for you to truly “move into your neighborhood?”
For me, moving into the neighborhood requires a renewal of the mind about a lot of what constitutes my life and ministry and what I call “success.” Moving into the neighborhood asks us to see & imagine what Kingdom life looks like, instead of simply duplicating the patterns of life we have learned from surrounding culture.
Some of the ways I need renewal of the mind to move into the neighborhood:
1. My concept of “quality time” and “productivity.” A lot of life in the neighborhood is the ability to sit around and talk, to be present in every sense of the word. This is not something we are automatically good at, these days.
2. My use of social media as a way to lead to face-to-face interactions rather than an end in itself. We can’t rely on our Facebook communications as the incarnation of the Gospel, because there’s just not enough life and flesh there, in my opinion. We need to change our schedules so we are truly WITH people.
3. A suspension of judgment & condemnation. What we find in the neighborhoods where we are sent won’t often look like the Kingdom. But these are the people & places Jesus remained, and we will need to have the patience to do the same. This means we are trusting God to bring about transformation in His time, and we are not abandoning people when the timing doesn’t fit our (usually hurried) schedules.
4. Prayer. This is not just technique, after all. We’re not just deciding to adopt new methodologies, I hope, but deciding to join in what God has always been doing where God has always been doing it. Apart from Him, we can do nothing in the neighborhood, but the Good News is that He’s already in the neighborhood, living and breathing and being. Going into the neighborhood without an abiding relationship with Jesus is just relational entrepreneurship – a new missional methodology that sounds cool, but still has zero power apart from God.
Just a few thoughts, as I am in a season of trying to flesh out these ideas so we can practice them as community.
Right now I’m helping lead two church communities who are trying to live missionally. The first my wife and I helped plant three years ago. From reading the Gospels together the group developed the phrase, “Every member imitating Jesus in their tribes.” We each have a group in the community that we focus our energy toward. For my wife and I it is the public school my kids attend. Another couple in the group works with addicts. Another guy coaches basketball. And so on. We seek to imitate Jesus (or be “little Jesuses” to quote Hirsch) in our tribes. Then we come together weekly to recharge.
Two years ago we were asked to bring that thinking to a traditional SBC church that has been in decline for 15+ years. The language changed (“people groups” instead of “tribes” and “Every member a missionary” instead of “imitate Jesus”) but the philosophy is the same.
Shifting the focus of a community’s existence from growing an organization to loving like Jesus has been amazing. We seen incredible transformation in the community around us and in ourselves.
Encouraging all. Thanks for the post.
I want to affirm Joshua’s points as being critical for those that would be missional. Was going to draw special attention to a few of them as his first and third points jumped out at me initially. But on further review would echo yes to all of that.
Also, thanks jeffandwendy for what you are doing. Great to read two gatherings with very different DNA from the outset seeking to live sent.
Its funny that points one and three from Josh’s post jumped out for me as well. No doubt we have to have significant margins in our lives to allow relationships in our neighborhoods to blossom and grow. And I too want to say thanks Jeff for sharing about your work with both the existing congregation and the church plant. There is such a great need to be working in both environments. Keep up the great work!
I wish it were that easy…at times it feels like we should just abandon the institution and start over…but I see such potential in the people I worship with and minister to that I cannot just abandon them.
So, its a matter of transforming the culture within the church to start getting people to think about church as something we are every day and not something we do on Sunday…and, beyond that, highlighting that everyone is part of that missional sending and not just special “called” people
Robert, agreed, it certainly isn’t easy, but I do think in many cases it is worth the attempt . . . well maybe in some cases rather than many
I am also convinced that when working with an existing congregation we must begin with theological/missiological foundations (such as those mentioned in these posts) before moving on to the principles and practices. Without such reflection/study we too easily default back to the way we have always done things. . . . having said that I most certainly believe your point about everyone being sent missionaries rather than the “called/professional” is a very important principle to consider.
Robert – One of the things we did in our traditional setting by accident was not answering the “how” question for the people. We stopped planning and organizing group mission efforts and ministries that provided places to serve. Instead we taught “you’re a missionary” and “you need to find where the Holy Spirit is calling you to love like Jesus.” The shift to individual responsibility was rough for them to wrap their heads around, but the pay off in life change and expanding our congregation’s reach has been powerful. It demanded that we (the staff) refuse to create spaces for them.
After only a year of really hammering home that message, we are already having great stories start to pour in from members who formerly spent their lives inside the building and are now being Jesus in the world. Now we are actually starting to ramp down the ministries that have been long term standards. Letting go is tough for people, but at the same time they are directing the time they spent working in the church to being present their neighborhoods.
It’s totally worth it man. Uncaging the Holy Spirit and letting Him run wild in your people without the “clergy strategist/mediator” there to buffer Him is a crazy fantastic ride.
Hey Brad – interesting post. I wonder if missional incarnation would not be more real if we just moved in, lived amongst?
Perhaps by ‘being’ amongst people, the margin for conversation & real relationship would present itself? I don’t see Jesus planning to meet the woman at the well. He is there. She is there. He is thirsty. She can help him. A conversation, a request, an interaction. Everyday & yet not everyday at all.
Perhaps we need to be saved from ‘institutional’ thinking, understanding (as I think Alan explains) that missional has to do with ‘living life amongst’ instead of ‘attempting to conquer through salvation’?
I follow this community with interest.
Theunis,
I agree with everything you said. And I like “Everyday & yet no everyday at all.” What you said is what I picture with the word “incarnational.”
i love that, Joshua, i love finding people in whom He has realized freedom … that is what he does, I think. I love knowing there are people thinking about this stuff, chewing on it, discovering. I love to be part of this somehow.
jeff and wendy – i agree that it is helpful to stop answering the question. Like teaching a child to ride a bike, the teacher holds the bike for a time while the rider rides and then lets go. There will be some crashes and scraped knees, but it is only then that real riding can begin. In the beginning, I think it is almost essential for us to give some possible directives, back off to coaching and then move to cheering wildly.
You shared that “great stories start to pour.” I think providing opportunities for others to tell their stories to those that are seeking to live sent is essential. I would offer that this is one of the few prescriptives we have regarding what our worship gatherings are to be about.
Almost an M – That is so true. Especially the need to cheer wildly for even the smallest successes.
Worship gatherings have been the biggest idol for us to confront in the traditional setting. We turned the discipleship system and understandig of mission upside down; but worship is a struggle. Before working in the traditional world I was only in the attractional world. In the traditional setting they fought hard for their preferences in worship in the 80′s and 90′s. Now they hold onto the traditions around that environment with a kung-fu death grip. There have been a few times when I’ve convinced them to scrap the sermon and just have “testimony time.” The Spirit moves in crazy ways and amazing things happen…but then next week they head right back to Singing-Offering-Sermon-Invitation.
I really like “cheering wildly.”
I also agree with the need to share stories. I think we underestimate the power of stories in creating change. Stories not only help inspire and motivate but they help people really “see” what it looks like to live missionally. I believe we need to have many of our own stories to tell, but we should also be on the look out to capture the stories of others individuals and other faith communities that are engaging their local settings.