What Does It Mean to Be Missional?
On the surface, its connection to the word mission is obvious. But does a desire to share one’s faith encapsulate the meaning of the word? Trevin Wax addresses this issue in a helpful article entitled “Missional—The New Buzzword.”
One of the problems with the term is its varied usage. The term missional has become a buzzword of the Emerging Church and has taken on a certain meaning. Many from the more traditional stripe, recognizing it as a good word, have also started using it, but often in a different way. Trevin explains, “For many traditional SBC leaders, the term is synonymous with the idea of being ‘missions-minded’ or ‘evangelistic.’”
But that’s not what the Emerging folk mean when they use it. He explains what the term does not mean in the Emerging context:
- Being “missional” is not the equivalent of simply being “missions-minded.” For many traditional SBC pastors, “missional” refers to a church with a heart for missions. Of course, having a heart for missions is included within the desire to be “missional,” but the two are not the same.
- Being “missional” does not refer only to evangelism. It seemed to me that many of the speeches from the Younger Leaders’ Summit at the Convention (in 2005) featured traditional speakers equating “missional” with evangelistic fervor. That is not the way younger leaders are using the term. Yes, evangelism drives many younger leaders. But the term “missional” itself does not refer only to “soul-winning.”
- Being “missional” does not refer only to the support of missionaries. Though the root word for missionary and missional is the same, the two terms are not interchangeable. Churches that seek to be “missional” will throw their support behind home and foreign missionaries, but that is not all there is to being missional.
From there he draws some of the contours for what it does mean:
- “Missional” is an adjective used almost exclusively to describe “church.”
Emerging leaders generally do not see “missional” as a term referring to a single person (such as a missionary), but as an adjective that describes the outlook of a local church. Thus, “missional” and “church” cannot be split. - A “missional church” is comprised of full-time ministers.
Missional churches do not consider only the paid staff to be “full-time” ministers. Every Christian is called to be “on mission” 24 hours a day. . . . - A “missional church” seeks to be simultaneously counter-cultural and culture-redeeming.
The missional church believes no segment of society is off-limits when it comes to God’s redemption. . . . The darkness of the outside world is not something to hide from, boycott, or scold from afar, but is instead the very place we are called to extend God’s light. . . . - The missional church exists to be the embodiment/incarnation of Jesus Christ for our broken world.
Jesus’ passions are to become our own. . . . His dedication to the poor and the outcast, his denouncement of religious hypocrisy, his seeking out the lost—all of these characteristics must be modeled by the church that exists as Christ’s hands and feet in our world. . . . - Missional churches broaden the meaning of missions and evangelism.
Being “on mission” for God cannot be reduced to simply seeking to evangelize the lost. . . . The missional church exists to worship God by extending His reign in the world, whether that takes place through the establishment of orphanages, working to see God’s Law reflected in government, reflecting the beauty of God in art, or by caring for the needy. . . .
Read the whole post.
See also:
- Tim Keller: The Missional Church
- Ed Stetzer:
For further reading see these books from PastorBookshelf:
- An Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches
- Blue Like Jazz
- An Emergent Manifesto of Hope
- The Secret Message of Jesus
- A Generous Orthodoxy
- The Missional Leader | Alan Roxburgh & Fred Romanuk
- Off-Road Disciplines | Earl Creps
- Confessions of a Reformission Rev. | Mark Driscoll
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