1 post tagged “the church”

Here you'll find a list of qualities of a missional church, as well as those which do not characterize a missional church. Some I agree with; some I do not.

For example, one quality of the missional church is that it is an alternative community. If it is in fact true that the Church is to be an alternative community, not one that simply "mimics" the surrounding culture, does that mean we're going to wear black cotton clothes with no buttons or zippers?

How alternative does a missional community need to be before it is unrecognizable as such?

Another example of this kind of loose reasoning is this bit by Horrox, the author of an article commending the views of prominent missional author, Darrell Guder:

[In the missional church,] [n]ew yardsticks would be the norm: To what extent is our church a 'sent' community in which each believer is reaching out to his community? To what extent is our church impacting the community with a Christian message that challenges the values of our secular society? (click here for the full article)

That makes sense; an alternative community will challenge the secular society. However, is this not just another version of the fundamentalist retreat we weathered over the past century?

Likewise, in articulating distinctions, a "friend of missional" will move from professional to passionate. Since when are passionate disciples less than excellent in their kingdom ministry? The kind of "mission" that I imagine God sending out His disciples for is not "amateur hour."

So, as with most movements, "friend of missional" has in places been tempted to substitute slogans for substance.

A better path, I think, is to signify concretely, not just in terms of epigrams, what the Church ought to be doing in this generation in light of a carefully articulated foundation.

This foundation would be part of a conversation as well: but not only just with culture, but also with history.

Such a conversation with history was part of the motivation of the famous thinker and writer, G.K. Chesterton's conversion to Roman Catholicism last century, and while he may not have chosen the "better part," he has laid out a path for us to follow in the current missional church discussion.

Chesterton might have said, in this case (a favorite quote of his):

"Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to that arrogant oligarchy who merely happen to be walking around." - Orthodoxy, 1908 (Quote from here.)

This sounds to me like missional church Chesterton style. Ancient modern. Relevant. Historic. What are we waiting for? Let 's get started!