Meaning of Missional; Model More Than Talk

During the past few months, many of our church planters and future church planters in Mission Alive (www.missionalive.org) have suggested that I begin a blog. I have always said something like “I am not a blogger or the son of a blogger” and continue to feel that way. However, I guess God took me from caring for sycamore-fig trees and said, “Go, blog about your journey in missional church planting.” So a blog comes forth . . . from a neophyte, with foreboding, asking for God’s guidance . . . seeking wisdom from God, from Scripture, and in these dialogues, from you the community. I invite you to think with me about missional church planting.

What is missional church planting? The word missional has become a slippery term, meaning various things to different people. Some superimpose the meaning of “cross-cultural” on the word, others equate the word with “evangelism.” I have come up with the following characteristics of missional churches. You may or may not concur.

Missional churches . . .

• are formed by the calling and sending of God (mission Dei)
• reflect God’s redemptive reign in Christ (kingdom of God)
• are God-inspired, Christ-formed, Spirit-led (Trinitarian)
• begin theologically and then move to cultural analysis and strategy formation
• are driven not by “what works” but by “the will of God”
• are not ego-driven

Please give your perspectives to these broad categories.

Yesterday it occurred to my wife and me that we come from a “talking” tradition. It is reflected in the committee organization of our churches and the rationalism of our thinking: We seek to arrive at ingenious decisions by incisive discussion. When decisions are reached, we sometimes do not have the energy or time to implement them. Thus Modernity holds sway over the way we do church.

Yesterday while coaching an exceptional church planter I realized how much this talking tradition seeps into our church planting. We came up with a motto, “Model More Than Talk.” Instead of talking about activities of spiritual formation, model relationship with God in community. Instead of talking about the nature of intimate fellowship in small groups, demonstrate such relationships in the core team. Christianity is better “caught than taught.”

On mission with God,

Gailyn