Hmm… there’s that word again. Missional. Who came up with it anyway? It must be a made-up word because my spell-check keeps underlining it in red, telling me I’m stretching the limits of the accepted English language. The word has been used (and maybe over-used) in recent years in broad church circles to try and describe a shift in thinking about what we are to be about as a church. We are to be missional. Is it just another gimmicky word to make the church feel like it’s doing something new?

Well, I was tempted to think so early on, but the more I come to understand what’s meant by it, the more I’m convinced of two things. First, that it’s what God has had in mind all along for the church to be, ever since the church was established, and second, that we have to radically change many of the ways we currently think in order to reclaim truly missional thinking and practice. I want to spend some time in the coming months talking more together as a congregation what it would mean for us to reshape our thinking. You can expect a few Sunday sermons to have this focus, and perhaps we’ll get some discussions going in smaller settings as well.

In the current issue of Leadership journal, Bob Roberts, a Texas pastor, lists various things he’s learning and unlearning about being missional which I share here to stimulate our re-thinking.

            I’m Learning… that starting churches doesn’t naturally lead to mission. Churches default to self-focus unless a commitment to be like Jesus in the world comes first.

            I’m Unlearning… the American church’s traditional focus on a super-star speaker, worship leader, educator, and shepherd, which serves mainly to attract spectators rather than igniting the power of everyone else.

            I’m Unlearning… the assumption that “Christian” is defined primarily as acknowledging a moment of conversion. Becoming a follower of Jesus depends on what happens after that.

            I’m Learning… to love people, which means to see them healed, educated, and given the same opportunities that we have.

            I’m Unlearning… that the Christian faith is all about heaven. I believe that the church has denied the future by just waiting for the Second Coming. We need a story that includes the future.

            I’m Learning… the kingdom will be established not by human power or entertainment, but by realizing God’s concern for humanity and the whole of society.

            I like Roberts’ learnings, and I think they help us begin to understand how being missional may be different from being a church that has a Mission Commission or committee. Missional is about our identity, purpose, and being part of God’s work in the world.

May we continue to wrestle with what God would have us to be, and may we be willing to do the necessary work to become missional. I’m convinced we will find true LIFE in the process!