OM- Original Missional...

I'm in one of those less-than-active brain periods. Trying hard to get up and running, but... That's a big part of why I haven't been very present in the Missional Synchoblog stuff taking place over the last few days. Lots of good discussion going on...

There's probably nothing more important for us to discuss as followers of Jesus than what we are to be about. Some focus on what we should be (and believe). Some on what we should do. To my way of thinking, the nexus of those two things is where both the tension and the power of the Christian life exists. 

And while I'm not a huge back-to-the-first-century guy (the church grows and matures, yeah?) I do think at times it's helpful to ask some questions about what the first church did and how they grew- about what that nexus of be and do looked like to the first people who followed Jesus.

And as I read their story in Acts, I love the idea that for them, a huge part of missional was... planting churches. Telling people about Jesus while simultaneously organizing those people into groups dedicated to loving God, loving each other and loving the people around them. Worshiping together, sharing communion, collecting money for the poor and to support the work of the community, appointing elders, caring for each other, reading Scripture together...

I know that a lot of people want to talk about missional as getting out of the church. I get the desire to be freed from the walls of institution. I seriously doubt that the Apostle Paul had in mind the mind and soul numbing institutional bureaucracy of where much of Church in the West has ended up. 

But...

"Missional" to the very first followers of Jesus looked like planting churches. Argue all you want about what the "right" way to do that might be. House, simple, mega... I have my opinions and so do you. The church is in serious need of reform (and truth be told- that's always been true. And it always will be). Reform it, renew it, revitalize it, contextualize it... But an indispensable element to "Life in the Way of Jesus" is and will always be the Body of Christ- followers of Jesus gathering together to do and be all those things listed above- a community that together loves God, loves one another and loves the world. 

We all have our problems with the Church but like Augustine said "She's a whore... and she's my mother." At the end of the day, take Church out of the equation and pretty soon, you have no Missional. Not that the Spirit and the Word don't accomplish anything in our lives, but... 

Having an engine and gasoline are good things, but if you don't have a chassis to put them in, you still aren't going to get anywhere.  

Here's something I wrote a couple of years ago:

Two and a half years in, and I still believe in the Church. 
And not just my particular community... Church with that capital C, you know?

There are a lot of reasons why people plant churches... some good, some less-than-good. The comforting thing to me is that in spite of the mixed grab bag of reasons we bring to this endeavor, whether it be pride, or ambition, or desperation, God still uses all that. He still finds pleasure in His people trying to do something that matters, trying to live out Christian community in the hopes that they'll be able to follow Christ together in a way that makes a difference for those around them.

My friend Ollie, when he was being ordained in the Anglican church was asked "Why do you want to be a priest?" His answer was, "Because I can't do anything else!"

The examining board was impressed and passed him thru, and it wasn't until later that he realized their mistake.

They had misunderstood... He wasn't saying he had a huge burden to be a priest, to minister to others, to lead... He was saying that he honestly felt like he wouldn't even be a Christian if he didn't approach it that way- it was too hard for him.

That's kind of how I feel about church.

I need it.

And yeah, that's an admission of weakness.

When I think about the christian life, I really don't think I'd be doing much at all disconnected from a Christian community. If there weren't people all trying to get on the same page with me, struggling through similar issues, talking things out, praying for me, encouraging me, at times correcting me... I think my spiritual life would be pretty academic. Maybe some blips on the radar now & again... but I have a feeling I would settle into a comfortable life with the god of my choosing and completely miss the God who tends to whisper through brothers and sisters and the spoken Word and times of worship, and community dinners and all the rest. Maybe you are different than me. Maybe you could survive being a free-range Christian... but not me. I need community. I need church. And I have a feeling that a lot of people are like me...

And maybe that's a big reason why church matters.

In spite of all the "issues", in spite of the hard work it takes to sustain community, in spite of all the voices questioning whether we really need church...

So, I agree with all (okay- most!) of the definitions of Missional I'm reading out there... and I'll add my $.02. 

Missional is... planting church communities that live out the Gospel in and for the cities and communities in which God has placed them. 

Comments

[brad andrews]

bob:

appreciate your thoughts on this...

wondered if you could unpack what Christian community means to you? within evangelicalism, we throw the word out 'community' to mean so many things: small groups, larger gathering, accountability partners, etc.

what differentiates a smaller 'missional community' from a larger corporate gathering made of up of those 'communities?' are there things the larger 'group' can do that the smaller ones can't or shouldn't? scripturally, practically, philosophically?