To get up to speed on the discussion about being a missional church, you can go here to read parts 1, part 2, part 3, part 4. This next post may be the most fundamental aspect of being missional.

I wrote in part 1 that there is a view among some churches and Christians that “missions is a week long trip taken by the youth group to foreign soil help a group that is lacking spiritually, culturally, and/or economically.”

It’s a pet peeve of mine: there is no such things “missions.” You don’t go on a “missions trip” or work on a “missions project.” You have a mission (singular). You can’t have multiple missions. Mission is singular at it’s core. It is theologically critical to have a singular mission that is in line with the person and work of Jesus.

I am all for trips, projects, and work days that are local, national, and global. I think they are vitally important. I have been on and taken all kinds of teenagers and adults on trips all over the globe. But I believe those should be the outcome of a church that reflects a missional nature, heart, or posture like that of Jesus himself (and not just trying to religiously check off the mission box so that it can say it does what people think a church out to do).

Jesus was missional. It was in his DNA. That missional being, was what drove missional action. The incarnation, the birth of Jesus, was missional. Jesus living, dining, healing, sharing with, teaching outsiders, sinners, ragamuffins, nobodies, and the marginalized was a result of his missional being. Jesus’ death and resurrection was missional. He could not separate being missional from every aspect of his life.

One way to find out if your church has a missional DNA is to ask, “Who do we exist for, ourselves or others?”. Many churches believe (though they never would admit it publicly) that the community and people exist for them, their benefit, growth, and success. The community and people become commodities. The missional church turns the table and asks how it can empty itself for the sake of the gospel as the representation of Jesus in a broken and desperate world.

You can do a little missional DNA testing, too:
- Do you choose a church based on whether it meets your needs or the needs you can meet?
- Do you attend worship with the primary thought being what you can get out of it or what you can give?
- Do you serve out of obligation, guilt, or need to feel good about yourself or as an overflow of grace and calling?
- Do you join a small group out of expectation, to gain more knowledge, or be taken care of or to love others and to be equipped to live out your faith?
- Do you segment life into spiritual and secular or do they get all mixed up?
– Is mission an activity, trip, program or is mission a 7 day a week/ 52 week a year way of life?
- Why do I exist, for my wellbeing or someone else’s eternity?

For a little background on the discussion, go here for part 1, part 2, and part 3.

In part 1, I said that there is a view of church where worship is seen “They do this [meaning the staff does all the work] to provide a place for members of the church to come and get their religious tank topped off so they can make it through the upcoming week until they return and repeat.”

So what does worship look like in a missional church?

First, worship is worship. Worship is not a seminar, pep rally, concert, show, lecture, or memorial service. Worship is our response to God for the person and work of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. We don’t worship to cause God to do anything for us. We love and worship because Christ first loved us. Without Jesus, there is no worship no matter the style, liturgy, or excellence factor. Worship is because of Jesus, for Jesus, and to Jesus.

Second, worship is contextual. This does not mean “dumbed down” like so many would say that’s what I mean. Worship has to at least be understandable to those who are worshipping or else it is just hollow. meaningless, heartless acts. Elements and aspects of worship need to be done in a way that our actions, thoughts, and hearts can be aligned so worship becomes a full, meaningful, honest giving of ourselves to Jesus. If you can’t understand it, how can you offer it? 16th Century German pipe organ music and lyrics were contextual worship in 16th Century Germany.

Worship is evangelistic. Where Jesus showed up, people flocked. Where two or three people gather in Jesus’ name, he is there. Therefore, worship that has the presence of Jesus is naturally attractive. Why not make worship accessible to guests that they might worship Jesus, too? It is like having a guest in my home. Having guests in our home doesn’t mean we cease being the Flynt family. It means we work hard to be hospitable, welcoming, and make our friends a part of our life as best we can while they are with us. Missional churches labor in planning worship to not put stumbling blocks in front of people because the stakes are so high and to be a reflection of Christ’s love for the world.

Lastly, Romans 12 is a wonderful reminder that our whole lives are ultimately acts of worship. What could be more important or more missional?

So is worship where you go to get your tank filled? It is, but only in the sense that it is a graceful bi-product from God when “making much of Jesus” is the first thing. If I get nothing out of worship, so be it… as long as Jesus gets everything out of me.

Get a little back ground on the discussion in part 1 and part 2.

In the first post I wrote about one view of church includes this about pastors and elders:“The Senior Pastor/ Head of Staff/ Lead Pastor (choose your title) is in charge of the church. Elders are assigned ministries to represent. The staff follows instruction and does most, if not all, aspects of the ministry.”

In the missional church, Jesus alone is the head of the Church (universal) and church (local).The church belongs alone to Jesus because…
… Jesus himself calls the church his church in Matthew 16:18 where he says to Peter, “… and on this rock, I will build MY church.”
… the church centers and rests on Jesus, not ideas, platitudes, moralisms, or religious concepts. Paul demonstrated this when he writes in Ephesians 5:23, “… as Christ is the HEAD of the church” and in Ephesians 2:20, “…Jesus Christ himself as the chief CORNERSTONE.”

This means that the missional church sees its pastors, not as head of the church, but as servant leaders under the authority of Jesus Christ for the redemptive mission of God in a local body of believers. There will always be a lead elder (pastor) that serves as the “first among equals” with the other elders/pastors as modeled in scripture with Peter in Acts. Paul does this as he appoints and guides elders in each city to be under-shepherds.”

The role of pastors is most clearly outlined in Ephesians 4:12 that says the role of the pastor is “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” Therefore pastors are equippers, trainers, coaches, teachers to help Christ-followers live out their calling, not the paid purveyors of programs.

Missional elders are the discerning body for the local church. They are not elected representatives that vote on issues to reach decisions by majority rules. I believe elders function best as ones who seek the Holy Spirit’s will for a local church to further and protect God’s Mission and calling for the church. 1 Timothy 4 & 5 and Titus clearly outline the qualifications of elders. Those passages also speak of the respect we are to have for elders, especially those who lead and preach in the church.

James 5:1 and 5:14 includes prayer, anointing, healing, and witness to the redeeming work of Jesus as functions of the elder, too.

In conclusion, Jesus is the head of the church. Pastors are elders who equip through servant leadership and preaching/teaching. Elders are those who discern what God’s mission and direction is for the church.

Thoughts? Disagreements? Support? What say you?

In the first post of this series about the missional church, I wrote, “One way to see the church is that it is an institution that serves as an admirable, religious part of the greater social and national landscape.”

The missional church, which is what I believe all local congregations should be, is not an “institution”.
* It is not an organization that exists apart from those that make up the church. The missional church is personal and relational. It must be relational and personal because it centers around a person, Jesus Christ. Without Jesus, there is no church.
* Second, if there ceased to be people apart of the church, then there would be not a local church. It would become a museum like many of the cathedrals of Europe.
* Third, the church is relational and personal because it existed before buildings or formal doctrinal statements. Those are useful tools for the missional church, but they do not make the church in and of themselves.
* Finally, the missional church is relational and not institutional because it does not exist for the continuation or benefit of itself, but the friends, neighbors, and world that Jesus died for.

The missional church does not only serve an “admirable” part of society. It certainly does things that are seen as admirable, but doing good things is ot it’s chief end. Rather, it serves the greatest good, Jesus Christ, in the way of Jesus Christ. Doing what is best for Jesus, the church, and the world over what is simply good, may cause misunderstanding in the eyes of the world.

Just as the missional church may need to clarify what it stands for (not what it stands against) to the community and world around it as part of its witness, it may need to do the same with the religious community. Because the missional church is relational and stands for the greatest good, the good news of the free gift of grace through Jesus Christ, it cannot be “religious”. By religious I mean, “human effort to gain acceptance and access to God through right living,” The very nature of believing in grace means that a missional church may live out many of the same convictions as those who are religious, but will do it as an overflow of the gift of grace and love for Jesus and the world he came to redeem as an act of worship and witness.

Thoughts? Questions? Disagreements? Anything that I should have said more clearly in less that 400 words?