What Is Missional?
In April, I hosted a similar synchroblog that asked a very similar question, “What does missional living look like to me?” My answer was very simple. It means, “Meeting God Where He’s Already Working.” And this answer begs the question, “What then is God doing?” The foundations of this can be found in Missio Dei, or God’s mission of restoration and reconciliation. The mission was voiced in the words of both Isaiah and Jesus, when they said,
“The Spirit of the lord God is upon me. For he has anointed me to bring the good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim a year of favor from the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19)
Jesus came to restore and to reconcile. He came to bring people back into relationship with their Creator, their Father. He came to reveal the Imago Dei, or what humanity and the Father looked like.
The question is then, “Will we participate?” Will we engage the inward journey to restore our own soul, to participate in our own healing? Will we take the risk to discover how much God really, really does love us? Will we cast off the lies that hold us captive so that we can become the new humanity? Will we learn how to surrender, to follow, to let go of our isolation and loneliness?
And will we take the risk to discover trust and love, to begin embracing our own maturity and wholeness? Will we practice meeting God in the moments that need love, so that the world may discover what we have discovered, that we are worth it?
To do so is discipleship, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus into His mission. It is to bring participate by following the lead of the Holy Spirit into the restoring the world around us. It doesn’t require a license or ordination. It doesn’t require 10,000 people or a mega-church. It requires love, which is a fruit of His Spirit.
And it usually does not begin on the other side of the world, or in some famous fashion. It usually begins right where we live, with our families, and with our neighbors. It means tearing down the walls that separate us as human beings. It means taking the risk to let go of the victim role, or the anger that perpetuates the role of perpetrator. And once we do we “get to” participate in our own humanity, in our own restoration…and the restoration of the world around us. We get to see what is good, what is right, what is true, what is Jesus.
As a side note:
There is always backlash when something new comes around. The word missional is apparently now reaching “chic” proportions. Several people have expressed that this the word missional is being overused. Why are we suddenly concerned that we’re overusing the word? I would offer that just the fact that we’re using the word is almost an entirely new thought process in the Christian culture. Twenty years ago, it meant you were someone who went to Africa on a missions trip. It was limited to the specific group of people who went over “there”, the people we framed and hung on the wall in the foyer or lobby.
Will some people get it wrong? Sure. But I would rather people use the word than not. I trust in the conversation, as we are doing now to inform those who get it mixed up. And just because we used the word “the” every ten to twelve words doesn’t mean its overused. It’s means its useful. Missional is useful in our postmodern context.
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This post is part of a missional synchroblog put on by the Blind Beggar. Here are the participants:
Alan Hirsch Alan Knox Andrew Jones Barb Peters Bill Kinnon Brad Brisco Brad Grinnen Brad Sargent Brother Maynard Bryan Riley Chad Brooks Chris Wignall Cobus Van Wyngaard Dave DeVries David Best David Fitch David Wierzbicki DoSi Doug Jones Duncan McFadzean Erika Haub Grace Jeff McQuilkin John Smulo Jonathan Brink JR Rozko Kathy Escobar Len Hjalmarson Makeesha Fisher Malcolm Lanham Mark Berry Mark Petersen Mark Priddy Michael Crane Michael Stewart Nick Loyd Patrick Oden Peggy Brown Phil Wyman Richard Pool Rick Meigs Rob Robinson Ron Cole Scott Marshall Sonja Andrews Stephen Shields Steve Hayes Tim Thompson Thom Turner
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