The thought process started when I read
this article on the missional church:
http://www.vergenetwork.org/2011/09/14/mike-breen-why-the-missional-movement-will-fail/
I confess that although I’ve heard the term before, I had no idea
what it meant. According to Wikipedia:
“The movement
seeks to rethink and redefine the nature of the church and create a
new paradigm in which churches are seen as missional in nature,
instead of attractional in nature. Leaders in the movement argue that
instead of churches attempting to attract people to churches through
church programs, churches should instead take the gospel outside of
the church and engage society with the gospel, often by being
involved not only in missions and evangelism but also in social
justice movements.”
Coincidentally, I then picked up Jen
Hatmaker’s book Interrupted: When Jesus Wrecks Your Comfortable Christianity, which shares
her journey into the missional movement. I fully support Christians
getting motivated to look beyond the walls of their church and living
out their faith in every part of life. However, I think there are
some problems with the way missional living is often communicated. (I
had similar concerns when reading books by Hugh Halter.) Here is one
example from Hatmaker.
In talking about the parables in
Matthew 25 and Jesus’ judgment “Depart from me, you cursed… for
I was hungry and you gave Me no food…” (ESV) she states:
“Be like the wise, watchful servant, not the wicked, abusive one.
Emulate the five wise virgins, not the foolish, sleepy ones… Act
like the servant with five invested talents, not the scaredy servant
with one buried talent. And as Jesus built His case and the disciples
began to gauge what counted and what wouldn’t, He hit them with the
grand finale: It will matter only if you’re a sheep or a goat. The
blessed and the lost will be separated based on one principle: the
care of the oppressed. The end” (103).
Wait a minute—that’s the one
principle?! Before jumping to that conclusion, it would be good to go
back a few chapters to Jesus’ terrifying words in Matthew 7:22-23:
“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not… do
many mighty works in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them,
‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
He said in verse 20, “Thus you will recognize them by their
fruits.” Outward actions are not the factor that determines our
salvation, but they are evidence of it. Paul makes this clear in Ephesians
2:8-10:
“For by grace you
have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is
the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For
we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Not by works, but for
good works… Yes, we should feed and clothe those in need and share
the Gospel with them, but not so we can feel assured that we are
sheep and not goats. I have no doubt there will be many good,
socially active people who find out their works did not put their
names in the Book of Life.
The other difficulty I have with many
in the missional church movement is the implication that it is an
either/or choice—either missional or attractional. I see no reason
why both cannot exist within the universal Church and within local
churches. The Christian mission and calling is not a
one-size-fits-all outfit. God’s Kingdom has room for big churches,
small churches, house churches, parachurch organizations, high
church, low church, cross cultural missionaries, indigenous
missionaries, street evangelists, homeless shelters, AIDS orphanages,
and a myriad of other shapes and sizes. God uses all kinds of people,
methods, and activities to reach the lost.
“Now there are varieties of gifts,
but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same
Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God
who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation
of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).
(By
the way, although “missional” is a new word it is not a new idea.
The Salvation Army is just one example from history.
http://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/about)
© 2016 Dawn Rutan.
