The Missional Inigo Montoya
One of my favorite lines from The Princess Bride comes when the swordsman Inigo Montoya, after witnessing several events his boss calls "inconceivable," says, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
I had an Inigo Montoya moment at church recently. In a series of sermons on a new expression of vision that I find promising, one Sunday was devoted to the phrase "Missional Outreach". The sermon examples, while representing good ministry (how someone had invited the speaker to Fellowship of Christian Athletes long ago, kids being invited to meet Jesus in our High School ministry), included nothing I recognized as "missional."
In fact, the speaker said something at the start like "serving our neighbors is good, but it's not what I'm talking about today." This reinforced my feeling that, at many churches, "missional" gets applied to anything directed at non-Christians, including "come inside our structures to meet Jesus" programs that are the antithesis of the ideas in The Missional Church. I wanted to say "I do not think Missional means what you think it means."
Am I wrong in wanting to reserve "missional" for the ideas described for example on www.friendofmissional.org? How far can the word be stretched? Has it been stretched so much that it is no longer useful? Is different language (like the "exile" metaphor) needed to replace or supplement "missional"?
This experience got me thinking about other Christian words that seem to have lost their meaning. Words like "creation" (spoiled by fundamentalist pseudoscience, perhaps making a comeback with "creation care") and "Evangelical" (often seen as a political label, although I still hope it can be reclaimed). I remember as a new Christian in the late 70s avoiding the term "born again" in an attempt to avoid guilt by association. Some now avoid calling themselves "Christians" for similar reasons. Maybe these are just words, but words are a large part of how we express our faith.
How hard should we fight to reclaim tainted or misused words?
This experience got me thinking about other Christian words that seem to have lost their meaning. Words like "creation" (spoiled by fundamentalist pseudoscience, perhaps making a comeback with "creation care") and "Evangelical" (often seen as a political label, although I still hope it can be reclaimed). I remember as a new Christian in the late 70s avoiding the term "born again" in an attempt to avoid guilt by association. Some now avoid calling themselves "Christians" for similar reasons. Maybe these are just words, but words are a large part of how we express our faith.
How hard should we fight to reclaim tainted or misused words?
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My last comment went to moderation... not sure why.
I think the term missional is still useful.
Maybe, like Alan Hirsch suggests, we should qualify it... 'missional incarnational.' That describes more the posture towards ministry in culture.
Michael W. Kruse @11...
My answer is: missional includes all of your categories, but also gives them a different perspective.
I like how Roxburgh describes it (who was an author in 'Missional Church,' literally helped write the book on missional!), my paraphrase: It's not about the latest buzzword, or program, or even evangelism (or social justice, or 'cultural mandate')... the question is... what is God up to in the world? and how do we participate with him, in our particular context.
It is a question of how the Gospel engages culture, and specifically in our own city and neighborhood.
Sorry... something happened here :)
posted twice. #11 & #14 similar thing.
Matt R #14
“It's not about the latest buzzword, or program, or even evangelism (or social justice, or 'cultural mandate')... the question is... what is God up to in the world? and how do we participate with him, in our particular context.”
The operative word here is mission: “a special task given to a person or group to carry out.” God gives us the mission. Mission functions at many levels. There is mission in terms of the culturally-transcendent overarching narrative God has communicated to us. Then there is the response to this mission within our culturally and historically bound contexts. There is no discernment of “what is God up to in the world? and how do we participate with him, in our particular context” apart from the culturally-transcendent narrative. Without reference to it, “what God is up to” is just an inkblot test of our impressions and proclivities.
Cultural Mandate, Great Commandments, New Commandment, and The Great Commission are not buzzwords or programs but explicit culturally-transcendent mission given to us by God that are to drive all we do in our particular contexts.
Michael W. Kruse #14,
I think we agree :)
... to me, you sound like most of the missional people I know.
I would agree, there should be no discernment of our role and response apart from the "culturally-transcendent narrative"- the story of God and God's redemption and restoration of humans and all creation.
I also agree... "Cultural Mandate, Great Commandments, New Commandment, and the The Great Commission" are all great ways Scripture describes God's mission... and thus ours.
My point- all of this was included in my understanding of the term 'missional.' Start with God, and God's mission, which you described very well, and then ask 'how do we join that in our particular context.'
The missional theology guys, in my understanding, were just trying to express this in a way that says, God's narrative and mission are 'out there,' in the world... not only 'in here' in the church. SO we need to understand both; the big picture (which you describe) AND how that plays out in our context. You need both.
"I think we agree."
Well darn! Where's the fun in that. :)
"You need both."
Bingo!
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