Dear Holly, Dear Holly, Now that you are in Philly for Christmas, I have a recommendation to make \u2014 and it\u2019s about my only recommendation for Philly: if you get to Chestnut Hill, go to Chestnut Hill Coffee Co and have a cup of latte \u2014 and I\u2019ll pay for it when you get back to school. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1736,425],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-emerging-movement","category-missional"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nNow that you are in Philly for Christmas, I have a recommendation to make \u2014 and it\u2019s about my only recommendation for Philly: if you get to Chestnut Hill, go to Chestnut Hill Coffee Co and have a cup of latte \u2014 and I\u2019ll pay for it when you get back to school. I promise you \u2014 the best anywhere around.
\nYes, you are right that \u201cmissional\u201d is one of the emerging movement\u2019s favorite terms and, yes, you are right that there is no official definition. But, I think I could take a stab at describing how it is used and maybe answer the question you ask about whether they are really saying anything new and valuable with this term. I will answer these last two questions first.
\nNo, it is not something new; the emerging movement didn\u2019t invent this term but they have undoubtedly given it a new currency. But, yes, this is a valuable insight and I\u2019m so glad the emerging movement Christians are doing their best to find their way into a \u201cmissional\u201d worldview.
\nSo, what does \u201cmissional\u201d mean?
\nSorry if I sound like a teacher, but I\u2019ve got a few points. First, missional is not something we have but something that God is and does<\/em>. God is a Trinity and missionally the Father and the Son and the Spirit are directed at one another in never-ending love. And this never-ending relational love within God \u2014 it\u2019s pretty cool if you think about this very long \u2014 extends from God into God\u2019s creation so that creation itself \u2014 check out Romans 8 sometime or even the last few chapters of Revelation \u2014 is drawn into a loving relation with God. God is, to use the words of a famous thinker (David Bosch) is a \u201cGod-for-people.\u201d That same person calls all of this the missio Dei<\/em>: the God of Mission and the mission of God. Is it important to begin with God? Yes, very much so. Why?
\nSecond, to be missional means to join in the mission of God<\/em>; it means to participate with God in what God is doing in this world. It means we don\u2019t have to decide what it means to be missional; it means we have to understand what God\u2019s mission is and join in that very mission. I think this is exciting \u2014 and it transforms us from being those who generate God\u2019s mission to those who simply fellowship in God\u2019s mission. It\u2019s about like taking a ride on airplane \u2014 we don\u2019t supply the power or the direction; we participate in it.
\nThird, we are missional both in presence and in performance. We are to be God\u2019s missional presence in our local community and we are to perform God\u2019s mission by extending it to our community. We are this and we do this.
\nFourth, God\u2019s mission is holistic: as God called Israel to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength (sound familiar?), so we are summoned to participate with God in restoring humans in that love for God. We are summoned to help others love God in heart, soul, mind, and strength.
\nEmerging Christians are annoyed that far too often God\u2019s mission is reduced to evangelism; and they know that many times evangelism means only restoring people to God but not also to themselves, to others and to the world \u2014 in heart, soul, mind, and strength. So, many of us prefer to describe the Church\u2019s task to be \u201cmissional\u201d rather than simply \u201cevangelistic.\u201d
\nYes, it is true: many who like \u201cmissional\u201d don\u2019t do a lick of \u201cevangelizing.\u201d But, if God\u2019s mission is to restore all creation to himself so that all creation brings glory to God \u2014 imagine all creation standing up for a big clap for God \u2014 and make sure you get the trees swinging their brances and the leaves fluttering in praise to God \u2014 if you can imagine that, then you know that anyone who talks about \u201cmissional\u201d but not about restoring humans to God, others, and the world (evangelism) is missing the big point.
\nAnd, yes, missional (so I think) reshapes our focus. Instead of trying to see how many people we can gather into our church building every Sunday morning, missional folks reach into the community. They especially reach out to the unchurched and the anti-church. Why? I\u2019m not sure, but I\u2019m convinced of this: the emerging movement has a special soft spot for those who have been burned by the Church, who have been hurt by the Church, and it wants to provide a safe place for those who need to know that God\u2019s\u2019 grace extends to them, too. Not to the exclusion of anyone, but clearly having a soft spot for those folks.
\nAll of this means \u2014 and this is my last point \u2014 that being missional shapes everything we do. To quote TSK, we are defined by our mission more than by our worship.
\nHey, I\u2019ve got another quote from TSK that I want you to know about: \u201cWe are people flowing in the stream of God\u2019s go.\u201d Pretty good, don\u2019t you think? Not only pretty good, but also deeply challenging.
\nBlessings,
\nScot<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"