What Is Missional? - Continued
Published: November 14, 2008
This is to say that, as a people of God, we relate and engage the world after the way that God relates and engages the world.
This is expressed primarily, though not exclusively, in the person of Jesus. Let me offer three core points in this:
Community: I say "not exclusively" in Jesus, because I believe that when Scripture teaches that we are created in God's image, that is primarily in reference to God's Trinitarian nature. Just as God is Three-Persons in perfect Oneness, so to are we called to be in genuine community, seeking to be many united as one. We are not able to become gods in our unity, but rather, through the work of Jesus on the cross, we die to self and are resurrected into His Body, bound together in the Spirit. I believe our being His Body to be more than an analogy, but a defining description of our nature as the Church.
Like the Trinity, our commitment to unity and community does not require the irradication of the individual. While we must resist the disintegrative force of individualism, true community always celebrates and nurtures healthy individuality. In fact, it is only within the Chirst-community that individual identity can truly be realized. This is perhaps the single greatest tension we face- the battle between rampant individualism and soulless uniformity. However, I genuinely believe that in the Western world, we are in more danger from the former. I would go so far as to say that a person cannot be truly missional apart from community, because that very community is essential to mission and the Godhead that gives it form.
Contextualization: Jesus, fully God, entered into our world as fully man, the ultimate contextualization. He divested Himself of many things that were His right in order to make a way for God's mission of love and redemption to happen. In the same way, we must enter into the world around us in such a way that allows people to encounter Christ in ways that they understand. It means that we must give up many things that we (may) have every right to, but that get in the way of representing Christ's incarnational presence in our neighbourhoods, cultures and world.
In 1 Corinthians 9, we are to "become all things to all men so that by all possible means" other will be saved. So we do not simply contextualize, we contextualize as Christ in the culture (which we will discuss more in the next point). It is important to note that, while we seek to "become all things to all men", we cannot be all things at the same time. This is why singular expressions and models copied elsewhere can undermine the effectiveness of being truly missional.
Countercultural: As I suggested in the previous point, we are be an incarnational expression of Christ in culture, but simply an adaptation (or compromise) with the culture in general. Going back to my reference to "implication not application", we must recognize that the incarnational presence we are called to represent is not compatible with all aspects of our the world around us. Be it individualism or consumerism (two of the most serious threats to the Church today), we cannot and must not attempt to accomodate aspects of culture that would undermine the mission of God, but rather live boldly apart and even against them. We are called to be a peculiar people in that our radical obedience to Christ will set us apart, not simply through rejection and isolation, but by engaging the world as living alternatives.
We must be careful here too, for we can call all sorts of isolationism "countercultural". Further, we can even begin to gain an identity around those things which we reject (as many Christians seem to be defined by their anti-gay or anti-abortion stances, or more subtley and closer to home, by being anti-program or anti-institution). As a Canadian, I can tell you that there is little stability in an identity defined by what we are not. Again, we are to be countercultural, not in what we oppose, but through the living alternative we represent before a watching world.
This, of course, only brushes the surface of what I believe missional to be (and much of it could do with some serious qualification, but that's what the comment section is for, right?). However, the beauty of missional is that it is a communal reality.
Jamie Arpin-Ricci is a writer, inner city missionary / church planter and used bookstore "owner". You can find him blogging at www.missionalblog.com.
Copyright © 2008 Jamie Arpin-Ricci. All rights reserved.
0 comments so far...
Leave a comment
Use the form below to add comments, suggestions, and the inevitable off-topic banter (please keep to a minimum). Feel free to use HTML code (optional), and be aware that we reserve the right to edit any raw language or banter that's too far off topic.
2 of 2 | ‹ Previous Page
Recommend this 316 story on your favorite social bookmarking site.
What Is Missional?
Published: November 14, 2008
The greatest beauty of a missional church, is that it is a communal reality.
To link to this article from your blog, copy and paste the url below into your blog or homepage. Using this link will ensure access to the article, even after it becomes part of the 316 archive.
Permalink: