Missional

I was reading a post on "missional" when I ran across a link to an article by Tim Conder that appeared in a Christianity Today issue several months back. I've taken an excerpt that I think really gets to the point of what many who are truly trying to live missionally are really all about.

"In essence, missional churches seek to align their identity, activities, and hopes with God’s redemptive mission on earth. This is a tall order for churches that brim with cultural and programming expectations, resource abundance, iconic labels (like “evangelical” or “mainline” or “Pentecostal”), and visions of grand ambitions. The temptation is always to have a grand scheme to which we incessantly try to woo or invoke God’s presence rather see ourselves fitting into God’s agenda.

In contrast, the missional church is a corrective to or an outright rejection of commodified and cultural Christianity, steeped in institutionalism, individualism, and sentimentality."

Wow, an amazing summation of what many are feeling and trying to live out each day. May our lives always fly in the face of any/all institutionalized, individualized, commodified Christianity. My (new) pastor is teaching through a series called "Reorientation", where we are looking at different ways God is calling us to reorient our lives around Him, His work and His Kingdom. It is tough to hear, tough to think about and even tougher to live out....anything but an "attractional model" that so many churches are trying to perfect. We are finding out that all of these things we hold so highly are only accomplished within genuine community. That is probably another post. Everyone (all 1 of you) have a great day!