THE CHURCH BEING MISSIONAL

Missional – What does that mean?

A proper understanding of missional begins with recovering a missionary understanding of God. By His very nature, God (the Son, Jesus) is a “Sent One” who takes the initiative to redeem His creation. This doctrine, known as (the mission of God), is causing many to relook at missions and the church.

Jesus told His disciples, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (Jhn 20: 21). It is important to note that a missional community patterns itself after the work of God, in the Incarnation – God had sent His Son. Thus, to be missional means to be sent into the world instead of expecting people to come to us. This posture differentiates a missional church from an attractional church.

Jesus told us to go into all the world and be His ambassadors, but many churches today have inadvertently changed the “go and be” command to a “come and see” appeal. – Meigs

Because we are the “sent” people of God, the church is the instrument of God’s mission in the world. We are to be establishing His Kingdom here on earth. As things stand, many people see it the other way around. They believe missions is an instrument of the Church, a means by which the church is grown. Many churches have mission statements or talk about the importance of missions, but a missional church is different. It sees the mission as both its originating impulse and its organising principle. Thus, a missional church is not content with missions being a church-based work or programme. Rather, it applies to the whole life of every believer. Every disciple is to be an agent of the kingdom of God, and every disciple is to carry the mission of God into every sphere of life.

We are all missionaries sent out – whether near or far – into an unredeemed culture. As the people of a missionary God, we ought to engage the world the same way He does. When the church is in missions, it is the true church.


(Adapted from ‘Defining Missional’, an article by Alan Hirsch on 12/12/08)