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Experimenting Into Change |
In Introducing the Missional Church Roxburgh and Boren describe the early stages in shifting a church culture as "experimenting into change." They warn first of risk aversion. What shapes a risk averse culture?
1. some of the theologies of conversion push toward perfectionism
2. a culture of professionalism pushes us toward a need for control
3. church systems are shaped by the need for performative leadership.
The authors argue that we usually select board positions because of demonstrated ability in managing the existing paradigm of church life. These people care deeply for the congregation, and they know how things have been done, but have little sense of alternatives. Furthermore, "performative" leaders (leaders oriented primarily around maintenance) are invested in success as measured by traditional church (and business) values. They do not want to risk shame by leading the church into unknown places. (183-84) Similarly, Kevin Kelly of WIRED Magazine writes,
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Ontology of Missional Community |
I was looking at a diagram for the rhythm of missional community the other day, the old sodalic/modalic rhythm. It hit me that this was really an ontology - it was a  reflection of the inner life of the Trinity.
God is a perfect community of being. And the overflow of that loving relatedness is mission. The church, reflecting the inner life of the Trinity, exists in the rhythm of inward, and outward life.
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Newbigin on Missional Church |
Newbigin distinguished between missions and mission. The church both "does mission" and "is a mission." Missions are specific activities undertaken by a human decision to bring the gospel to places or situations where it is not heard. These efforts have quantifiable results. But while missions activities are a part of healthy churches, they do not adequately describe the fullness of God's work in the world.
The concept of missio Dei, however, captures Newbigin's wider intention. The mission of the church is less a "missionary mandate" than a participation in the ongoing work of redemption. The missio Dei is God's mission - the grand story of creation, fall, and redemption. And it is a "story," not a list of propositions. Propositions are helpful in particular times and places, but are enculturated by language and ethos. The story, however, rooted in time and place, transcends both. When we attempt to export a set of propositions from one time and place to another, we are usually operating in a colonial mode.
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Church Planting in the NT |
The New Testament knows nothing of this language of "church planting."
Huh. That might be a shock for some.
A friend sent a document that he has been asked to revise that details the framework of their denomination in church planting. The last revision was 1992. What would you expect to find? The document is framed around ecclesiology. The sense is that mission is the property of the church.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge advocate for church planting and for missional leadership. Ah! There is a clue. But how did we get from partnering with God on mission.. something that most of us will identify with a New Testament perspective.. to this language of "church planting." What are the real differences anyway? What biblical anchors do we find, and how might that impact this perspective and language we use so commonly?
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