Mark's Blog

Missional is one of those fuzzy buzz words that one hears at large church gatherings. You think you know what it means, but maybe you don’t—and you can’t ask anyone because everyone else knows what it means except you!

Simple definitions leave a lot of us asking questions, so here is my attempt to give you concrete pegs on which to hang your understanding of missional .

A missional church is

1. Where YOU show up, not God. A missional church is joining God in His work, not inviting God to be a part of your work!
2. Where the members know that the Great Commission says GO, not COME!
3. Where all of the members are missionaries, not just those out of the country.
4. Where mission contributions are not special contributions.
5. Where what happens out of the building is equally important—if not more important—than what happens in the building.
6. Where “going to worship” happens every day, not just on Sundays.
7. Where church leaders meet to pray for new work, not just to manage and control old work.
8. Where members know their neighbors.
9. Where the community would be diminished if the church closed its doors.
10. Where no borders are recognized except those of the Kingdom of God.
11. Where members expect to meet new people at church!
12. Where members expect to have unbelievers at church!
13. Where the church is God’s church, not “our” church.
14. Where its children grow up wanting and encouraged to be missionaries.
15. Where benevolence and evangelism are the same thing.
16. Where there is no difference between my life and church life, my time and God’s time, or my money and God’s money.
17. Where members are not afraid of being in the world because they see it as their mission field.
18. Where members are motivated by love and gratitude.
19. Where members extend grace and mercy, speaking the truth in love.

I feel like there ought to be a #20! What if I leave that open for you to fill in. Leave a comment and share with us what you understand a missional church to be!