The Missional Church - part 1
| 01 September 2009
What comes to mind when you hear the word "missions"? Do you picture men and women in far away lands, handing out Bibles and building orphanages in poor countries? Do you envision people "called to the mission field" in Zambia, Haiti, China, and Ethiopia?
Generally we think of missions as work being done somewhere else by someone else. Rarely do we associate missions work with our own community, our own church, or our own family. At Bible Fellowship, we consider ourselves to be a missional church. Here's what that means...
The word "mission" can be defined as "a special assignment that is given to a person or group". Going by this definition, which is free from religious stereotyping, it is clear that any and all Christians can be assigned a specific mission by God. In fact, the Bible would clearly affirm this.
Romans 8:30 Moreover, those whom [God] predestined [to salvation], he also called...
1 Corinthians 7:17 ...as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk...
Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
1 Peter 2:21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.As a missional church, we believe that all Christians are called by God to be missionaries in their own lives by living out their calling. To be sure, for some, this means full-time ministry as a pastor or overseas missionary. However, that is a limited perspective. Being a missional Christian means being a servant of Jesus whether you are bagging groceries, delivering pizza, playing baseball, designing a website, volunteering at school, or being a parent. Being missional means that you view your life as your mission field; that your sphere of influence is where God wants you to minister for Him. It means that you are proactive (seeking opportunities to bless and serve others) rather than reactive (waiting for opportunities to come to you).
In the past few decades, a strong trend toward "seeker-sensitive" churches was made by some popular authors and pastors. This seeker approach essentially tried to make church as inviting as possible so that people would come to church and find Jesus. While there is nothing necessarily wrong with this, and we certainly want to make our visitors feel welcome, the seeker approach does not take seriously enough Jesus mission assignment to "GO into all the world" with the good news. The missional church understands that no one seeks for God, and so we must take the message of Jesus to the rest of the world.
Bible Fellowship is and desires to be a missional church. As part of our Christian community, we would encourage you to jump on board with our approach to ministry. Become a missionary to your family, friends, co-workers, and anyone else you run into. View your whole life as service to God. Don't be afraid to GO out with the message of Jesus.
Stay tuned for The Missional Church - Part 2, where we look to see how Jesus was a good missionary who sought to fulfill his mission.
