The term missional is commonly used in conversations among Christians today. The earliest known usage of the word missional occurred in 1883 in The Heroes of African Discovery and Adventure, by C.E. Bourne, and its next usage materialized in 1907 in The Age of Justinian and Theodora by W.G. Holmes, though neither of these occurrences uses the word the way it is used today. As the term has grown in popularity, it brings with it some theological concerns, challenges, and opportunities.

The defining missiological debate in mission history has been the relationship between "church and mission," which has become a catalyst for three dimensions of missional: missionary, mission, and the missio Dei.

The Church as "Missionary"

In 1910, John Mott called the leaders of the evangelical world to the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. The conference's ambition was to carry the gospel to the entire non-Christian world (compare Luke 9:1-6). The Edinburgh conferees formed a committee that gave birth to the International Missionary Council (IMC) in 1921. The IMC's humble beginnings were an international collaboration between Protestant missionary societies. After 1921, the IMC--and later the Worldwide Council of Churches (WCC)--became the ecumenical vehicle by which many groups moved toward greater cooperation (Hedlund, Roots of the Great Debate in Mission, 39).

One of the most important early meetings of the IMC was the 1938 conference in Tambaram (also called Madras), India. The meeting included a focus on the centrality of the local church and its engagement in mission. William Hogg said, "In a day when many regarded the historic church as an unnecessarily appendage to 'the Christian spirit,' Madras brought a new awareness of the church's importance" (Hogg, Ecumenical Foundations, 297-278).

The Tambaram conference called the church to be the bearer of the Gospel in every sphere of life (Moreau, ed., "Tambaram Conference"). After the meeting, it was no longer possible to talk of mission without directly linking to the church--the church is God's missionary to the world (Acts 17:24-29). Francis Dubose, who used the word missional to reflect this sense in his 1983 book, God Who Sends, said he intentionally used the word to focus on the church as "missionary."

Tambaram's linking of mission and the church did not go without opposition. Former Indian missionary and Methodist theologian, E. Stanley Jones, questioned this emphasis, fearing that the substitution of the church for the Kingdom of God might fleece the missionary movement of the "needed fires of imagination, enthusiasm, and self-criticism" (Phillip, Edinburgh to Salvador). However, the Tambaram conference was clear and reminds us that a missional focus reminds us that the church is God's missionary in the world.

The Church Has a Mission

The 1952 IMC conference in Willingen, Germany, was themed "The Missionary Obligation of the Church." The theological debate on the missionary responsibility of the church became a topic of controversy, and the conference failed to accept the report on this subject. Dutch theologian J.C. Hoekendijk, whose opposition influenced the future of the conciliar missions movement, particularly resisted this church-centric view of mission in a paper entitled "The Church in the Missionary Thinking." Hoekendijk protested the "ecclesiocentric" view of missions and blamed the IMC conference of Madras for mission's propensity towards "churchism."

Willingen rejected Heokendijk's position and also affirmed that the missionary obligation of the church was found in the nature of God: "There is no participation in Christ without participation in His mission to the world..." (Goodal, ed., Missions Under the Cross, 180-190). The church changed from being the sender to being the one sent (compare John 20:21). This calling shows the self-revealing activity of God, who is the author of both church and mission (Georg Vicedom, The Mission of God). David Bosch says, "This evolution meant a momentous shift in the understanding of the church and mission" (Bosch, Transforming Mission, 371).

Charles van Engen popularized the term missional in his 1991 book, God's Missionary People: Rethinking the Purpose of the Local Church. He uses missional to talk about the types of relationships that the church has with culture--ambassadors, foreigners, pilgrims, etc. In an e-mail correspondence, Van Engen shared, "My understanding of 'missional' derives from what I would call a 'classical understanding' of mission: that women and men, through personal faith and conversion by the work of the Holy Spirit, would become disciples of Jesus Christ and responsible members of Christ's church."

Thus, the Willingen meeting and later people like Charles van Engen reminded us that a missional focus exhorts us that the church is on a biblical mission.

The Church Joins in the Missio Dei

After Willingen, a group that included Hoekendijk issued a rival report that pulled "missionary thinking away from the 'church-centered' model" and spoke "more of God's work in the secular world," apart from the church (Newbigin, Unfinished Agenda: An Autobiography, 138). This view--that the church is to join God in what he is doing in the world--became the prevailing view soon after the Willingen conference. Thus, the missio Dei became the focus of mission and mission was seen as originating as an attribute of God (building on an emphasis from Karl Barth decades earlier). Furthermore, Lesslie Newbigin's consolidated committee report signified a clear embrace of the Trinitarian grounding of missionary action. In Newbigin's version, missio Dei is movement from God to the world, and the church serves as an instrument for that mission.

The missio Dei movement would take new directions in the decades following Willingen--and those directions led to problematic theological and missiological conclusions that cannot be adequately traced in this brief article. In short, Hoekendijk (and others that followed) sought to define the missio Dei as larger than the church. He challenged the member bodies in the WCC to abandon the traditional form of church and missions. He held that the congregations should abandon their buildings and institutions and become bands of roving ministers, believing that the time for evangelistic mission work had passed. Hoekendijk's adaptation of missio Dei ultimately became a churchless mission and had wide-ranging impact on future missiological conversations.

However, theologians and missiologists would seek to reclaim that emphasis and focus on the missio Deiv with an emphasis more similar to the conversations that followed Willingen.

In the 1990's, Darrell Guder, editor and contributor for the Missional Church (1998), traces his view of the missional church through Vatican II (which was influenced by the post-Willingen conversation): "The church on earth is by its very nature missionary since, according to the plan of the Father, it has its origin in the mission of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity, 813, as quoted in Darrell Guder, Walking Worthily: Missional Leadership After Christendom, 252). Guder's desire was to take the best of the missio Dei conversation, mostly before its later expressions, and to rally around the missio Dei idea.

Thus, the focus on the church joining in the missio Dei, bearing witness to what God was doing in the world, was reengaged with a new (and for the first time widely embraced) term: missional.

Thus, a missional focus reminds us that the church is joining God on his mission, the missio Dei.

An Unchurchly Mission = An Unmissionary Church

Through the conversations at Tambaram, Willingen, and immediately after Willingen, most missiologists would agree that the church is to live as God's missionary agent, to be focused on the biblical mission, and to join God in the missio Dei.

The conferences mentioned and the emphases they provided are helpful in defining these dimensions. However, there are also errors to be avoided, namely a mission that does not include the church Newbigin has said, "An unchurchly mission is as much a monstrosity as an unmissionary church" (Newbigin, The Household of God, 169). Every Missional thinkers who root ideas in the historical debate over "church and mission" must be careful not to end up where the IMC movement led which was a "churchless" mission. The church as missionary led to the church having a mission, which then led to the church joining the missio Dei. Unfortunately, the IMC took it one step further by insisting that the missio Dei was to be found outside of the church.

In today's church conversations, there is a resurgence of the idea of a missional church. In its untainted sense, missional finds the inseparability of "church and mission" from God himself. In Matthew 16, Jesus tells Peter that He will build His church through him, the gates of hell will not overcome it, and that He will give Peter the "keys of the Kingdom of heaven." The "keys" are the authority given to the church, including the opportunity to present individuals with the Gospel--the message of salvation (Acts 15:7-9; Barton, ed., Life Application New Testament Commentary, 76). Here is the strongest connection between "church and mission." The church's mission involves Kingdom expansion--but God uses the church as his Kingdom tool. The disciples--a proto church--are indeed sent (John 20:21) on a Kingdom mission.

The church remains the fellowship through which our Lord promotes and advances His purposes. Its mission is not secondary to its being; the church exists in being sent and in building itself up for the sake of its mission. It has best been said, "Missionary activity is not so much the work of the church as simply the Church at work" (Power, Mission Theology Today, 41-42).

May the church discover its missionary passion, mission focus, and missio Dei orientation.

Last week, Komen for the Cure decided to no longer fund Planned Parenthood.  The uproar was immediate and overwhelming from Planned Parenthood and the media.

Here is a recap:  

Komen Says Planned Parenthood Plans Are Mischaracterized -- USA Today

The founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure said Thursday that there had been a "gross mischaracterization" about the group's controversial decision to stop funding breast exams at Planned Parenthood.

Komen, the country's largest breast cancer charity, gave $680,000 to Planned Parenthood last year to provide health education and breast exams to poor and uninsured women. Komen, which helped popularize pink ribbons as a symbol of breast cancer awareness, will not renew most of those grants because of a new policy denying money to groups under investigation. Planned Parenthood is being investigated by Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., for possibly using taxpayer money for abortions.

The controversy hasn't hurt Komen financially, Brinker said: Contributions "are up 100% in the past two days." Planned Parenthood also got a boost from the controversy, raising $650,000 in the 24 hours after the news broke, with an additional $250,000 pledge from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Then, Komen changed its mind, to the disappointment of many:

UPDATE from The Christian Post:

[Friday's] surprise announcement by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation to reverse its decision to fund Planned Parenthood has pro-life groups and advocates shaking their heads. The reversal will mostly likely alienate supporters on both sides, causing even more trouble for the breast cancer group.

The nation's leading advocate for breast cancer awareness previously gave abortion provider Planned Parenthood millions of dollars in grants, including at least $700,000 in 2011 alone.

"Well, I think one of the benefits that has come from this saga is now the broad majority of Americans realize the Komen connection to the world's foremost abortion provider," Brian Harris, the director of Tennessee Right to Life, told The Christian Post. "Millions of pro-life Americans - who have momentum now - will know to avoid any involvement with Komen until they become consistently committed to protecting all human life."

The group's announcement on Tuesday that they would no longer continue funding Planned Parenthood brought abortion supporters - most notably a group of Democrat U.S. Senators, out of the woodwork - thus creating some intense political drama that most likely contributed to the reversal.

What is creating even more drama is Friday's reversal of their previous decision. 

Thom Rainer put out this statement:

Statement on the Komen Decision from Dr. Thom Rainer, LifeWay president and CEO:

I am deeply disappointed with Friday's announcement from Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation if it means a reversal of Komen's decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood. I renew my strong encouragement of Komen's leadership to end that relationship permanently, and restate LifeWay's commitment to not be involved, even indirectly, with Planned Parenthood.

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Eight GetReligion Comments After Eight Years -- GetReligion.org

Eight years ago, the Rt. Rev. Douglas LeBlanc clicked a button with his mouse and GetReligion went live. I wrote the first post on Feb. 1, 2004, but the site actually kicked into gear the next day.

So, this is GetReligion's eighth birthday. What should we do in order to celebrate, in the midst of another crazy working week? Here are eight observations about what I have learned in eight years of work here.

1. GetReligion is not a blog about religion news.
2. Lots of people hate religion and lots of religious people hate journalism.
3. What we are dealing with is a Blind Spot with two sides. In other words, the two halves of the First Amendment do not get along very well.
4. The bottom line: The state of American journalism will be improved by people who love journalism, not by those who hate it.
5. No one knows what the word "evangelical" means, including evangelical leaders.
6. When in doubt, reporters should accurately quote people -- rather than continuing to slap vague and often inaccurate labels on their foreheads.
7. When specific flocks of religious believers keep saying, year after year, that journalists are printing inaccurate information about what they believe, journalists should (a) take that seriously and then (b) tell these believers to come down to the local newsroom with stacks of on-the-record reference materials that explain the basics.
8. At some point in the future, there's going to be a story that involves Episcopalians, same-sex marriage, Mormons, post-Vatican II liturgical rites and vampires and the server that hosts this blog is going to blow up.

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Write it Down -- Brad Lomenick

Young leaders consistently ask me: "what's one practical piece of advice for becoming/being a leader who gets things done?" A leader that is trustworthy and reliable. The kind of leader when you ask them to get something done, you have complete confidence that it will happen.

My answer is always the same: Write It Down. Always. What do I mean?

1. Never show up to a meeting without a pen and a notebook.
2. Carry a pen and notebook with you wherever you go.
3. Create a system for organizing your ideas and thoughts.
4. One of the most important, if not THE most important person in the room during a brainstorming or creative session is the notetaker.

By doing these things, it frees you up to have energy to be creative, think outside the box, dream, and ultimately have a list that works and a way to keep a running account of what items are on your list to get done.

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Super Bowl Commercials

The Skechers ad below ran last night during the Super Bowl. It's reported that "Mr. Quiggly" was a late replacement for another Skechers ad that was to feature Kim Kardashian. I think they made a good choice.

What was your favorite commercial from the big game?

Earlier this week at EdStetzer.com

• Thursday is for Thinkers: Sally Lloyd-Jones
• A Closer Look: Incarnation and Christology
• Evangelical Convictions: A Conversation with Greg Strand about the Evangelical Free Church's Doctrinal Statement Revision
• Monday is for Missiology: Three Important Church Trends and the Elephant in the Church
• Saturday is for Seminars: The D6 Conference in Frisco, TX

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Church Signs of the Week

Since this weekend marks the end of the NFL season, it's only appropriate that we celebrate with more Tebow. Thanks to Drew Clayton and Josh Weaver for these.

As always, send me your signs on twitter @EdStetzer.

Today marks the 2012 debut of my Thursday is for Thinkers series, and I am pleased to welcome Sally Lloyd-Jones to the blog. Over the next few months I will sharing guest posts from Kelly Minter, Jen Hatmaker, Eugene Cho, and a host others.

Many of you know Sally as the author of the Jesus Storybook Bible. We have the book and use it in our home. The unique quality found in many of Sally's books is the Christo-centric nature in which she directs the story. So today, I asked her to talk about that and how she shapes the stories she writes. Sally will be interacting today on the blog, so feel free to ask questions you may have in the comments below.

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People have approached me, holding up one of my children's books, flicking through it backwards--awful for a writer because it implies the order of the words don't matter--and cheerfully announcing, "I'm going to do one. I mean. REALLY. How hard can it be?"

How many of us would dream of going up to a surgeon and saying, "I'm going to do an Angioplasty. I mean. REALLY. How hard can it be?"

That people feel free to say this about children's books tells you a lot--not so much about what they think of children's book writers. That's not important. It tells you what they think of children.

I think it's because they don't have a high enough view of children.

Our proper attitude before children should be humility. We need to be writing up to children--never down.

It also tells you something else: that they have too low a view of Story.

What is the lesson in that story? What is the message? I'm often asked that. But a story is not a sermon.

As writers we know we better not preach on the page. Our job is to tell a story. Not teach a lesson. If we have an agenda, a message in code we want to get across, a moral we want to teach in our writing--it might be an excellent lecture. But it won't be a good story.

It's too low a view of what a story is, of what a story can do. A story can do more than teach you.

A story can transform you.

One Sunday, I was reading the story of Daniel and the Scary Sleepover to some 6 year olds. One little girl in particular was sitting so close to me she was almost in my lap. Her face was bright and eager as she listened to the story, utterly captivated. She could hardly keep on the ground and kept kneeling up to get closer to the story.

At the end of the story there were no other teachers around and I panicked and went into automatic pilot and heard myself--to my horror--asking, "And so what can we learn from Daniel about how God wants us to live?"

And as I said those words it was as if I had literally laid a huge load on that little girl. Like I broke some spell. She crumpled right in front of me, physically slumping and bowing her head. I will never forget it.

It is a picture of what happens to a child when we turn a story into a sermon.

When we drill a Bible story down into a moral lesson, we make it all about us. But the Bible isn't mainly about us, and what we are supposed to be doing--it's about God, and what he has done through Jesus!

When we tie up the story in a nice neat little package, and answer all the questions, we leave no room for mystery. Or discovery. We leave no room for the child. No room for God.

Our focus needs to be not on giving all the right answers. But on raising the right questions.

There may be things just above the children's heads. They may not know every word. They may not understand everything. But let the story do its work, let the language weave its spell.

And then let children do what they love doing best--standing on tiptoes.

A Chinese proverb says: "A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."

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Sally has a new picture book out all about love. Its called Just Because You're Mine. How does a daddy love his little squirrel? Is it because he so fast? Or strong? Or brave? Or good? He's all of those things but the answer is a heartwarming testament to the bond between a parent and a child and the nature of unconditional love. You can connect with Sally online here.

How Do You Preach a 'One Time' Sermon? -- Ed Stetzer at The Gospel Coalition 

Whether someone is preaching in view of a call, filling in for a vacationing pastor, or performing a wedding, every pastor will have to deliver a "one time" sermon at some point. Deciding what to preach or how to preach can be a challenge, especially if the pastor is young and doesn't have a handy sermon stashed away in his back pocket for these occasions. However, it's harder when you are the guest preacher with a single topic. I think you can go about it in two legitimate ways.

1. Preach a text on a topic.
2. Preach a topic with texts. 

The Pro's and Con's of Planting a Church In a Movie Theater -- Brandon Cox 

We didn't intend to launch in a theater. I fact, we spent a great deal of time looking at retail spaces, but eventually landed at the Malco because of space, price, and availability. There's a part of me that fell in love with the idea before we moved in, and has remained attached to it since.

The advantages: The rent is great, decorating is done, we don't have to stack chairs, the cultural barrier between the church and the community around the church that is automatically gone, the acoustics are great, there's a screen, kids think that going to kids' worship in a theater is awesome, we have community visibility, and the theater personnel are wonderful at both the local and corporate levels. 

The disadvantages: We only have access on Sunday mornings until noon, altar calls are tough to figure out, the loading and unloading & setting up and tearing down, lighting is an issue, sometimes the movie posters in the lobby scare the children, sometimes there is the remnant odor of popcorn...which could fit in either category, actually.  

 

How to Make Your Company More Social -- Mashable 

A business becomes more inherently social by going beyond the corporate Twitter account and Facebook Page. A social business engages the entire company, from CEO to executive assistant. Take advantage of the opportunity to foster your company's internal community and teach valuable social media skills as the space rapidly grows and evolves. But how do you get everyone on board?

1. Give Interactive Tutorials
2. Focus on Fun Ways to Use Twitter
3. Find Influencers Within the Company
4. Launch a Fun Contest or Internal Campaign
5. Engage
6. Get creative!

 

Four Practical Reasons for Small Groups -- Rick Warren  

We may attract attenders through preaching, but disciples are made in small groups. Small groups provide the kind of accountability and support we need to mature as believers, so I want to give you four reasons why they are important to your congregation. As you lead your congregation toward a deeper relationship with Jesus, you'll want to explain to your members why small groups are so important to their spiritual growth and why they are more than just a Bible study.

1. Small groups are relational.
2. Small groups are flexible.
3. Small groups are expandable.
4. Small groups are economical.

 

Happy Groundhog Day 

Much has been said over the past week about the nature of the Trinity and the three persons which make up the God-head. This week's essay, featured in the HSCB Study Bible, is penned by Stephen J. Wellum. In his essay, Dr. Wellum takes a closer look at the human and divine natures--commonly known as the hypostatic union--of Christ, the second person in the God-head.

As I'm doing all year long, I am giving away a free HCSB study Bible to a commenter. To be entered to win this week's giveaway, share with us your thoughts on Christ and his incarnation.

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Komen Drops Planned Parenthood Support -- Christianity Today

Facing criticism and boycotts from pro-life groups, breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure has dropped its partnership and financial support of Planned Parenthood and its affiliates, the Associated Press reported today.

Komen spokeswoman Leslie Aun told the Associated Press that the recent controversy with LifeWay was not the reason for the break with Planned Parenthood. Instead, she said, newly organizational rules against grants to groups under governmental investigation came into play when U.S. Representative Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) launched an inquiry.

Planned Parenthood, which conducts breast exams but not mammograms, received more than $600,000 from Komen last year. (One pro-life group put the number at $629,159. Planned Parenthood told the Associated Press that the grants were about $680,000.) Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards said the organization is "alarmed and saddened that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation appears to have succumbed to political pressure."

Richards also indicated that "existing agreements or plans" between Komen and Planned Parenthood will continue, but that Komen Foundation officials have notified Planned Parenthood programs that they are ineligible for new grants.

Read the full article here

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In 2008 the Evangelical Free Church of America adopted a newly revised Statement of Faith. You should give that a read. It's a solid confessional statement that works at connecting each statement to the gospel.

Greg Strand, the EFCA's Director of Biblical Theology and Credentialing, worked on Evangelical Convictions: A Theological Exposition of the Statement of Faith, a book that gives clarity to the theological convictions contained in that Statement, spelling out what is affirmed and what is denied (and what is not addressed). His exposition of the Statement is clear, while avoiding a lot of technical theological terms making the book accessible to as wide an audience as possible.

The Works of Francis Schaeffer -- Tim Challies

Yesterday, we celebrated the 100th birthday of Francis Schaeffer, the 20th century American pastor, theologian, and philosopher. Udo Middleman, President of The Francis A. Schaeffer Foundation, describes him as one who "communicated the truth of historic Biblical Christianity in a way that combined intellectual integrity, artistic sensitivity and a practical loving care. With a sharpened analytical mind he understood and uncovered the roots of modern thinking and its logical conclusion across a wide range of disciplines."

Here is a link to his bestselling titles on Amazon, as well as some additional resources.

As for free online content, thanks to Joe Carter for listing these in his post on The Gospel Coalition blog last week. They are either by or about Schaeffer.

• A Christian Manifesto (A lecture based on the book of the same title.)
• Francis Schaeffer's Philosophy of History [PDF]
• Schaeffer on Education
• FrancisSchaefferStudies.org YouTube channel

Read the full article here

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I write a column in each issue of Facts and Trends magazine. In the most recent issue, I shared some observations of big issues in churches today. I thought I'd share it here at the blog.

I am often asked about the future of the church and, as much as I wish I knew the future, I don't. What I do have, however, is an accumulation of research, access to some of the best ministry thinkers and leaders across a spectrum of denominations and movements, and a critical eye on the ebb and flow of church culture. So, in looking at the trends in our churches, here are three I believe are worth taking note of today.