Connected
*

Mike Frost on Missional Churches 

Most of us look at church and believe that it is based around four functions: worship, building community, discipleship, and mission. The mainstream church has chiefly organised its conduct around these functions with a particular emphasis on worship.

With worship as the central focus, we gather people together so that we build community. Teaching will happen in the middle of it. And we evangelise by inviting people along to experience it.

Is this the way we should organise our churches? Should the emphasis be on worship in this way?

We have looked at how worship can reach out to the community to achieve mission. But what would it look like if we worshipped by reaching out to the community in mission?

Building community and discipleship is better when working through mission than when we attempt it through worship. We are not trying to play one off against the other; we are merely changing how these organise are functions.

Three reasons for orientating the church around mission:

1) Theological reasons:

The nature and character of God demands that people have mission as their organising function. God was the “greatest missionary” as he “sent” Jesus to make the ultimate sacrifice by living with man and taking on their sin. After Jesus was raised up to heaven, the Holy Spirit was also “sent” to move among man.

In doing these things God reached out to us. Therefore it makes sense that we should reach out to our brothers and sisters by “sending” ourselves into mission in the same way.

 

If you are filled with the Spirit what do you do? Is it that you only speak in tongues and prophesy? Or do you share and take it into the community?

2) Socio-political Reasons

The average person is not interested in attending church. Too often there is in-fighting within churches about how we should conduct our worship.

This is not an issue that interests the non-believer. Nor is it likely that any amount of changes to the worship is going to reach the average person. However, by being a missional community, people realise that they are loved by their church. It is in this way that we are more likely to reach people. Not by replacing our pews with comfy chairs! People will be happy to worship in any way if they feel reached.

3) Inner church psyche reasons

Mission catalyses community and discipleship in a way that worship does not. If you are on mission you need to know the answers to difficult questions and therefore study of the Bible is very important. If worship is the principle organising agent then people do not need to learn from the Bible and sermons quite so urgently. Therefore, mission motivates people to study.

How can we become a Missional Church?

  • Let Jesus be the reference point. Look more and more like Jesus in your life. Let the narrative of the gospel take over your narrative.
  • Foster a radical spirituality of engagement during worship. When you consider worship, do not exclude what you do in serving in day to day life, for this is connection with God as well. We must also remember that God is very present when we announce the lordship of Jesus to those around us.
  • Be inspired by prevening grace. (Prevening grace is the grace of God that exists in a situation prior to human action.)
  • Follow God into strange places. Mike listed examples of places where the Spirit of God had taken hold. These included: tattoo parlours, shoe shops, a hot dog restaurant and a water skiing lake. Listening to God becomes a radical missional practice.
  • Inspire other people to go with you. It would not be wise for reasons of safety against the attacks of the evil one, but more importantly because Mission is a corporate and a communal activity.
 

Questions to ask Yourself before Starting a Mission

  • "To whom has God sent us?" Geographical location and social group should be considered. It is important that the group going into mission commits to consensus. This means that each person within the group needs to be in agreement about the approach.
  • "Who will go with me?" If no one will join you then you should take it that you would be better used joining a different mission or leading others into another area.
  • "Where will I meet them?" People orientate themselves around their homes, their work place and where meaningful interactions can take place, otherwise known as “the third place”. These are the places we need to seek out because these are where people are open to building relationships. It is possible to create your own third place but this opens you to the possibility of either financial failure if the place is unsuccessful or you might not be able to cultivate the correct atmosphere for meaningful interaction. It is therefore best to seek out existing third places. To reach people that you meet in such places you must have the capacity to be spontaneous and available if you are invited to spend more time with individuals. Our attitude that we have to be excellent [in all our endeavours] is stopping us from having the space and time for third place mission.
  • "How might we be led in that context?"
  • "What Missional practices are going to unleash the values in our community?" Mike gave an example from his own missional church. Each member were committed to achieving five goals each week. These included: bless three people per week, eat with three people per week, listen to the Holy Spirit, learn about Jesus, and journal all the ways you’ve been sent into the world.