From Doing Missions to Being Missional
Ircel Harrison, Pinnacle Coaching Coordinator
Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote, “It is not the church of God that has a mission. It’s the God of mission that has a church.” This idea upends past approaches to how the church should be engaged with the world. In our present context, churches are beginning to embrace a new paradigm of what it means to be on mission.
In the old paradigm, “missions” was something that was done somewhere else by people who were specifically called to leave their homes and do evangelistic and philanthropic work in strange and exotic places. Most denominations had overseas, domestic, and state mission boards who were responsible for this work. The role of those in local congregations was to pray for the missionaries, learn about their work, provide the funds for them to pursue their ministries, and give them a platform to tell and about what they were doing. There may have been a few local mission opportunities such as a “rescue mission” for the down and out, but believers more often supported this type of ministry with donations than with personal involvement.
Somewhere along the way, this paradigm started to break down. There are several reasons for this.
On the positive side, more Christians became involved in hands-on mission service. An increasing number of lay people from congregations became personally involved--locally, nationally, and overseas. There also emerged a broader understanding of the purpose of missions as social justice and community transformation in addition to evangelism and church planting.
On the negative side, many denominations became more fractured over doctrinal, cultural, and governance issues. As a result, some local congregations became distrustful of how their mission dollars were being used. Churches began to make choices about the mission efforts they would support through donations, personal involvement, and partnerships. Some of these were denominationally related and some were not, but these approaches tended to be external to the church rather than an integral part of its identity.
Concurrent with these changes, a new understanding of what it means for the church to be on mission began to emerge. Theologians such as Lesslie Newbigin reframed the role of believers in writing, “The church is not meant to call men and women out of the world into a safe religious enclave but to call them out in order to send them back as agents of God’s kingship.” In a more contemporary setting, church strategist Alan Roxburgh explains it in this way: “Mission is not something that a church does as an activity; it is what the church is through the mystery and formation of its calling. The church is God’s missionary people.”
In the new paradigm, we no longer “do missions” but we are God’s missionary people. Rather than “farm out” their mission involvement to others, churches have the opportunity to assess their own unique gifts and resources and seek the leadership of the Holy Spirit in making choices about how they will be missional today. Congregations are beginning to see that each faith community is uniquely called and equipped to be on mission within in their context. This is a more organic approach that requires time, prayer, and effort, but it also enhances engagement and innovation. With change comes opportunity for each church to embrace its missionary calling.
Pinnacle’s Transforming Church Initiatives can help in this process. Check our website for more information.