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“Missional” or “missional living” is a Christian term that essentially describes a missionary lifestyle. Being missional involves embracing the posture, thinking, behaviors, and practices of a missionary to reach others with the message of the gospel. The term “missional” gained popularity towards the end of the 20th century influenced by Timothy Keller, Alan Hirsch, and others, as well as the Gospel and Our Culture Network. Their fundamental premise is that all Christians should participate in the Great Commission of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20).
Essentially, the concept of being missional teaches that the church has a mission because Jesus had a mission. It asserts that the “missional church is a community of God’s people that defines itself, and organizes its life around, its true purpose of being an agent of God’s mission to the world. In other words, the church’s genuine and authentic organizing principle is mission. When the church is on a mission, it is the true church.” However, there has been some confusion regarding the term “missional.”
Alan Hirsch, one of its proponents, states that “missional” is not interchangeable with “emerging.” The emerging church is primarily a renewal movement striving to contextualize Christianity for a postmodern generation. “Missional” is also distinct from “evangelistic” or “seeker-sensitive.” These terms generally refer to what he terms the “attractional” model of church that has been predominant in our understanding for many years. Missional is not a novel way to discuss church growth. While God certainly desires the church to grow numerically, it is just one aspect of the broader missional agenda. Lastly, missional transcends social justice. Involvement with the poor and addressing inequalities is part of being God’s agent in the world, but it should not be conflated with the whole mission.
Hirsch also states that a proper understanding of missional living begins with reclaiming a missionary understanding of God. By His very nature, God is a “sending God” who takes the initiative to redeem His creation. This doctrine, known as missio Dei, is leading many to redefine their understanding of the church. Because the church is composed of the “sent” people of God, it serves as the instrument of God’s mission in the world. However, most individuals believe that missions are an instrument of the church, a method by which the church grows. Although Christians often say, “The church has a mission,” according to missional theology, a more accurate statement would be “the mission has a church.”
While many churches have mission statements or discuss the importance of having a mission, what sets missional churches apart is their attitude toward the world. A missional church views the mission as both its starting point and its guiding principle. It is modeled after what God accomplished in Jesus Christ, meaning that being missional entails being sent into the world; not waiting for people to come to us. This concept distinguishes a missional church from an “attractional” church.
The attractional church aims to engage with the culture and bring people into the church. However, this approach is only effective when minimal cultural adjustment is needed to transition from outside to inside the church. With Western culture increasingly becoming post-Christian, the attractional church has lost its effectiveness. The West now resembles a cross-cultural missionary environment where attractional churches are counterproductive. The process of removing individuals from the culture and integrating them into the church weakens their ability to communicate with those outside. Consequently, people stop being missional and instead delegate that responsibility to the clergy.
Missional signifies a significant change in how one perceives the church. Being missional implies that we should engage with the world in the same way Jesus did.Corrected text:
did—by going out rather than just reaching out. Missional means that when a church is in mission, it is then the true church.
According to Dave DeVries, author of “Missional Transformation: Fueling Missionary Movements that Transform America,” there are five biblical distinctives that form the foundation of a missional perspective:
• The Church is sent by Jesus Christ (John 17:18; John 20:21; Luke 9:2; Matthew 28: 19–20; Acts 1:8)
• The Church is sent with the Cross (1 Corinthians 1:18; Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 2:14, 1 Peter 2:24, 2 Corinthians 5:17-24)
• The Church is sent in Community (Acts 2:42–47; 5:42; John 13:34–35; 1 John 3:16–17)
• The Church is sent to every Culture (John 1:14; Matthew 20:28; Acts 17:22–34; Luke 5:29)
• The Church is sent for the King and His Kingdom (Matthew 10:7; Matthew 25:34; Luke 4:43; Revelation 11:15–17; Jeremiah 10:7; John 18:36)
So, the question is asked, “Should Christians be missional?” Fundamentally, missional theology is not content with missions being a church-based work. Instead, it applies to the entire life of every believer. In reality, every disciple of Christ should strive to be an agent, a representative.Of the Kingdom of God; and every follower should strive to carry out the mission of God in every aspect of his life. We are all missionaries sent into the world.
There are numerous ways we can accomplish this as we are each uniquely blessed with specific talents and skills to use for the glory of God. Jesus has instructed us in Matthew 5:13-16 that we are the salt of the earth, the light of the world… to let our light shine before others.
And, lastly, considering this concept of being “missional,” we can best summarize it with the words of the apostle Paul: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God… and whatever you do, whether in speech or action, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (1 Corinthians 10:31;Colossians 3:17).
