We have been directly told or overheard that the Church is the only hope to the dying world. Indeed, it is true! God has meant the Church (the body of Christ) to represent and reflect Christ and to carry Christ’s mission to the world. To what extent is the Church missional today? The Lausanne Movement members attempted to define “missional congregation” in one of the papers. Before I could quote few excerpts from the paper, I wish to explain what Lausanne movement is about. It is a global, evangelical initiative, founded in 1974 by Billy Graham and John Stott, dedicated to connecting Christian leaders and influencers to accelerate global mission and collaboration. Centered on the "whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world," it focuses on evangelism, discipleship, and addressing social issues.
‘It is our deep conviction that congregations both in the West and in the Two-Thirds Worlds must make the transition to become “missional congregations”. What is a missional congregation? They are those communities of Christ-followers who see the church as the people of God who are sent on a mission. Their identity is largely rooted in what they do apart from a church service or a church building. They cease to yield to the Christendom assumptions that the surrounding culture will naturally want to come to church, or that coming to church is the goal of all missions. They no longer see cultures in terms of Christian and non-Christian. Instead, all cultures, be it the historic West, former colonies of the West, or countries with little Western contact are all equal candidates for mission involvement. These Christ-followers seek to embody the way of Christ within their surrounding cultures and not necessarily within the four walls of a church building or service.
Almost everyone has an image in their mind when they hear the words “local church.” The image may be a building on a stretch of rural hi-way or on a busy corner in the heart of a great city. It may be an image of smiling faces, friends and warm greetings as people gather at a building or outside in the open air. It may be a small group engaged in Bible study and prayer, or perhaps a larger group of dozens or even thousands of people meeting for worship. Whatever the image, one of the greatest challenges for local congregations today is to discern and be faithful to their special identity as Christ’s body designed and equipped by the Holy Spirit for God’s mission in the world.
Every local congregation is only a true representative of the body of Christ when they serve the world in mission. If the local church fails to “go” and instead waits for others to “come,” they are disobedient. If the church’s witness is only within our walls and not outward to “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8), the church neglects their primary calling as priests to the world. William Temple, former Archbishop of Canterbury, once noted that ‘the Church of Jesus Christ is the only cooperative society that exists primarily for the benefit of its non-members. The local church must regain the reputation as mission-driven and intensely passionate in responding to the world for the glory of the Lord.’
In this paper put together beautifully, it repeatedly points out one important fact that the Church witness cannot happen within the four walls of the building. Christ did not mean Church to be limited within a particular facility and if it does, then that would mean imprisoning people to a particular condition that would result in stunted growth. Church is all about equipping the believers to be an effective witness and be a disciple maker (Acts 1:8; 2 Timothy 2:2; Matt 28:19) beyond themselves. Michael Goheen cites, “If the church is meant to point beyond itself to God’s kingdom, then it’s very structure must reflect a missionary identity rather than an inward concern for its own survival.”
Missiologist Alan Roxburgh notes that, “If you were born between 1925 and 1945 there’s a 60 percent chance you’re in a church today. If you were born between 1946 and 1964 there’s a 40 percent chance you’re in a church today. If you were born between 1965 and 1983 there’s a 20 percent chance you’re in a church today. If you were born after 1984 there is less than a 10 percent chance you’re in a church today.” The bottom line is more and more people are less and less interested in the programs and activities of the church. We must move from thinking of the church as a vendor of religious goods and services to the called and sent missionary. This shift in how we understand the Church will reshape how we think about mission, discipleship, evangelism, vocation and scorecards.
Rowan Williams, theologian and former Archbishop of Canterbury makes a strong comment, “Start with the Church and the mission will probably get lost. Start with mission and it is likely that the church will be found.”. Instead of focusing on how to do church gathering better, begin to rewrite the playbook. How are you going to empower and disciple all the people of God into His? We often wrongly assume that the primary activity of God is in the Church. Instead, the primary activity of God is in the world, and the Church is the instrument created by God to be sent into the world to participate in what He is already doing. Let us remind ourselves as Brad Brisco states, “the church doesn’t just send missionaries, the church IS the missionary.”. Majority of the Church’s witness must take place in neighborhoods, workplaces and public spaces. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the Church to equip the people of God to participate in public life and engage in His mission in these spaces. Finally let me leave you with the following challenges by Brad Brisco (Abridged from Brad Brisco’s excerpt):
"Pastors model witnessing,
Equip believers to be a witness and share the gospel regularly,
Engage the city,
Organize around Mission,
Bring Value,
Seek restoration,
Make Disciples,
Then, birth a new church."
You may read the last blog