Missional synchroblog: GO! DO!
I made a wordle for many of the words here, I think it’s neat
Setting aside the argument against labels for a moment and assuming for the sake of conversation that we all use labels as a way to identify ourselves and our social groups, I’d like to attempt to tackle the question “what is missional?”
I feel in some ways, explaining missional is like explaining human - you’d think it’d be so easy since, well, supposedly I am one - - but labels can be infuriating, primarily because meaning lies with the receiver.
So in an attempt to stir the noggin, I’m watching the Graham Norton Show featuring one of my faves, Susan Serandon, and doing a little thought experiment - summerize missional in 3 words.
live well here
eat drink laugh
colabor with God
Jesus is them
Jesus is me
walk the path
listen to others
learn from others
eat with sinners
live on purpose
and the number one 3-word definition of missional
LEAVE YOUR CHURCH
In fact, I think if you put GO before each of the those, it would be even better to me, to talk about missional simply in terms of what it means is contradictory. Talking about missional really needs to be comunicated in terms of what one does, how one lives. The ‘now me’ would say to the ‘then me’, get out and live, cancel at least half of your church commitments, drop out of most of your Bible studies and prayer groups and GET OUT THERE!
Now, being who I am, I now feel compelled to explain what I don’t mean when I say these things. Missional is not *just* relevant, evangelism, missions, attractional >> in other words, it’s not a church growth model or a new curriculum buzz word. So when I say get out there, here’s the paradigm shift from the ‘then me’ to ‘now me’.
“mission” Then:
get out there to talk
get out there to teach
get out there to judge
get out there to save
get out there with a closed posture of protecting myself
get out there to bring back into the church
“missional” Now:
get out there to listen
get out there to learn
get out there to accept
get out there to be saved
get out there with an open posture of Christ
get out there to be the church
Living this way must be on purpose. It is natural to desire to live safely with people you know and agree with. Even further, if you are involved in a Church in any capacity, it will suck you in and before you know it, your weeks revolve around church services, bible studies, planning meetings (we spend more time planning how to love people than we actually do the doing of loving people), prayer services, staff meetings, etc. To avoid this, you have to make certain choices and set certain boundaries. It’s not always easy but I suppose Jesus never promised being a disciple would be. The trick is to learn to rest and find peace is the knowing of Jesus and let the other stuff go and then get busy living.
**edited to add: tomorrow I will follow up to this with the question posed by one of the commenters - “but how do we get there?” Great question that I will try to tackle having been “over there” and working on now being in this missional paradigm.
This is part of a synchroblog organized by Rick Meigs . Please visit some of the other bloggers participating.
Alan Hirsch : Alan Knox : Andrew Jones : Barb Peters : Bill Kinnon : Brad Brisco : Brad Grinnen : Brad Sargent : Brother Maynard : Bryan Riley : Chad Brooks : Chris Wignall : Cobus Van Wyngaard : Dave DeVries : David Best : David Fitch : David Wierzbicki : DoSi : Doug Jones : Duncan McFadzean : Erika Haub : Grace : Jamie Arpin-Ricci : Jeff McQuilkin : John Smulo : Jonathan Brink : JR Rozko : Kathy Escobar : Len Hjalmarson : Malcolm Lanham : Mark Berry : Mark Petersen : Mark Priddy : Michael Crane : Michael Stewart : Nick Loyd : Patrick Oden : Peggy Brown : Phil Wyman : Richard Pool : Rick Meigs : Rob Robinson : Ron Cole : Scott Marshall : Sonja Andrews : Stephen Shields : Steve Hayes : Tim Thompson : Thom Turner
Technorati Tags: missional, synchroblog, church
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Your mission then vs. misional now - spot on, going to rip it to my site so I won’t forget. Will be chewing that one for awhile - thanks.
awesome thoughts, makeesha
i think i need to put all these three word summaries up around the house. there isn’t much else that deserves more constant reminding and reflection.
missional now - YES! how do you get there is the question, when folks are so used the saving/evangelism mode of being missional. i don’t know the answer, but i know i am very weary of thinking it is the church’s job to “save” folks.
[...] Jamie Arpin-Ricci Jeff McQuilkin John Smulo Jonathan Brink JR Rozko Kathy Escobar Len Hjalmarson Makeesha Fisher Malcolm Lanham Mark Berry Mark Petersen Mark Priddy Michael Crane Michael Stewart Nick Loyd Patrick [...]
[...] Jamie Arpin-Ricci Jeff McQuilkin John Smulo Jonathan Brink JR Rozko Kathy Escobar Len Hjalmarson Makeesha Fisher Malcolm Lanham Mark Berry Mark Petersen Mark Priddy Michael Crane Michael Stewart Nick Loyd Patrick [...]
How interesting, Mak! You’re doing three-words and I was doing six-words! Well done.
Thanks everyone - come back tomorrow tql, I’m going to try to address that question.
Peggy - that’s awesome!
love, love, love your 3 word phrases….soooooo good, all of them. it was fun seeing you on saturday eve & i like your wordle, too
[...] The name of this blog, Swinging from the Vine, was inspired by John 15 (specifically verse 5) “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. « Missional synchroblog: GO! DO! [...]
My wife is standing behind me in my home office and she’s ironing! (This NEVER happens, believe me.) And as she is ironing I am reading your three-worded definitions of missional. Her response: YEAH!!! (She liked it!)
Thanks for your contribution to the synchroblog. It is fresh and free. I love it too.
[...] 25, 2008 by Heather Some people have been Wordling this [...]
Mark - I don’t even think I know where my iron is - so big kudos to her and tell her thanks for the “YEAH!”
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[...] Makeesha Fisher shouts two words in her post title, “go” and “do.” She offers a series of three-word definitions of missional: live well here eat drink laugh colabor with God Jesus is them Jesus is me walk the path listen to others learn from others eat with sinners live on purpose [...]
[...] Makeesha Fisher hat kürzlich versucht, die gedankliche Erweiterung, die sich mit den Begriffen “missionarisch” und “missional” verbindet, anhand diesen Textes darzustellen: [...]
[...] vs. Missional‹ von Simon deVries gestossen. In diesem Post greift er einige Gedanken von Makeesha Fisher [...]