|
Missional Church
For the last 1500 years or so, the church has been the center of politics and religion. But now, believe it or not, we live in postmodern world where the church has lost its influence and importance as a social construct. The reason I talk so much about the emerging church is because it is emerging out of this new cultural perspective. It is a rough and uncut - often lead by young people, and it tends to be cross-denominational and not non-denominational. Like the culture it comes out of, the emerging church is ever changing and its defining characteristics are very elastic. But there are some things that these emerging churches have in common. They embrace their culture with a sense of purpose, and they work hard to deconstruct the fortress mentality of the church. While at the same time they live very counter-cultural lives - praying, reading scripter, and rediscovering the ancient ways of the early church.
The Past to Future
Constantine brought the church out of hiding. It became the center of society in a very literal way. The church building was usually in the center of town and its steeple could be seen from miles around. Constantine gave the church so much power and the lines between clergy and political rulers were severely blurred, and finally God used Martin Luther in 1500 to shake things up - but we still experience Constantine's influence today. Most churches are Constantinian in their make up. They aim to build large buildings where they conduct services that represent the apex of spirituality - Sunday morning worship has become the icon of the American church.
Go to any church on a Sunday morning or evening, and you will find a universal format: Singing and preaching design around bringing in visitors into the church in order to assimilate them into the different programs offered. Many of the larger churches do this pretty well. From the moment you park your car to the moment you exist there are volunteers singing for you, preaching to, showing you where to park your car, watching your children, seating you, doing drama for you . . . and the list goes on.
Many smaller churches try this but fail to imitate the larger churches, because they do not have the resources or the volunteer pool to support such an operation.
Western church services are normally incredibly inward in their language and content. Only people familiar to the Christian culture would truly understand the majority of what is said and sung. There is usually a cultural issue where the songs and style is dated. The service only appeals to people whom like that style.
This results in most people feeling they could not bring the average unchurched friend or relative to these services. In fact most of the people who do attend are the members of that congregation or visiting Christians. There are enough visiting or disgruntled Christians, who shop around, that these churches continue on without asking "who is finding Jesus for the first time?" They try all sorts of ways to attract new people, from fairs to fates to coffee lounges to visitor corners; they attempt to bring "the worldly person" into the church. No matter how well they greet and guide people, the cultural gap between the average person and the church is enormous. The western Church simply believes the average unchurched person wants their message.
The missional/emerging church goes back to the life of Jesus. It submerges itself into the culture it is reaching. He did not construct a building or start a service. Rather he walked among the poor and hurt and lost. He incarnated himself. He became flesh; God came down from heaven and lived among us. He was born poor and grew up in a despised town called Nazareth. He had a questionable birth and in all likeliness lost his earthly father at an early age. He became close friends of sinners and was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard. (Luke 8:34)
This was the only model the early church knew. Those that had been his disciples saw how he pulled away from the crowd and wanted no fame or fortune for his ability to lead and heal. His purpose was to build into the lives of a small group of people so that his mission to bring the kingdom would be carried on their shoulders.
The missional church understands that it is primarily a missional community of people being trained and equipped to live among the world as missionaries. The same principle as oversees missions is applied in the first world. We speak the language, wear the clothes and submerge into the culture we want to reach.
The Western church is still running creation science seminars trying to prove the existence of God. While the missional church is journey with a postmodern culture that says "which god?" Scientific, methodical information is no longer the desire of people, but rather a hunger for spirituality and truth. The western church is filled with middle class Anglo Saxons who want the modernist church to be a logical, safe ordered place.
The missional church is normally messy, unpredictable and creative in its content and presentation. It doesn’t fit neatly into a square box nor does it have easily drawn flow charts of structure.
Postmodernists recognize the world had changed and that you have to adapt and flow with what’s happening. It’s about niche needs in a cosmic growing world. Being individual while we connect to mankind. World causes played out in houses.
‘For the first time in history we are living in a world where seven generations are living side by side…The fault lines between generations are getting larger and more numerous. One of the great challenges for the church, therefore, is to niche multigenerational worship, multigenerational missions, multigenerational education (Sweet. 1999:164).’
‘Postmodern preachers don’t populate the pews; they connect people to the living Christ. Postmodern evangelism doesn’t say to the world," Come to church." Rather, it says to the church, "Go to the world." It recognizes that ‘God is already at work in peoples lives before we arrived on the scene, and that our role is to help people see how God is present and active in their lives, calling them home. It is not I have Jesus and you don’t. How can I get you here so that I can give you my Jesus? But rather you already know Jesus… how can I help you see and know what you already know so I can meet and know your Jesus? (Sweet. 1999: 54).’ | 
