missional church

what does it mean to be missional - at least in our context of church? hmmmm...good question. being missional is important for any church. most churches fall into the trap of being missional only for the people that are at their church. what i mean is - in many ways - the church becomes something of a country club. in this setting, the questions become what can we do to appease our people? what programs can we start that make our people happy? this isn't missional, although it is stated that it is.

here's the dilemna in that - it's not what Christ has asked us to do. as Jesus was ascending into heaven he said to GO. so how we doin'?

to do what Christ called us to do, we have to be missional in our purpose. there has to be a reason for our madness! and i believe being missional comes in 2 ways...

1. sunday mornings - this is one of the ways we are missional. it is called 'attractional' in some places. and that is not far from the truth for us at new life. we want to be attractive to people. we want to break down barriers. we want to break down walls. we want people to come check us out for what we do - what we teach and who we are on sunday mornings. thus the songs we do, the sermons we preach, the videos we do, the unexpected that happens each week. we want sundays to attract people to the life of Christ.
   
2. community impact - this is another way we are missional as a church. this one hits home because too many times, we expect sundays to be the end all as a church. the truth is we are supposed to go into our communities and make a difference. that can mean throwing up the movie screen and showing a free flick to the community, handing out free ice cream, connecting with a local event and using our toys as a gift to the community. but it doesn't end there. being missional as a church in our communities means we are looking for ways to also impact lives of those who are hurting. who are we caring for? are we looking for ways to help people out besides using our toys? this one has been haunting me for some time. the early church grew because it was impacting lives. whose lives are we impacting?

missional church. i want to be a part of a church that is missional. a church where the people in it are all thinking beyond themselves and taking the message of Christ - to GO - to a new level.

so how we doin'?