The missional muddle
When new buzzwords enter the vernacular, there are two things that have the potential to cause confusion. The first is that the new piece of jargon is mystifying to everybody, so the word has to be translated virtually every time it is used. The second, and more insidious, is that everybody assumes they know what it means, but uses it in surprisingly (and sometimes irreconcilably) different ways. So, for example, 'organic': does it refer to something made of carbon? Something alive? Something that does not contain synthetic chemicals, or GM ingredients? Something that has grown incrementally without purchasing another company (in business) or without transfer growth (in the church)? Something that, essentially, is just a bit more contemporary or indie than the available alternatives? Who knows?
I wonder whether the word ‘missional’ falls into this category. Five or six years ago, I hardly recall hearing it used; now, I hardly recall visiting a Christian event, conference or website where the word wasn’t used. But it seems to be used to mean noticeably different things, depending on the speaker and (unsurprisingly) their conception of what Christian mission ought to look like. In my limited experience, it is assumed to mean one of at least four things, and this can generate a lot of misunderstanding, particularly if the word is said regularly but without careful definition.
1. ‘Missional’ as individual and word-based. This is the sort that may be most familiar to readers of this blog, and has been shaped particularly by the way Mark Driscoll uses the word: a ‘missional’ church is one where every individual sees it as their responsibility to preach the gospel, rather than having a ‘missions’ department that does all that sort of thing, and sometimes where every member is described as a ‘missionary’ (although Dash’s comment in The Incredibles, that when everyone is a missionary then nobody is, may have some traction when it comes to reaching unreached people groups – but that’s for another day, and another post). Put like this, ‘missional’ is not unfairly described as simply a cooler word for ‘evangelistic’.
2. ‘Missional’ as individual and deed-based. Less familiar to readers of this blog, perhaps, but very familiar to many others, this interpretation is that, since God’s overarching ‘mission’ is all about justice and redeeming creation and social engagement and love for one’s neighbour, ‘missional’ means individuals living that way. So Scot McKnight, posting a few days ago, writes that in his experience, “many people like the term ‘missional’ because they can avoid evangelism and not be accused of being social justice Christians”.
3. ‘Missional’ as corporate and deed-based. This is the type of view reflected in the comment that I, and probably many pastors, have received from people in my church: “well, with all the talk of being missional, what are we going to do about it?” By this, people generally mean: what programmes, projects or corporate demonstrations of social action are we going to engage with in our community or beyond? When are we going to go and “do mission”, “out there”, rather than just talking about mission, “in here”? You won’t find many members of The Gospel Coalition using the word like this, but if you spend some time at Spring Harvest you won’t find many who don’t.
4. ‘Missional’ as corporate and word-based. For this usage, look no further than the widespread question in many circles: how do we “make Sundays more missional”? Behind this question is the idea that being missional is ultimately about preaching the gospel (hence word-based), and also about tailoring what we do, when we are gathered together, to make ourselves more accessible to those who don’t already follow Jesus (hence corporate). In this sense, ‘missional’ means something very similar to ‘seeker sensitive’, although without making it sound like we have to do it the Willow Creek way.
Of course, it is open to anybody to cry that this is a horrible false dichotomy (quadrichotomy?), and insist that being truly missional means actively participating in God’s mission both corporately and individually, both in word and in deed (which it surely does). Nevertheless, if the pastor bangs the missional drum and hopes it will spur his congregation on to share the gospel more with their neighbours (sense 1), it will not have this impact if his listeners understand it as meaning the church setting up a homeless project in the community (sense 3). Equally, if church members are animated by one particular understanding of ‘missional’, then they will become very frustrated if their leaders agree enthusiastically and then, in their minds, do nothing whatsoever about it.
What do you think? How do people in your world use the word ‘missional’, and can you identify with any of the usages or misunderstandings I’m talking about? Worth a bit of thought, I would think…
Comments
By Mark Heath on 10/08/2011 at 16:48
It’s a helpful breakdown, and I agree that for many people the word “missional” is little more than the new name for evangelism, or a codeword for doing more evangelism than we were doing before. My church now has “missional communities”, but I suspect very few would be able to explain what that actually means.
I blogged about the “missional” buzzword breaking onto the newfrontiers scene at TOAM 2006 (http://www.wordandspirit.co.uk/blog/2006/07/07/toam-calling-the-nations-to-the-obedience-of-faith/). Back then many proponents of “missional” were arguing for “incarnational” instead of “attractional” mission. But now “seeker sensitive” churches are also describing what they are doing as “missional”, the word has become an amorphous blob capable of describing anything that is vaguely evangelistic, rather than indicating a paradigm shift from “doing” evangelism to “being” missionaries.
For me, the two best and clearest definitions of missional from an evangelical perspective come from Tim Keller (http://www.redeemer2.com/resources/papers/missional.pdf), and from Chris Wright’s “Mission of God” whose remarkably broad missional hermenutic encompasses everything from evangelism to social justice to creation care.
By Daron Medway on 10/08/2011 at 19:22
The word missional, in my view, refers to Christians spending time together with a view to creating loving community and doing acts of social justice as a means of gaining a Spirit empowered hearing for the spoken gospel.
By Nathan Lambert on 19/08/2011 at 21:25
I must say that although I have noticed the word having a somewhat muddled definition, on the whole I’ve found that people around me who use it have a holistic approach to mission. However, I do think that I’ve mainly heard it (and used it) as a word that refers to an individual’s lifestyle. And if a church is called to be more missional, it usually means to not just live a Sunday faith but to impact society through day-in day-out Christian, outward looking lives.
Interesting piece!