The Missional Church - an Introduction

I have had the good fortune of reading a very good book, seminal, in many ways. My brother in law lent it to me and I do believe I should get my own copy.

It is titled, "The Shaping of Things to Come" and it covers how the Church of the future (and in fact of today) needs to adapt to the new world that Christianity has come to consist in.

One of the primary ideas of the book is to present 3 properties of the Church as we know today and then to juxtapose each property with the alternative, "missional" Church view (When I use the word missional I use it in a very narrow sense to highlight the difference between the traditional Church and the missional Church, this will get its own post at some point).

1. Attractional - A belief that people will seek out and attend our church meetings of their own accord, we thus need to make ourselves as "attractive" as we can through good music, Programs, warm and friendly people etc
2. Dualistic - Spirituality and Life are treated differently and generally, don't mix
3. Hierarchical - Leadership is from the top down

Now that describes the current Church modus operandi. The missional Church (i.e. the Church that will be relevant to the contemporary context, and the Church that will thrive in our contemporary context) presents it alternative.

1. Incarnational - as Jesus became man, so Christians go into where the people are and meet them where they are
2. Messianic - A Messianic spirituality sees Spirituality as Jesus did - no separation between Church and work, Spiritual life is relevant, present and encompasses every aspect of our daily lives
3. Apostolic - a view of leadership more in line with Apostolic thought. An organic approach where leadership comes from the body.

More on this subject will definitely be forthcoming.