10 Things To Not Expect From a Missional Church
David Fitch shares Ten Things Anyone Who Joins In a Twenty-First Century Missional Church Plant Should Not Expect. Here’s part of the post I found interesting. Give it a read to explore the rest.
Fitch writes:
1.) Should not expect to regularly come to church for just one hour, get what you need for your own personal growth and development, and your kid’s needs, and then leave til next Sunday. Expect mission to change your life. Expect however a richer life than you could have ever imagined.
2.) Should not expect that Jesus will fit in with every consumerist capitalist assumption, lifestyle, schedule or accoutrement you may have adopted before coming here. Expect to be freed from a lot of crap you will find out you never needed.
3.) Should not expect to be anonymous, unknown or be able to disappear in this church Body. Expect to be known and loved, supported in a glorious journey.
4.) Should not expect production style excellence all the time on Sunday worship gatherings. Expect organic, simple and authentic beauty.
5.) Should not expect a raucous “lights out” youth program that entertains the teenagers, puts on a show that gets the kids “pumped up,” all without parental involvement. Instead as the years go by, with our children as part of our life, worship and mission (and when the light shows dim and the cool youth pastor with the spiked hair burns out) expect our youth to have an authentic relationship with God thru Christ that carries them through a lifetime of journey with God.
6.) Should not expect to always “feel good,”or ecstatic on Sunday mornings. Expect that there will ALSO be times of confession, lament, self-examination and just plain silence.
7.) Should not expect a lot of sermons that promise you God will prosper you with “the life you’ve always wanted” if you will just believe Him and step out on faith and give some more money for a bigger sanctuary. Expect sustenance for the journey.
8.) Should not expect rapid growth whereby we grow this church from 10 to a thousand in three years. Expect slower organic inefficient growth that engages people’s lives where they are at and sees troubled people who would have nothing to do with the gospel marvelously saved.
9.) Should not expect all the meetings to happen in a church building. Expect a lot of the gatherings will be in homes, or sites of mission.
10.) Should not expect arguments over style of music, color of carpet, or even doctrinal outlier issues like dispensationalism. Expect mission to drive the conversation.
O AND BY THE WAY Should not expect that community comes to you. I am sorry but true community in Christ will take some “effort”and a reshuffling of priorities for both you and your kids. Yes I know you want people to come to you and reach out to you and you are hurting and busy. But assuming you are a follower of Christ (this message is not for strangers to the gospel) you must learn that the answer to all those things is to enter into the practices of “being the Body” in Christ, including sitting, eating, sharing and praying together.
I find it interesting that over the 25 years that I have been saved since age 26, the things you define as not what one should expect from a missional church have not at all defined the traditional conservative evangelical churches that I have been involved with either. This is why I have found it odd and disconcerting that up-and-coming young “missional” leaders are so intent on changing so many things – and actually end up only changing certain things in ways and with an attitude that tends to alienate the segment of the fellowship that is over 50 years old – and thus largely contradicts and discredits their whole philosophy about being organic and connected.
Concerning #10 – I think it is unfortunate and misguided to equate “doctrinal outlier issues like dispensationalism” with arguments over color of carpet. First, in 25 years I have never heard an argument over dispensationalism within a church – but rather it has been taught with careful exegesis for the purpose of equipping the saints for the work of the ministry.
Second, who gets to define what are doctrinal outlier issues? The issue here, is not dispensationalism, per se, but how one gets there based on one’s hermeneutic – which also defines other doctrine, like the gospel itself.
And third, I have found that one’s theological underpinnings, including dispensationalism, drive mission – and therefore drive the conversation. But, I have never once heard anyone standing around in a church lobby where dispensationalism was directly driving the conversation – but I have heard people discussing concerns about friends and family – things that are “missional.”
Unfortunately, this whole thing seems rather “Quixotic” – fighting windmill dragons and straw-men – which is the very thing that of which traditional evangelical churches are being regularly accused.
Dave James
The Alliance for Biblical Integrity
Hey Dave – To be clear, I’m not the author of the piece. Wish I was though because I think David Fitch does a good job in describing a typical missional church.
If you agree with David Fitch, how would you respond to my comments?
Just curious