Transitioning to Missional Church (Pt 3)

Posted on November 22, 2010

See Part 1 & Part 2 of the series Transitioning to Missional Church.

In Part 2, we considered why missional church is theological not methodological, followed by some reflection on the challenges of transitioning to a missional church. In this third and final part of the series, we will offer some guidelines in becoming a more intuitive church, an organism with missional intuition, as opposed to an institution with some programs for mission.

Intuitive Missional Church

In order to avoid being a church with a mission and to become churches as mission, it is important that we cultivate a new intuition. Intuition is the ability to perceive something without having to reason through it. It is reflexive behavior, a way of living that is natural. If a people develop a missional intuition, then they will act missionally without having to reason through it. Mission becomes a way of living, not a project they execute or process they reason through. Here are a few ways to make disciples, lead, plant, and grow churches, for whom mission is intuitive.

  • Intuitive mission relies on Spirit-led prayer and repentance that begins with repentance over the sins of institutional, individualistic Christianity. Cultivate a community that sees repentance as good news not bad news. That sees turning away from sin and turning to Jesus as an everyday pattern. This can’t happen apart from a culture of prayer. Prayer isn’t an early morning event; it is every moment existence. Paul Miller notes that: “Jesus most dependent human that ever lived.” People who live prayerfully, dependently, will be more prone to repent and turn to Christ, as opposed to tack mission on as a work.
  • Intuitive mission discerns missional leadership patterns from Scripture instead of uncritically implementing business models of leadership. It’s not about getting the wrong people off the bus and right people on. We are all on the bus of mission, just arrange the seats with wisdom. Pastor your communities with wisdom and thoughtful reflection. Get leadership moorings from the gifts of the Spirit and offices of leadership in Ephesians 4. Don’t create programmatic position descriptions and build people around a ministry; build ministry around people.
  • Intuitive mission cultivates missional DNA through personal and communal forms of training instead of relying primarily upon professional, monological communication. Don’t just talk. Listen. Listen as a disciple, coach, teacher, & pastor to how and why mission is a challenge for your people. Some of our best changes have come from listening closely such as Shared Leadership, 3 Marks of Missional Community.
  • Intuitive mission spends lots of time with people not programs, so that we have networks of relationships in which we can authenticate the gospel we preach.
  • Intuitive mission does “everyday things with gospel intentionality”, instead of seeing mission as either an evangelistic or social justice event.