JR Woodward uses some fresh language to get across the responsibilities of the equippers of the church here.
Category: Missional Church
Neil Cole: Parasitical Parachurches Feeding on Church
Neil Cole’s new book Organic Leadership is insightful, provocative, and prophetic. The first section of the book points out the weeds growing in the soil of the American church. One particular weed is the parasitical effect of parachurch ministries. To be sure, Cole does not view all parachurch organizations as an impediment to the church; however, he prophetically points out how the parachurch has assumed the role and mission of the church leaving her weak and anemic. Consider these areas of capitulation:
- Her leadership development has been assumed by colleges, seminaries, and Bible institutes.
- Her compassion and social justice have been given over to nonprofit charitable organizations.
- Her global mission has been relinquished to mission agencies.
- Church government and decision making have often been forfeited to denominational offices.
- Her prophetic voice has been replaced by publishing houses, self-help gurus, and futurist authors.
- Her emotional and spiritual health has been taken over by psychologists, psychiatrists, and family counseling services.
The Anemic Church
Now, before you react let this settle. Detect the truth in these statements. Where can your church recover certain elements, perhaps not in totality but in measure? Cole is not sweeping all parachurches aside. Rather, he is pointing out the professionalization and specialization of the church into ministries that have left the church anemic. We have capitulated to this fragmentation of the church. Cole notes:
The world today looks at the church wondering what relevance she has. The only use they see for the church is performing the sacerdotal duties of preaching, marrying, burying, baptizing, and passing around wafers and grape juice. The church was once a catalyst for artistic expression, social change, and the founding of hospitals, schools, and missionary enterprise, but today she has settled for providing a one-hour-a-week worship concert, an offering place, and a sermon. (116)
Ralph Winter: Sodality and Modality
Cole is careful to note the distinctions made by Ralph Winter regarding sodalities and modalities. Winter’s helpful article emphasizes the more apostolic, missionary nature of certain entities like Paul’s roving, planting, missionary bands. These are sodalities. These sodalities don’t do everything that the church is responsible for, instead they specialize. Modalities, on the other hand, are a little more static though missional and are churches. The church is a modality because it is given the responsibility to do everything that God has commanded us to do (feed the poor, disciple, translate the bible, etc.). A church is modality and parachurch sodality. Sodalities can weaken or strengthen churches.
Cole affirms the need for both modalities and sodalities but contests these distinctions as a point of division between church and parachurch. He writes: “both modality and sodality are part of God’s redemptive purpose. Both are the church in the eyes of Paul. I do no think he saw himself as at all separate from the church…” (122).
What do you think? Where has your church capitulated to the parasitical parachurch? Is there a way forward? And what of the modality sodality distinction? Are both mission agencies and local churches together the church? Much more could be said on these matters.
Megacities, Networks and Movements
Today I had the privilege of addressing SBC Associational Directors for megacities in the U.S. Hopefully I didn’t make a fool of myself. One of the reasons I was asked to speak was based on our experience with PlantR, a interdenominational church planting network that is seeking to catalyze a Christ-centered, context-sensitive church plant movement that renews Austin and beyond. This presentation was similar to the one I did at the recent Missional Community Leadership conference.
If our experience in PlantR can be replicated in megacities and improved upon, then I believe that networks like PlantR can play an important role in creating a church planting movements in cities across America. Ultimately movement has to be a sovereign work of the Spirit, but the Spirit consistenly used networks throughout Christian history (Jerusalem, Antioch, Celtic Mission bases, etc). I hope you’ll consider joining a local church planting network or starting one in order to see your city truly reached. After all, no one planter, denomination, or church is going to single-handedly transform an entire city. We need each other in gospel mission.
Here is my outline “From Planting to Movements: The Role of City Networks“. And props to Brandon Hatmaker who helped me think this through in the original presentation. A quote from the presentation:
We need churches with strong social ties that extend well beyond the boundaries of their buildings and families into neighborhoods and the city. In short, we need more Missional Communities not Programmed Sunday Events.
Putting the Missionary into Missional Communities
The Austin Stone Missional Community blog is putting out some good posts. This post helpfully raises missionary questions that will promote MCs that think and act more wisely, communicating the gospel with greater missional savvy. Here are some questions your MC can ask in the process of understanding your culture and mission:
- What are the emotional needs of the elderly, families, teens, singles, men, women, children?
- What are the social, economic or educational needs of the same?
- What are the flaws and difficulties with the systems of the community?
- What is their worldview?
- What redemptive analogies best fit this culture?
- What does this culture understand about the basic components of the gospel story?
- What questions are being asked in the culture that point to their need for the gospel?