Alan Hirsch advocates that Missiology should shape Ecclesiology.
Christology → Missiology → Ecclesiology
Ed Stetzer advocates that Ecclesiology should precede Missiology.
Christology → Ecclesiology → Missiology
Which do you support and why?
Tag: missiology
Missio ad Gentes
Being a “missionary” in North America is common parlance among church planters and missional advocates, and though center of gravity of global Christianity has certainly shifted to the South and East, I don’t think that puts the West on an even mission field with many non-Western places. To be sure, we should all redemptively engage peoples and cultures with Pauline missionary passion, but more than passion is at play in planting missional churches.
In order to effectively mobilize and strategize for the global glory of God, it seems that the missional movement needs to hold missio Dei in one hand and missio ad Gentes in the other.
Read the rest here…
Notes from Total Church Conference
I am posting some notes and reflections from the Total Church conference here.
Stetzer on Movements
Ed Stetzer lists at least 10 Elements to Christian Movements:
- Prayer Prayer must be a conviction that establishes its priority. Before we see movemental Christianity, we will have to be praying, asking God to change us.
- Intentionality: We will also need to show the intention of being movemental (see the next 8 elements). As of now, I believe our focus is primarily defensive and incremental, not intentional and exponential.
- Sacrifice: Change will not come without giving something up.
- Reproducibility: Movements do not occur through large things (big budgets, big plans, big teams). They occur through small units that are readily reproducible.
- Theological Integrity: Churches wanting to be involved in transformative, movemental Christianity hold firm and passionate positions on biblical views.
- Incarnation: Movemental Christianity recognizes that the gospel is unchanging, but the expressions and results of the gospel will vary from culture to culture.
- Empowerment: Movements only occur when the disempowered are given the freedom, and then take up the responsibility, to lead.
- Charitability: A movement of God cannot be contained in a single movement or theological tradition. Therefore, movemental Christianity requires charity to maintain our firmly held convictions while rejoicing for and speaking well about those with whom we differ but are being greatly blessed by God.
- Scalability: When God begins to move, and believers allow movement Christianity to begin to grow, structures must be able to rapidly re-size to not stifle such movements.
- Wholism: Movemental Christianity will practice wholistic ministry much in the way of Jesus.
Read the whole post here.