In continuation of the series, How NOT to be Missional, this post examines some of the defects in Evangelism-Driven Missional church.

Evangelism-driven Mission. These are churches that focus almost exclusively on evangelism. Their view of the gospel leads them to see social action as optional. For them, mission is synonymous with evangelism, and evangelism is highly programmatic. They focus on training individuals through Evangelism training programs, Apologetics, and use of evangelistic tracts. What’s wrong with individuals learning evangelistic presentations, memorizing apologetic defenses, and using tracts.

• Evangelism-driven mission is often answer-based and heaven-centered. These churches training individuals and teams on “how to present the gospel” in a brief period of time. Typically, these programs, such as EE, are looking for the person being evangelized to offer a specific answer. For example, “If you died tonight and stood before God and he said: “Why should I let you into My Heaven?” what would you say?” Notice that the questions are answer-driven. The goal in this approach is to get someone to say the right answer, to believe the right facts, “Jesus died for my sins.” Lots of people in America can give this answer but show no true signs of faith. All they have is mere belief. Subsequently, the right answer baits them not with Christ, but with heaven. It is heaven-centered, not Christ-centered. In Evangelism-driven mission Christ is subordinated to the treasure of heaven, instead of heaven being subordinated to the treasure of Christ. The goal is heaven, not Jesus Christ. Answer-driven, Heaven-centered evangelism leads to nominalism and distorts the gospel. Evangelism-driven mission can undermine not advance the gospel.

• Evangelism-driven mission can be defensive and fact oriented. Training in apologetics has its place; however, when our approach to non-Christians is driven by apologetics we very often reduce people to projects. Apologetic mission can foster too much defense and too much offense because they aim at the head to the exclusion of the heart. They aim at changing someone’s mind but not their lives. Just because someone agrees with our facts and embraces our logic doesn’t guarantee true conversion. We need to be prepared, not only to defend the faith, but to love the person intelligently. Most objections to the gospel have existential, personal roots. If we can get beyond the arguments to the idols of the heart, we can show just how tremendously superior and satisfying Jesus is to whatever they love, desire, and pursue most!

• Evangelism-driven mission is often outdated and fails to contextualize. The Methods used are often pre-packaged and out-dated. Evangelistic programs falsely assume that our listeners still understand the meaning of  Sin, Christ, and Faith. But very often they  hear something very different, like Legalism, A Moral Teacher, and mere Belief. When we fail to express the gospel in context and vocabulary that our listeners can understand, we fail to share the gospel. Christ dated and contextualized himself to all kinds of people so that his message would make sense and connect with their deep needs for redemption. Using packaged illustrations and methods assumes a one-size-fits-all, but the Incarnation reminds us that the gospel is much more personal and dynamic.

• Evangelism-driven mission is individualistic. This approach to mission trains individuals, not communities. It reduces the gospel to a conversation between two people, without focusing on embodying the gospel in communities. Statistics have show that individuals are consistently converted to communities before they are converted to doctrines. Our methods are often doctrine-driven and individualistic. Jesus prescribed a kind of communal evangelism in John 17, where our community is so redemptive and rich that it points people to Jesus. Paul called for a distinctive discipleship in churches that set the community of faith forth as an example, as salt, as light in their cities, attracting others to them. Individualistic evangelism doesn’t create community because it doesn’t convert people to the church. It aims at converting individuals to a set of answers and to heaven. Evangelism-driven mission has very little to do with the Jesus we love or the Church he died for.

Adapted from the talks Conversion to Christ and Conversion to Mission from LEAD ’09.

On Sunday the Riverside Meadows City Group cleaned 5 apartments for homeless women and children. This City Group is working with VINCare, a great social organization that houses, equips, and ministers to homeless women and children.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBOx4SQJBfM]

Missional churches get their missional moxie from their theological moorings. The strength of these theological moorings will set a trajectory for just how far our missional ships will sail. Check out the following for more missional theology:

• I recently came across a great missional biblography from Tyndale Seminary that covers Missional Church, Missional Leadership, and Missional Hermeneutics. It also lists articles.
• An old article I wrote for Acts 29: How Missional is Your Church?
• LEAD 09 Conference
• Renewing Evangelical Mission Conference

Here are the Stages of Growth we followed as a Missional Core Team (see separate document Stages of Organic Growth for further explanation)

1. Meals & Mission: time spent cultivating community over shared meals, missional conversation, and being on mission together socially and evangelistically.
2. Vision & Mission: time spent in community discussions around vision and values, while continuing to practice mission.
3. Commitment Night: an evening in which I gave a charge, we prayed for our city, had first communion over a meal, and celebrated God’s work in our Core Team.
4. Bible Study & Mission: spent time teaching through Luke-Acts, identifying the themes and challenges of gospel, community, mission.
5. Strategy & Missional Community: time spent in more strategic conversation and planning to be a church in the city and for the city through what came to be called City Groups (aka Missional Communities).
6. Low Profile Public Gatherings: our first public gatherings which included preaching and primarily built up the existing Core Team
7. High Profile Public Gatherings: our first attractional, public gatherings in a city centre location
8. City Groups Multiply: existing City Groups multiply through mission and leadership development

On Saturday we had our first church baptism. Baptism is an act of obedience that symbolizes faith in Jesus as Christ and Lord. It is a public declaration of repentance from false lords and faith in Jesus gracious, sovereign lordship. We wanted our public declaration of Jesus as Lord to be in a public place, so we chose Barton Springs in Austin.

It was about 100 degrees, the springs were packed with people “keeping Austin wierd.” Topless women, pot-smoking hippies, dogs and dog owners, families, and right in the middle of it all—people being baptized proclaiming their faith in Jesus as Christ and Lord!

It was a great joy to baptise Kristin and Chris, to celebrate the gift of new life in Christ together! We followed the baptism with a time of prayer and singing. Afterwards, we had a big church cookout, played games, and just enjoyed one another.

More reflections on the baptism here.

here.

Here are Chris Marlow’s more extensive notes from the Total Church conference.

Okay. This issue of Cutting Edge is excellent. Every article is worth reading, which is rare for any publication. Here is the list. Here is the online pdf of the mag.

• Process Managing Church Growth, Tim Keller
• Small Group Strategy, Jim Egli
• Sound Strategy: a few hints from an audio professional about your sound ministry, Lightning Atkinson (yep, Lightning)
• Strategizing for Diversity, interview
• Strategic Preaching, John Elmer
• Getting a Building
• Web Strategies for Church Planters

Quite a few readers were interested in my series of posts on Total Church, a book about gospel-centered community written by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis in the U.K. Total Church has been picked up by ReLIT, a publishing branch of Crossway Books and will be released in the U.S. in September. See info here. (By the way, someone has my copy, if you have it would you let me know?!)

In addition to holding to a clear vision, missional leadership involves facilitating the emergence of novelty by building and nurturing networks of communications; creating a learning culture in which questioning is encouraged and innovation is rewarded; creating a climate of trust and mutual support; and recognizing viable novelty when it emerges, while allowing the freedom to make mistakes. – Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways, 233

Unfortunately, it is precisely this question-asking and viable novelty that most leaders fear. The traditional, modern paradigms of leadership advocate a top-down, answer-possessing, anti-novelty approach. Yet, if we will lead remaining open to the power and insight of the Spirit in the Church, we will reap dividends and live out the priesthood of the believers! Oh, do I have room to grow in this!