For All the Wrong Reasons

“Missional living.”

That’s the buzz word I’m hearing all over Christian circles these days.  What in the world is “missional” you ask?  Good question -

Like many words, its started in at the crossroads of the practitioners and the halls of academia.  A beautiful confluence of theory and practice; missionaries and theologians bringing together their best to uncover a truth — that God is a missionary…and we too, as the children of God are his missionaries.

Living “missionally” is to live with the characteristics of a missionary, and therefore, with the characteristics of God.

But what is a missionary?

Essentially – a missionary is one who is going… going in two directions: going out, and going down.

Missionaries:

  1. are sent into a new culture, far and away from their comfortable home, and missionaries…
  2. are buried deep into that culture and put on the clothes of that culture…to “incarnate.”

This missionary God can be seen throughout the Bible as (1) consistently sending himself to his creation, and who (2)  is regularly “putting on flesh” by coming to his people in ways that we can understand – Living like God in this way is not something we just DECIDE to do – it is a grace that comes over time…a LONG time.

There is a LOT of good that comes from calling people to live like our missionary God.  Imagine the way in which followers of God are doing infinitely more than Jesus alone could have done. (John 14:12)  We are, to borrow a phrase from Martin Luther, billions of “little Christs” spread like yeast throughout the earth!

But too often, the call to “live missionally” becomes just another way for a church leader to brandish the whip of guilt and shame, to keep their congregation loyal to the their agenda.  And even if we put aside the temptation of leader’s to twist the godly call of living “missional” into a form of controlling their congregation, even if the call to live as missionaries is out of pure desire to follow after God -

…the call to live missionally can become a burden or a pressure that replaces the “light burden” of Christ.

We put a lot of pressure on Christians these days – We declare: “The church is always one generation away from extinction!”  ”Give to our church’s capital campaign and receive God’s ‘blessings!’”  ”The church in Europe is dead…you don’t want that to happen in America, do you?  Then get out there and save the church!”  All these things can develop an unhealthy pressure to live under the fear of negative blow back, rather than living missionally for the glory of God, and in the delight of your Creator!

God is “missional” not because he is under some threat, or because he’s been guilted into it.  He’s missional because he loves; because he desires intimacy with his scattered, lost children!

Here’s my point: If we ask Christians to “live like God” to “live missionally” – then it must come from a similar motivation!  Otherwise, we won’t create “little Christs” we will disciple someone into guilt, fear, and “twice the son of hell” that we are… (Mt 23:15)

Missional living flows out of love.  It flows out of desire for intimacy.  Let it start there – and then wait about 30 years to see fruit from your missional living…that’s how long Jesus took – and do you really think you can out pace Jesus in this whole “missional living” thing?  :)

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