Missional Church

I'm committed to a missional understanding of church. God's mission, incarnated in Jesus Christ, calls the church into existence and gives us (individual Christians and the church itself) our mission. For me, personal faith-sharing typically becomes a possibility in the context of genuine friendships with those who have no personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we've thought of the church as 'having a mission,' or being involved in 'missions.' I prefer to think of the church as 'being a mission.' It is an instrument of God's redemptive mission in the world. Admittedly, the church is an 'earthen vessel,' to use St. Paul's phrase. Its witness is often compromised by the incapacity to live out the gospel. Its message is diluted by lesser agendas. Yet it is formed to be the Body of Christ in the world. It is commissioned to be, and to assist others in becoming, disciples of Jesus.