Thanks so much to The Christian Index for the Sept. 29 article on the missional church. For many evangelicals, the terminology is new, but the actual practice is as old as the church and her sacred effort. Now that the word "missional" is on the front page of The Christian Index, Lifeway's Facts & Trends, and throughout Baptist Press, it is good to be clear what the word means and why it matters so much.
As the Index correctly pointed out, "missional" is not the same as "mission-minded," though they are both important and related. The term "missional" is simply the noun "missionary" adapted into an adjective. For example, an "adversary" is your enemy. Someone who is "adversarial" is acting like your enemy. Thus, a "missionary" is someone who acts like a missionary (for example, understands a culture, proclaims the faithful Gospel in a way that people in culture can understand, and uses parts of that culture to glorify God). A "missional church" is a church that acts like a missionary in its community.
If we are going to reach a changing Georgia (and North America), we have to contend for the unchanging faith (Jude 3) but to do so using forms that are relevant to all kinds of people (1 Cor. 9:22-23). That's a missional church - a church acting like a missionary to the community around it while partnering with others to be missionary around the world.
Some will say, "The culture does not matter, just preach the Word!"
You may hear much of this in the letters to the editor over the next few weeks. However, we really don't believe that culture is irrelevant. Why? Because we send missionaries to foreign lands and, like Lottie Moon, expect them to don the clothes, live the customs, and be part of the community while proclaiming a faithful Gospel. We should not forbid North American missional pastors from doing the very thing we train international missionaries to do. Entire Article
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