Comments on: What is Missional?

By: Old Pete

Old Pete — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:17:00 +0000

As an 'outsider' I have been looking at the synchroblog with considerable interest. I found the following comment particularly interesting:
a “movement” that is, and will be, almost entirely concentrated on clergy and Christian academics;
I'm over 70 and I've never had a leadership role within the church. I have been exploring the emerging / emergent church scene for several years. I feel that your comment is applicable to both the missional and emergent scenarios.

Why is it that those in church leadership can see that there is a lot wrong with the 'church' as we know it, but insist on using their own scholarship in order to maintain their own leadership positions?

As you say, it's the clergy and the academics who have the most to lose by facing up to reality!

I would suggest that we need to look again at the history of the 'church' and ask ourselves whether traditional churches and hierarchical leadership are really pointing to the truth of the gospel message.

By: chris wignall

chris wignall — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:07:00 +0000

After reading the rest of the posts in the synchroblog I am both somewhat inspired and a little disappointed.

There were some amazing contributions that showed creativity and personal insight; but they were interspersed among more predominantly academic (historical/linguistic/theological) essays. I’m afraid that may have just confirmed what I was writing about here…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:39:00 +0000

Chris,
Very articulate, well phrased, and great questions. Hopefully these, and other posts, generate some wonderful conversation, but that it moves beyond talk and translates into action that is kingdom driven and motivated by the call to the church to be Christ in the world (whatever that really means)

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:20:00 +0000

Chris – Thanks for the post. I think you are on the right track…people in the pews just don’t care about the things we (the “professionals”) care about.

If we have fallen down on the job, so to speak, it’s at the junction of where they are living it and where we have failed to adequately fund their imagination about how what they do every day can be missional.
Thanks for the questions. They made me think.

By: Mark Petersen

Mark Petersen — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:58:00 +0000

Chris, loved this!

Today I spent the day trying to define ‘missional’ to our board. I fear I muddled up their thinking more than clarified. Maybe that’s another example of a theologically-educated person trying to define what is natural and self-evident to business people.

Sometimes we are paternalistic with the way we flaunt our elevated theological concepts. Cynical, nah. Truthtelling.

By: AbiSomeone

AbiSomeone — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:42:00 +0000

Great questions and observations. Thanks for joining the conversation around missional!