What Does Missional Mean?

There is a lot of talk in churches and in the blogosphere these days about being "missional." We used to call it being "outreach-oriented," but now there's this new buzzword: missional. It sounds cool, but what, exactly, does it mean to be missional?

One blogger explained being missional like this:

There was a day when people believed in institutions and joined them. People wanted to be members of churches and clubs. That day has passed. We can mourn its passing if we want, but it would be a waste of time to try to recapture the importance of the church as an institution. Reggie McNeal... is hard on us institutional types (like me) when he says that people these days are simply not interested in joining a religious club. They do not want to be a part of a group whose main purpose is to continue its own existence. From my own observations, I agree. We can figure out how to be the best religious club the universe has ever seen, and still go out of business in this post modern world.

My church has been raising these same questions, wondering what it looks like for us - a small fellowship that meets in a high school in middle Tennessee - to live more missional lives.

We don't want to be an institution; being so small, it's actually somewhat hard for us. But we don't want to be myopic or too internally-focused. We want to be aware of the culture around us, while living counter-culturally in a way that makes people's lives better and points them to the hope of Christ.

But, how do we do that?

That's been the million-dollar question for us as we move forward into 2009, and even though I work for short-term missions organization, I don't have a good answer. But I've been determined to find one. So, I called my friend who oversees the mobilization of thousands of young people into the mission field each summer. I asked him, "How does a church live missionally?" His answer has changed the way I think about this issue.

"Well," he said, pausing to find the right words, "I think that this whole "missional" conversation is like the kingdom. You can't really describe it, nor can you contain it and repackage it. You just have to live it. Maybe, at the end of the day, being missional isn't something that you can program. It just has to be something you can't not do." Honestly, at first, I thought his answer was an easy "out." But then, the more that I thought about it, the more the concept stuck with me.

Bill Hybels has an interesting take on the issue of injustice in the world and personal calling. He poses the question: "What wrecks you?" Not too long ago, I saw him in a video, asking that challenging question, suggesting that the things that make us uncomfortable may be our own personal missions in life. For instance, if it's poverty or abortion or domestic abuse that makes you cringe, it may be that God has actually wired that discomfort into your soul so that you will do something about it.

Incidentally, while meeting with a group of men for prayer and Bible study one morning, the question came up: "How can we be missional?" They all gave their answers and then looked to me, the younger guy in the crowd, and asked, "What do you think?"

"Well," I thought, reflecting for a moment on all the information I had received over the past few weeks. "It has to be something that we can't not do," I said decisively. They looked at me with querulous looks on their faces, raising their eyebrows. I elaborated, sharing my friend's thoughts and my agreement with him.

The more I think about it , the more it resonates with me. There are just some things that I can't not do during my numbered days here on earth. No matter who else gets it, certain injustices wreck me, and I can't help but do something about them. It is a compulsion - not by fear, but by passion.

How else can the church of American fulfill the mission of Jesus but to become a group of disciples dedicated to finding things that we can't not do... and then doing them?