ideas from the edge –
The Missional Church by Larry
Chouinard
My article on preaching was published in the Baptist mag a month ago, &
brought some strong response … 3 intelligent & gracious articles from Bible
college lecturers (2 of whom I’ve studied under previously) …. I’m not
convinced by their responses, & have the opportunity to respond in 800 words
next month. As I’ve been thinking this through, I see I need to clarify the
two key aspects I was trying to address in my article (as it appears they
disagree with both of these
J
). The two key aspects I see are -
1. There is no Biblical mandate for preaching as it is practiced in modern
western churches (ie monologues mainly to converted people) - preaching in
the NT is always in the context of evangelism. From the pro-preaching
side, it appears that they see preaching as having some elements of
'spiritual mystery or magic' (my words) & they talk of the mystery, the high
calling of the preacher etc If they are correct, then preaching shouldn't be
questioned or critiqued in the same way we critique the effectiveness of
other forms of communication (ie preaching to the choir might appear to be
out-dated & ineffective, but it is a spiritual mystery & hence we need to do
it anyway). Whereas, if I am correct, then monologue preaching to church
congregations isn't essential, & can be critiqued along with all other forms
of communication we choose to use.
2. Preaching (as practiced in modern western churches) is expensive,
ineffective, creates dependency & Biblical illiteracy etc In contrast, the
pro-preachers argue that it is effective, imparts spiritually etc etc, & we
actually need more of it more effective versions of expository
preaching etc ... ie they say the problem is a lack of quality preaching,
rather than too much of it.
These are key questions for the house church movement. If the Baptist
preachers are right, and preaching is biblically essential (#1 above), or a
very effective &/or spiritual form of communication (#2 above), then the
house church movement is typically missing something that is either
essential or very effective.
I’m interested in some feedback from you if possible. Do you think this is a
reasonably accurate analysis?????
Also – a bit further expansion regarding whether preaching to the choir
(preaching to the church members) is extra-biblical. I think there are 3
main options/viewpoints …
With #1 & #2 above
-
‘You’ might still decide to preach in particular
situations, because you think it will be an effective form of communication
-
‘You’ will be willing to evaluate all forms of
communication, including preaching (if you choose to preach)
-
Your preaching might at times be very effective, and
teach people or move them spiritually. People might even say they have
encountered God during one of your sermons. This could be due to a
combination of prayer, study, presentation, the power of God’s words, people
having expectations, & the HS moving etc. However, this does not mean
that preaching has a biblical basis that makes it essential, or raises it
above critique.
#3 above seems to be the view that the proponents of preaching believe
What do you think? Is this a reasonable & biblically-sound analysis? I look
forward to hearing from you (if you have an opinion).
Have a good week - here are some thoughts from Larry Chouinard regarding the
features of a missional church.
.... happy reading.
Blessings
David Allis
‘ideas from the edge’
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The Missional Church
by Larry Chouinard
From
http://lchouinard.blogspot.com/2006/01/missional-church.html
Two
significant definitions helps us to isolate certain features of a missional
church:
“The missional church rejects the association of Christianity with American
values and the association of the church with entertainment, marketing, and
corporate business models. The missional church is reading both Scripture
and culture with new eyes. It sees that what is determined by the Christian
faith is more than being a good, upright citizen. It sees the church as
something different from the smooth corporate model of business. This
emerging church calls for honest, authentic faith that seeks to be church in
the way of a more radical discipleship.”
(Robert
Webber, Ancient-Future Evangelism, p. 129)
“A missional church is one whose primary commitment is to the missionary
calling of the people of God. . . it is one that aligns itself with God’s
missionary purposes in the world. . . The missional church is a sent church
with one of its defining values [incarnating Jesus’ life and values in the
culture it is embedded]”.
(Frost and
Hirsch, The Shaping of Things to Come, p.229)
(1) A
missional church is externally focused.
(2) A
missional church is culturally engaged without being absorbed.
(3) A
missional church is incarnationally not institutionally driven.
(4) A
missional church is about discipleship not church membership.
(5) A
missional church is patterned after God's missionary purpose in the world.
(6) A
missional church seeks to establish Kingdom outposts to retake territory
under the control of the Evil One.
(7) A
missionary church seeks to plant,grow, and multiply missionary communities.
(8) A
missionary church trains and equips new leaders to enter territories under
seige by Dark Forces. We learn in the context of mission not in the security
of our comfort zone.
(9) A
missional church highlights character, virtue, and compassionate deeds as
the most effective witness to God's Kingdom.
(10) A
missional church connects to Jesus through mission not doctrinal precision.
(11) A
missional church adopts an organizational structure and internal forms based
on mission not ecclesiastical traditions.
(12) A
missional church sees itself as organic and not in static institutional
forms.
(13) A
missional church pursues relationships across generational, ethnic, economic
and cultural lines of distinctions.
(14) A
missional church seeks to partner with the community to "seek the shalom" of
the community.
(15) A
missional church assembles to seek God's presence and to be realigned with
God's missionary purpose.
(16) A
missionary church seeks to reawaken a movement ethos as together we engage
our cultural context.
On his
website, Larry asked
“What other features
would you add if the 21st century church is to be missional?”
People
commenting on his website I response to this question suggested the
following extra aspects –
A missional church –
- sees broken
communities as invitations to enter not warnings to avoid
- something
about weakness rather than strength (Christus Victor is about the Cross)
- something
about being formed as apprentices of Jesus as a measure of success
- possibly
another piece relative to structure .. rather than visible and
institutional, connected and networked, often invisible, seeping into the
cracks and crevices of society.. permeating (salt and light). Often when we
think of incarnational we think of visible because of the connotation of
enfleshment.. but enfleshment has more to do with presence than with
visibility.
- to be
missional is to understand the mission heart of God, as an attribute, and a
willingness to participate with Him in what he is doing
- must be a "cruciformed
church" shaped by the way of life and values envisioned by the cross.
Success is defined by our witness to the Crucified One in humble acts of
service, not the corporate model of personal returns and benefits. Paul
expressed it best: "I have been crucified with Christ. I myself no longer
lives, but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:19-20). Thanks Len for stimulating
these thought.
- Big
vision...may that be a huge attribute of the emerging church. That we would
always live in the reality of being pioneers, pilgrims, frontiers, never
being happy with settlement. That we would be a community that beds down at
night with it's eyes on the horizon, always looking to the future...always
moving towards and expanding His Kingdom. Living in the reality of His
presence...living and moving.
- focus
holisticly - whole person in his/her whole life by the whole body of Christ
on the community and people and do it in an active missional process which
is different from other processes.
And
“it is easy to imagine a
missional church, but another thing to be a missional church”
And “it
is the individuals in the church taking on a missional way of life that will
then allow the church to truthfully be defined as such. My personal struggle
as of recent, has been the discovery that I love thinking about this for the
church, but have only recently stopped to realize that I need to think about
this for me!”