Essential Components of a Missionary Community
Here’s a dot point summary of a talk I did over the weekend for anyone who is interested. It is a simple reflection on the desires, knowledge and actions that a missionary community requires.
I’d be interested in your reflections and what you would add to the lists.
Missionary Desires rush hour 3 dvdrip
1. For people to know Jesus and experience his salvation in its fullness – kinda obvious?…
2. For the kingdom of God to take root in an area – to seek the welfare of the city as Jeremiah 29 puts it.
3. For people’s dignity to be upheld in the middle of the process – we are not conquerors and colonisers.
Missionary Knowledge
You need to help people learn these things
1. ‘Sentness’ is everything – we are sent by God, so we go where he leads and we stay till he says ‘move’. No exceptions.
2. Orientation is everything – outward and downward (missional incarnational) rather than inward and extractional.
3. Initiative is everything – no one is going to walk across the road to your house and ask you to tell them about Jesus. Its pretty obvious…
4. Context is everything – the way mission happens in Hobart will be very different to the way it happens in Brighton or even across town. We must pay attention to the communities we live in.
5. Our own authentic connection to Jesus is everything – otherwise it will be dry labour and lack integrity. Too much missionary endeavour is done because we ‘have to’.
6. Everything is everything – we will function in accordance with the degree to which these things are present in us.
What Missionaries do
Knowledge is useless if we don’t act on it
1. Discover & learn about a context – we must exegete our culture as well as our Bibles. Hang out – listen – tune in – ask questions
2. Create space in life – busyness is the death of mission. Miss this and we miss the point.
3. Indigenize ecclesiology rather than importing & franchising – think for yourself and let church flow from mission. We are not in the franchise business.
4. Theologise carefully – Hold core stuff tightly and non core loosely and are able to tell the difference between the two. Don’t be shy to take risks. You can always come back from the edge if you fall off.
5. A missionary community demonstrates an alternative way to live. Its the ‘Upstream’ concept we speak of.
6. Work patiently and trust God – God makes things grow
More ‘non-rocket-science’ stuff, but still enough to keep us going for a lifetime…
Great stuff Hamo. Probably the only thing I would add is under the “do” entry.
6. In all things seek the empowering of the Spirit that God would confirm the proclamation of his Kingdom with signs and wonders.
Comment by Andrew K — October 9, 2007 @ 1:10 pm