{"id":5732,"date":"2021-09-17T13:39:39","date_gmt":"2021-09-17T05:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/3cmspace.com\/?p=5732"},"modified":"2021-09-17T13:39:39","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T05:39:39","slug":"10-characteristics-of-a-church-on-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.3cmspace.com\/zh-hans\/10-characteristics-of-a-church-on-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Characteristics of a Church on Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tension to Be on Mission
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The church in every generation is called to bring the good news of the kingdom into a spiritual encounter with the aspirations and challenges of that culture where it resides. Simply, believers are on a mission from God in their respective communities. To engage today\u2019s culture with the Gospel requires the formation of a Gospel community \u2013 the church of Jesus Christ \u2013 to be a visible representation, witness, and engaging instrument of the sovereign outreaching hand of God in our culture. In many churches, this may require a new vision, new ways of thinking, and new patterns of behavior (Matt. 9:16-17). This means pre-believers are encouraged to be included in the context of all of the church functions as they make small steps toward Christ (Luke 19:10<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Since we are in Christ, we have a missionary identity. We are adopted into a missionary family. We serve a missionary God. Mission becomes part of our identity, because our Father is a missionary God and we resemble Him as a child of God. So the church is a missionary church, with missionary people, that do missionary things. It is who we are, and it is also what we do. Mission is not something we tack on to the list of options as a Christian. To be Christian is to be on mission. It\u2019s who we are,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>it is what we do.<\/p>\n

Ten Characteristics of a Missional Church<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. \u00a0The missional church is committed to the authoritative, infallible, inerrant, inspired Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:14-17;\u00a0Acts 2:42<\/a>).<\/strong><\/p>\n

The authority of all missionary work is founded in the truth that God has a clear word to communicate to the world. The Bible\u2019s authoritative word\u2014not just the casual observance and even religious obeisance\u2014guides the missional church toward understanding the person and work of Jesus throughout all of Scripture (Luke 24:44<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Although this is admittedly a unique description of missional, it cannot be an assumed reality. I think the distinguishing difference between emergent and emerging is the view of the Bible. I no longer use the words, but to clarify, a missional (emerging) church is motivated by the words of God to proclaim the timeless Gospel in a timely method. David Garrison said the one thing that keeps the reproduction of churches from fragmenting into a thousand heresies like a crack splintering across a car windshield is the authority of God\u2019s word. Garrison believes this is one of the characteristics of every church planting movement.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0Understands the centrality of the Gospel expressed in all aspects of a person\u2019s life (1 Cor. 15:1-4; 2:2; Gal. 6:14)<\/strong><\/p>\n

In\u00a0Galatians 2:14<\/a>, Paul deals with Peter\u2019s racial pride and cowardice by saying their \u201cconduct was not in step with the truth of the Gospel.\u201d The Christian life is a process of renewing every dimension of our life\u2014spiritual, psychological, corporate, social\u2014by thinking, hoping, and living out the implications of the Gospel. The Gospel is to be applied to every area of thinking, feeling, relating, working, and behaving. The missional church is not dependant on programs or methods, but rather by the transforming power of the Gospel. GOCN began with the indicator of a missional church as one that proclaims the Gospel audibly and visibly. \u201cBeing Gospel-centered means being both word-centered and mission-centered,\u201d says Steve Timmis, Director of Acts 29 Western Europe. The Gospel is not separated from the authority and effectiveness of the Word and is not devoid of practicing the Gospel through mission living. It was Newbigin who described the local congregation as \u2018the hermeneutic of the gospel.\u2019 Newbigin\u2019s idea is very simple: people understand the Gospel by looking at the people of God. It is the church in time and space \u2013 the local church \u2013 that expresses the Gospel and interprets it within its own cultural setting.<\/p>\n

Through the Gospel, He rescues us from a life of self-serving mission to participate in a life of God-serving, Christ-glorifying mission. We are remade into missional people by the redeeming work of the Spirit and the Son.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0Gatherings are characterized by God-centered worship, preaching of the Gospel, prayer, Lord\u2019s Supper by penitent souls, and baptism as a response to the Gospel (John 4:23-24<\/a>).\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Worship is the central act by which the community corporately celebrates with joy and thanksgiving both God\u2019s presence and promised future.[5]<\/a>\u00a0 A missional church worships God in an authentic way, as we worship a Savior who left us here to be captured by His love and pursue His mission through His redemption. The missional church encourages what Tim Keller calls \u201cevangelistic worship\u201d\u2014making worship comprehensible to unbelievers leading to commitment.<\/p>\n

Principles for Public Missional Worship<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bob Kauflin reminds us the principles for public missional worship. \u201cPaul challenges the Corinthians to take unbelievers into account when they gather. He insists that they keep the unbeliever in mind as they exercise spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 14:23-25<\/a>)\u2026Whether it\u2019s raised hands, formal liturgies, or unspoken standards, we need to see them through the eyes of an unbeliever.\u201d\u00a0Kauflin suggests that to significantly impact the unbelievers in a worship gathering, the following should be present:<\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  1. Authentic passion \u2013 enthusiastic expression outwardly what is happening inwardly.<\/li>\n
  2. Love \u2013 overwhelming unbelievers with genuine love (John 17:21<\/a>).<\/li>\n
  3. The Gospel \u2013 clearly proclaimed and faithfully applied in an understandable way.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Why Preaching is Suffering in the Church<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Preaching is central to the missional church worship experience. The Reformers were convinced that the heart of true biblical worship was the preaching of the Word of God. Al Mohler said that preaching is suffering a loss in today\u2019s church due to six factors.<\/p>\n

    \n
      \n
    1. Lack of confidence in the power of the [spoken and written] word \u2013 failing to realize the transformative power of the word communicated orally and literarily.<\/li>\n
    2. Infatuation with technology \u2013 over-dependence on graphics, images, film clips, and technological wizardry.<\/li>\n
    3. Embarrassment before the biblical text \u2013 lacking confidence in the Bible\u2019s authority.<\/li>\n
    4. Emptying of biblical content \u2013 failing to teach the actual text of Scripture and resorting to pithy points.<\/li>\n
    5. Focus on felt needs \u2013 anthrocentric preaching as opposed to theocentric preaching.<\/li>\n
    6. Absence of the Gospel \u2013 turning texts into literary articles, practical steps, or morals to follow without any clear presentation of sin, redemption, and reconciliation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n

      Preaching of the word has life-transforming power producing repentance, restitution, confession, reconciliation, comfort, joy, encouragement, wisdom as well as indignation, anger, and offense by the stubborn hearted person. The missional church seeks to make disciples with Spirit-empowered preaching of God\u2019s truth or as Martyn Lloyd Jones said, \u201cPreaching is theology coming through a man that is on fire. John Piper described preaching. He said 1) the goal of preaching isthe glory of God. 2) The ground of preaching is the cross of Christ, and 3) the gift of preaching is the power of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

      The missional worship gathering additionally incorporates public reading of Scripture, prayer for the glory of God to be expressed through the suffering body and community, and response to the Spirit of God and the word of God expressed demonstrably with undefined regularity through baptism and communion. Although the worship gathering is not primarily for us, the body is instructed how to participate in the diverse liturgy as committed followers of Jesus.<\/p>\n

      Elements of Authentic Worship<\/strong><\/p>\n

      The missional church experiences authentic worship by beginning with a true vision of the living God (Isaiah 6:1-8<\/a>).<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. We must first see God, as He is\u2014our great King and Judge sitting upon a throne, lofty and exalted (Isaiah 6:1-4<\/a>).<\/li>\n
      2. Secondly, authentic worship leads to confession of sin both individually and corporately (Isaiah 6:5<\/a>). We address our sin, admit our uncleanness, and seek His mercy and grace.<\/li>\n
      3. The third place where authentic worship leads us is proclamation of the Gospel (Isaiah 6:6-7<\/a>). As we realize our utter sinfulness, the missional church proclaims the redemption of sin through the work of Jesus on the cross\u2014where we glory.<\/li>\n
      4. Lastly, a missional church experiences authentic worship with a response (Isaiah 6:8<\/a>). By excluding the cross, the blood atonement, the sacrifice, and the cost of sin, our worship is horribly weakened, and as a result, our missionary involvement will be stifled.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        4. \u00a0A missional church understands it has been sent by God as missionaries in their own culture (Matt. 4:19;\u00a0John 20:21<\/a>;\u00a0Acts 16:20<\/a>; 17:6) to make disciples of all peoples (Matt. 28:18-20;\u00a0Acts 1:8<\/a>).\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

        The missional church is more than a gathering of people with a missions program (considering itself \u201cmission\u2019s minded\u201d) or that has a financial commitment to mission works or a missions committee. The missional church is vested in God\u2019s mission to a specific place, people, and a particular time in history (Acts 17:15<\/a>). Mark Driscoll said, \u201cIf the Gospel is the seed of God\u2019s powerful work in our lives and world, then the culture is the soil into which it is planted.\u201d He further adds, \u201cUnderstanding the soil helps the missional church know which weeds of moral sin and theological error will need to be pulled up so as not to choke out the growth of the Gospel and church.\u201d<\/p>\n

        The Challenge of Gospel Contextualization<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Missionary to India Lesslie Newbigin stated that contextualization has been discussed among those involved in foreign missions for years as a necessary means to proclaiming the Gospel into the language and culture in a way to \u201cmake sense\u201d to those whom the Gospel is being addressed.\u00a0Newbigin\u2019s point is that we now face the same challenge of contextualization in our post-Christian Western world\u2014our neighbors, friends, co-workers, and even family. The irony is that our older churches that applauded the non-compromised contextualization of the Gospel by the foreign missionaries that they sent with prayers and money are the same churches that now struggle with that missionary approach in our Western culture with peoples from diverse ethnicities, languages, religions, socio-economic backgrounds, and ages.<\/p>\n

        We redemptively engage peoples and cultures by sharing, showing, and embodying Christ in our context. This includes evangelism, cultural engagement, counseling, empathy, and celebration. It\u2019s bringing the renewing power of the whole Gospel into the whole city through the whole church. It is not realigning our Bible to the culture, but by God\u2019s grace, realigning the culture to the Bible.<\/p>\n

        \n
        <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

        Mission is a characteristic of God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Mission is a characteristic of God. He\u2019s a sending God. He sends His Son and sends His Spirit to renew the world. The Son sends His believers by the authority of God as He was sent. So mission doesn\u2019t start and end with us. It starts and ends with God.<\/p>\n

        \u201cI have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.\u00a0As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.<\/strong>\u00a0And for their sake I consecrate myself,\u00a0that they also may be sanctified\u00a0in truth.\u201d (John 17:14-19<\/a>)<\/p>\n

        5. \u00a0Boldly & intentionally promotes the Gospel through making disciples and church planting globally through collaborative expressions of mercy and generosity<\/strong><\/p>\n

        A missional church is not simply focused on the growth of neither the single local church nor its continued physical presence in the community. Its goal is to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:18-20). When a church focuses on its own promotion, it has a tendency to use disciples to build a church, resulting in resentment. Conversely, a church that focuses on making disciples will use the corporate church to promote the Gospel to as many people as possible\u2014both local and global, or what Dr. Bob Roberts refers to as\u00a0glocal transformation<\/em>. A missional church sees church planting as the outworking of mission in a community. Its mission work is the establishing of churches glocally. When our mission mindset is to promote the building of churches in multiple contexts, we are more prone to collaborative work with other churches and with a heart of generosity for the advancement of the Gospel in all nations.<\/p>\n

        6. \u00a0A missional church is dependent upon the Holy Spirit to empower and lead believers as agents for evangelizing and making disciples (Acts 1:8<\/a>;\u00a0Luke 4:1<\/a>, 14, 18).<\/strong><\/p>\n

        The life of Jesus was empowered, led, and directed by the Holy Spirit. To be dependant upon the Holy Spirit means to live like Jesus as opposed to some strange mystical experience. Jesus gave the Great Commission, as we commonly know it, and He included the prerequisite of Spirit-empowerment to accomplish it. In Luke\u2019s Gospel, for example, Jesus explains the Gospel to His disciples and tells them that as witnesses of His resurrection, they are to proclaim it to others. But He told them to stay in the city until they were clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49<\/a>). Jesus promised that He would empower the church through His Holy Spirit as they make disciples (cf.\u00a0Acts 1:8<\/a>). \u201cThe promise of God\u2019s presence often accompanied His call to service in the Old Testament (e.g.<\/em>\u00a0Ex. 3:12; Josh. 1:5); it is not so much a cozy reassurance as a necessary equipment for mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

        The Great Comforter<\/strong>
        \nThe Great Commission comes equipped with the Great Comforter. This promise is fulfilled by the provision of the Holy Spirit\u2014the missionary Spirit sent to witness to the coming of the Kingdom of God (        John 13-17<\/a>;\u00a0Acts 2:17<\/a>). Lesslie Newbigin again offers some succinct instruction for us here. \u201cMission first of all belongs to the Spirit who is sent by Jesus and the church is taken up into that work\u2026Mission flows in the following way: the Father sends the Son; the Son sends the Church and equips it with the Spirit to enable it to carry out its mission\u2026God does not cease to participate in the missionary enterprise with the sending of Jesus. He does not initiate mission with the sending of Jesus and then leave the missionary work to be carried on by a human institution that followed the pattern of Christ without the help of the Spirit.\u201d\u00a0Newbigin continues, \u201cThe active agent of mission is a power that rules, guides, and goes before the church: the free, sovereign, living power of the Spirit of God. Mission is not just something that the church does; it is something that is done by the Spirit, who is Himself the witness.\u201d<\/p>\n

        A missional church can effectively reflect the power of the Gospel (Romans 1:6<\/a>) as it depends on the Spirit of God to empower the body for evangelism, discipleship, and Gospel proclamation rather than depending on big events or buildings or programs or methods utilized elsewhere to draw unbelievers to an event. The Apostle Paul explained to the church situated in the pagan, sinful city of Thessalonica that this \u201cGospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction\u201d (1 Thes. 1:5; cf.\u00a01 Peter 1:12<\/a>). Paul was saying, \u201cI did the speaking, but it was not I. I was used by the Holy Spirit to accomplish the work He intended.\u201d<\/p>\n

        Some churches put their emphasis on the studying of the Word. While important that we feed our souls, these are typically the intellectual theologians that spend great hours reading and studying in often arguing the finer points of doctrine resulting in pride of knowledge but rarely conversions. Other churches put a majority of their emphasis on the Holy Spirit and are often more interested in an experience than the authoritative Word. The Holy Spirit uses the Word and the Spirit of truth for understanding.\u00a0A missional church proclaims the truth with boldness through dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit<\/strong>\u00a0(Acts 4:29-33<\/a>).<\/p>\n

        7. \u00a0Missional churches utilize relationships and sacrificial love as the expressions of love to others in their journey toward faith (Matt. 5:13-16,\u00a0John 15:12-17<\/a>,\u00a01 John 4:19-21<\/a>).<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \u201cChrist wants to create \u2018a people,\u2019 not merely isolated individuals who believe in Him.\u201d\u00a0A disciple is a Spirit-empowered follower of Jesus who is united with a Gospel community on mission for all peoples for the glory of God. A recent book by Dan Kimball entitled,\u00a0\u201cThey Like Jesus but Not the Church\u201d<\/em>\u00a0is illustrative of our culture\u2019s skepticism with churches and Christians. The culture is not seeing Jesus in the church, and frankly, Christians are not seeing Jesus in the church and are not motivated to engage in authentic Gospel community because they have little reference for it outside of the Bible\u2019s descriptions (Acts 2:42-45<\/a>; 4:31-35).<\/p>\n

        God is a missionary God, and God\u2019s primary missionary method is His covenant people. Mankind was made in the image of the triune God. God created us in that image as persons-in-community to be the means by which He would reveal His glory. As a result of sin, we grasp for isolation from God and His church. When the local church allows this proclivity for seclusion, these image bearers of God fall short of His glory.<\/p>\n

        The missional church moves out across the nations as a movement of people empowered and sent by Jesus while drawing people through its common life as a God-glorifying movement of believers and unbelievers alike back to Jesus. Steve Timmis writes, \u201cOur identity as human beings is found in community. Our identity as Christians is found in Christ\u2019s new community. And our mission takes place through communities of light.\u201d<\/p>\n

        What community looks like is unique in every setting, just as every family is unique because there are a lot of variables and moving parts. But the family\/community works out the details of their common mission because they are equally committed to each other and to their mission as Christ followers. Those in community do not act in isolation, but rather sacrifice their schedules, time, money, conveniences, and individuality to serve the need. It is foreign to us that the believers in the first church sold their possessions and with singleness of heart gave to those in need. This deep unity and collaboration among the first church ignited the Gospel proclamation that turned the world upside down.<\/p>\n

        The book of Acts describes the Christian community in multiple ways that may lead to even greater deeds than are described in this canonical record.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Self-sacrifice<\/li>\n
        2. Commitment to relationships<\/li>\n
        3. Pursuit of unity among the community of believers<\/li>\n
        4. Goal of a common mission<\/li>\n
        5. Deep love<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          8. \u00a0The goal of a missional church is to walk in community with others as Jesus pursues them in His own way and timing (1 Cor. 9:20-23).<\/strong><\/p>\n

          This Gospel community includes believers and unbelievers. Jesus was criticized for including non-believers in community.<\/p>\n

          \u201cThe Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, \u2018Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!\u2019\u201d (Matt. 11:19)<\/p>\n

          Judas was a part of the disciples even as Jesus spoke about letting the tares grow up with the wheat (Matt. 13:24-30; cf. 1 Cor. 2:19). He spoke to the woman at the well when no one else would dare (John 4<\/a>). Our interaction with unbelievers is not for the saving of mankind or for the building up of our church, but rather for the glory of God.<\/p>\n

          The witness of Jesus to the lost woman of Samaria can be summarized in the following way and provides for us a basis for our friendship with sinners.<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Intentional<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 He was compelled to go through Samaria when others walked miles out of the way to avoid it (John 4:4<\/a>).<\/li>\n
          2. Conversational<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 He addressed a common need: water (4:7).<\/li>\n
          3. Respectful \u2013 Contrary to culture, this male Jew spoke kindly to this disgraceful woman (4:7).<\/li>\n
          4. Directional<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 He directed the conversation away from her perceived issue back to the Gospel (4:10-15; 19-24).<\/li>\n
          5. Convictional<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 He adequately addressed her sin without rubbing her nose in it (4:16-18).<\/li>\n
          6. Confrontational\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 He confronted her with the truth of who He was (4:26).<\/li>\n
          7. Missional\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 He met her on her turf and brought the Gospel to bear in her life, and she became the missional evangelist in Samaria (4:28-30).<\/li>\n
          8. Attitudinal\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 To the broken people, He showed compassion. To the religious people, He demonstrated unacceptance of their self-righteousness. To those who followed Him, He expected nothing less than absolute surrender.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Look over the list of eight ways Jesus approached this woman and examine your heart to see if you interact with lost people in a similar manner.<\/p>\n

            9. \u00a0A missional church is a hands-on training ground for missionary training (Acts 4:13<\/a>, 31-35).<\/strong><\/p>\n

            His mission is nothing short of the redemption of peoples and cultures, the renewal of all creation for His own glory. God\u2019s great, burdensome, and glorious mission is the renewal of all creation! God, in His mercy, has invited us to participate in\u00a0His\u00a0<\/em>mission.<\/p>\n

            The community of believers provides opportunities, and they practice hospitality for living out the Gospel in word and deed with one another. Church leaders must set the pace for pursuing the mission of Jesus. As Jack Miller noted, churches become \u201creligious cushions\u201d that tranquilize the guilt-ridden person with the religious warmth of its liturgy.\u00a0Jack said the contributors of these religious cushion churches are the following:<\/p>\n