Missional Church Planting?

by Mickey Noel

mickey-noelRecently I have had some interesting dialogue with a couple of our Alliance church planters concerning what is being called “missional” church planting by some. My colleagues talked about a strategy, lifestyle choices and abandonment of some more conventional means of church planting as their definition of “missional church planting.” The conversation led me to the conclusion that perhaps we need to revisit what the Bible declares it means to be a church or church plant on mission—specifically on Christ’s mission. 
 
Jesus identified His own sense of mission when He said things like:

  • . . . I do only what I see the Father doing (John 5:19 );
  • . . . the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10 );
  • . . . I must preach the good news of the Kingdom to the other town also, because that was why I was sent (Luke 4:42-43);
  • . . . this is to the Father’s glory-that you bear much fruit (Jonn 15:5,8);
  • . . . all authority is mine, therefore as you go about your life make disciples of all kinds of people;
  • . . . begin in Jerusalem and continue in Judea and Samaria and among all the nations (Matthew 28:19-20/Acts1:8); and
  • . . . Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself, this is the greatest commandment (Mark 12:28 -31).

Certainly, Christ’s disciples should continue to “walk as Jesus walked,” continuing to pursue the mission of Jesus. 
 
Over the last decade, the C&MA has been calling churches to become more missional by examining themselves in light of the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. Our study of those watershed declarations by Jesus lead us to believe that Jesus’ intent was that these principles be viewed as core “everyday” commitments by average Christians as an expression of their discipleship to Jesus Christ. 
 
Churches gather believers to love and glorify God in worship and to learn to live out the Great Commandment in pursuit of completion of the Great Commission. We see five balanced ministries defining the role of the church: building believers up in Christ, equipping workers to win the lost and multiplying leaders to multiply ministries with the intent of sending out the called ones to ministry beyond the local congregation. In our view this was Jesus’ strategy with His first disciples. 
 
This, for us, defines what it means to be “missional”—on Christ’s mission. There is great latitude in defining style, strategies to seek to attract the lost and de-churched and to live out incarnational lifestyles intended to “show Jesus” to our friends, relatives, neighbors and associates. Missional churches will come in all shapes and sizes with all kinds of personalities. Indeed, we should examine everything we are doing to assure that it is connected to and reinforcing the mission. 
 
To this end the C&MA is in the process of training Local Church Trainers for every Alliance church to teach equipping material intended to do this very thing. It is called “The Everyday Commandment” and “The Everyday Commission.” It is two sets of four lessons each, designed to study Jesus’ teaching on these topics in interactive groups with a desire to build more intentional Great Commandment communities that are engaged in Great Commission completion. You may want to contact your district leadership about accessing this equipping ministry. You may also want to start asking the question of the folks you see in church this Sunday—“Are we a missional church?”

Share

Get Involved...

Pray.

We cannot “Live the Call Together” unless prayer is central to all we do.
Pray with us »

Serve.

Is God calling you to service? We’re here to help you connect your passion with God’s purpose.
Serve with The Alliance »

Give.

Help build Christ’s Church by supporting the ministry and workers of The Alliance.
Give today »