ARE WE A PEOPLE AT HALF TIME? - Leadership Network

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V O L U M E 6 2 N D Q UA R T E R 2 0 0 0
The Mission al Church
B E I N G T H E C H U R C H I N T O D A Y ’ S W O R L D
b y M i c h a e l D . W a r d e n
MA N Y O F T H E E S T A B L I S H E D
P A R A D I G M S B Y W H I C H C H U R C H E S
H A V E O P E R A T E D F O R D E C A D E S
C A N N O L O N G E R S U P P O R T
A P O P U L A C E T H A T I S L O O K I N G
F O R T R U T H O U T S I D E T H E
“ B O X” C R E A T E D B Y
O U R P R E D E C E S S O R S .
In the last half of the 20 th century, the
American religious landscape was transformed.
Commitment to traditional church
structures steadily waned, while at the same
time our hunger for spiritual fulfillment
inched its way into the forefront of the
cultural dialog. For the first time in our
history as a nation,the concept of Truth
began to lose its status as an independent
reality. Instead, Truth became relative,
dependent on an individual’s circumstance
or perspective.
This is a sign of the times…only one among
many. The culture is shifting.And many of
the established paradigms by which churches
have operated for decades can no longer
support a populace that is looking for Truth
outside the “box” created by our predecessors.
By necessity, the 21st-century church is
becoming more flexible and orga n i c, a d a p t i n g
and changing to engage the culture that
surrounds it.
This new environment is giving rise to a
fundamental “r e -d e s i g n” of how the Church
carries out its mission. To be effe c t i v e ,c h u r c h e s
once thought (and many still think) that all
they needed to do was maintain certain
expected church progra m s ,provide a
s a n c t u a ry where members could gather and
w o r s h i p ,p e rhaps send out work teams into
the community, or support missionaries at
various locations around the globe. E f fective
missional churches in today’s culture are
breaking new ground, t rying new approaches,
and going back to the blueprint provided in
Scripture to show them how to become an
authentic “city on a hill that cannot be hidden.”
While their approaches may differ widel y, t h e y
share at least four essential chara c t e r i s t i c s :
Crossing traditional boundaries.
E f fective missional churches pursue
partnerships that cross traditional boundaries—
such as denominations, e t h n i c i ,g t ye o g raphy and
s o c i o-e c o n o m i c These s . churches tend to see
t h e m s elves as a part of the larger expression of
Go d ’s presence in the community,city and worl d.
Gauging success by
transformed lives.
E f fective missional churches regularly evaluate
their own effectiveness based on the tra n s fo r m a-
tion of p e o p l e’s lives and the community. T h e y’r e
constantly asking the questions, “What difference
does it make that we are here” and “How do we
measure our effectiveness in the church body, t h e
community and the worl d ”
Impacting the culture
for the Kingdom.
E f fective missional churches find creative ways to
e m b race the culture in which they exist.They don’t
s ell out to culture,but rather seek to understand it so
they can engage it and impact it for the Kingdom.
I t’s a mindset that says,“My church is more than just
my local congrega t i o n it ; has a broader purpose and
role within the culture.”
Planting new churches and
training church leaders.
E f fective missional churches adopt an intentional
strategy of starting new churches and tra i n i n g
l e a d e r s .Missional churches are involved in planting
new churches and mentoring “l e a r n e r”
churches in creative ways.
So how are they doing it
In ways you might never expect.