I believe in the missional movement happening today. I embrace it, if by missional you mean thinking like and living like a missionary who INTENTIONALLY SHARES THE GOSPEL WITH PEOPLE. It could be only my viewpoint and I could be totally wrong, but I do fear that in the middle of all the missional talk there is remarkably very little talk about personal evangelism. You know, sharing THE GOSPEL with REAL PEOPLE and giving them the OPPORTUNITY to respond to Christ by faith.
There is also a lot of talk about revitalizing conventional churches. I think one of the vital ways to help a conventional church make the missional shift is by adding without subtracting. For example, why stop evangelistic approaches that actually work with those like us, with some church background, while at the same time making changes to help lead believers to interact with and reach those not like us (which requires more thought, like say, a missionary, thus the term missional).
I was reminded of this only the other day. I work with young professionals or young pros, young adults mostly single but some married from their early 20s to early 30s. We have seen pretty stellar growth including moving from one home group to four, and likely a fifth soon. But we have not seen a lot of gospel fruit yet from outside our orbit. We have seen some, but not enough as I would hope given the power o f the gospel and the numbers of young adults in our area.
Last Sunday a young pro who just moved here from New England showed up at our church. Raised Catholic, she had never been to a church as large (we had 1980 in four services last week) or in her words so sweet and friendly. One young wife befriended her and sat with her. Our church does a great job of tracking folks who are our guests (guests not visitors!), so Wednesday night I went to our regular visitation.
Visitation: the habit of believers at a local church gathering regularly to make friends in the community with those who visited their services or they have found through other means . Okay, you know what that means. Well, one student who came with me has only been a believer about a year, and he had never been on visitation, so I do not assume you know what that means.
Anyway three of us (the aforementioned student, a young lady in our church who came to Christ from a Jehovahs Witness background, and I) went to see the young lady who was home. She welcomed us. We went in, sat at the table with her and her fiancé who eventually joined us (after I talked to him from a distance about baseball).
She had never heard the gospel. She was steeped in religion. She knew that did not work, and admitted to be searching, but she did not know where to turn. I walked her slowly through the Story of the gospel (www.viewthestory.com). As we talked about Creation she understood how beautiful our world is. We discussed the Fall and how things have gone wrong. As I explained to her the Rescue in Christ, how Jesus did not come to get us to a church building or call us to toe the line, but to fix what had been broken in the fall, she understood, as she understood the hope of Restoration. She wept in sweet brokenness as she turned to Christ.
I believe in being missional; but for me, missional sometimes includes church visitation. Smile. Yesterday a precious young pro couple went with me to take her a Bible. Turns out (God’s Providence is so real) the young wife I brought is a nanny just up the road from our new sister, and they hit it off immediately.
Remember to keep track of those who visit your services. Go see them. They have by their presence noted some interest in spiritual things, and you already have a connection by virtue of their coming. Be in the community building relationships with those outside our churches. I work hard at that and wish I had more time for that and less time chewing the fat with believers. But don’t be so focused on being missional that you forget to be personally involved in the lives of those God brings clearly into your path.
By the way, if you are not familiar with The STory, I have found it to be fantastic whether sharing with the unchurched, dechurched, or confused church attender. I am teaching it this fall in all my classes. Check it out if you have not, and stay tuned for a big announcement regarding it soon.
