Missional- how is the word bedding down?
So, now that the M word seems to be supplanting the E word, how are you with it?
(See here and here for earlier posts.)
I tried a google search on ‘missional’ today. A couple of years ago, it was a rarely used word, but no longer. Now there are hundreds of ‘missional church networks’, ‘missional projects’ and ‘missional training’ opportunities.
And I confess to a rising cynicism.
Why is this, I wonder? Time for a list…
- What does the word mean? It’s application seems so broad, and to be adopted by such differing organisations. Perhaps it has value as a noun, but not as a verb, which it seems to be becoming.
- The people in my group cringe when they hear it used.
- Is it about money? Do those who hold purse strings like the word?
- Is it about fashion- the next new thing? If so, it might be that we use it to fend off our insecurities, by giving the illusion that we are forging a path of significance…
- Is it about a retreat from the controversy that the words ‘emerging church’ seemed to attract? If so, it seems a little cowardly- even unmissional (Aghhh! The word gains another incarnation!)
- Perhaps I am still missing the words ‘emerging church’. For a while, they represented something that was precious to me.
Then there is the root word- MISSION.
It has many other connotations;
It may be that I will come to value this word much more, given time.
But lest it become a distraction I am going to forget about labels for a while and try to concentrate on the important stuff…
[...] out this previous post in which I express some [...]
Missional tribe- check it out. « this fragile tent said this on January 7, 2009 at 11:39 pm |