THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
April 4, 2005
Michael Frost is an Australian-born of Irish Catholic stock. Alan Hirsch is a South African Jew now living in Australia. Together they have written a book entitled, "The Shaping of Things to Come." The purpose of the book is to reclaim for the church the apostolic fervor of the early church, to move it from being an institutional to an incarnational body of believers and seekers.
Such a church is defined as missional. That is, it "defines itself in terms of its mission-to take the gospel to and incarnate the gospel within a specific cultural context."
The contrast is striking. One of its characteristics is that it must become, in the word used before, incarnational rather than attractional in its ecclesiology (the study of the organization, government, liturgy and ritual of the Christian church.) This means "it does not create sanctified spaces into which unbelievers must come to encounter the gospel. Rather, "the missional church disassembles itself and seeps into the cracks and crevices of a society in order to be Christ (Messiah) to those who don't yet know him."
The implications of such a call are momentous. The church has sought for years to have outposts in society where encounters can take place on neutral ground between believer and seeker. Coffee shops, in factory Bible studies, prayer circles before and after work, and many other forms helped the church to come in contact outside the walls of the church with the hopes and aspirations of the people who have rejected the call to come inside the walls. But the call to be missional takes this idea further. It says "a bunch of Christians running a pub in Bradford, England (which is taking place)" is a church. The pub, was rented by a group called "the Bradford Christian Pub Consortium. (It)represents a place of sanctuary and solace." Its manager says "Jesus said go into all the world. And this includes pubs. He didn't say sit in your church and wait for people to come to you."
If this prospect of being missional and incarnational intrigues you let's talk about it.
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