How I Got Missional

Missional and emerging are pretty hip these days. Personally I prefer missional over emerging. The missional movement has a longer history and is more global in scale and scope (representative thinkers would be Newbigin and Bosch). Given our consumerist church culture, is missional merely the latest marketing technique? I didn’t learn about a missional perspective in seminary. Neither was my church attendance waning and I hopped on the missional/emerging bandwagon to revitalize my ministry. For me it happened during my 3 years in Sacramento as I was unable to find a good church. The problem I have with traditional and seeker models of church is that they are both enslaved to culture. Both are deeply concerned with maintaining a particular vision of the American dream. In some traditional churches clergy may be fixated on liberating America from the encroachment of fundamentalists, racists, sexists, Republicans, etc. Or on the opposite spectrum others are intent on fending off secular humanists, liberals, homosexuals, Democrats, terrorists, etc. Or you can just forget about culture wars altogether and attend a seeker church where they will provide you all the creature comforts Americans are seeking: mom’s groups, fun youth groups, golfing outings for men, lattes in the church lobby, etc.

For me as a racial minority the traditional church and the seeker church do not appeal to me because I do not share their cultural concerns. In a mainline church I assumed that my ethnic culture would be affirmed but I have noticed that their inclusivity is oftentimes very selective and my concerns are more evangelical. Conservative fundamentalist churches are not inclusive enough. When I’m at seeker churches I can care less about all the “accessories” (VBS, youth camps, marriage retreats, etc.) they provide me and my family, and again my concerns are more evangelical but this time also more social, political, and economic.

I got missional because of my dissatisfaction with the churches in my area during my 3 years in Sacramento. Sacramento is busting at the seams with megachurches and evangelical church plants (I blogged earlier on my dissatisfaction with these). I moved into a new development and there were 10 evangelical church plants competing for the same piece of turf. Each church has to outdo the other in order to gain customers. So the question inevitably comes down to, “Who has the better youth or children ministry?” “Who has the better preacher?” “Who has the better worship team?” One church will put on a snow day for the community. Another will bring in a nationally known speaker for a special event. Another will have a local sports figure host a basketball camp.

While I was in Sacramento I served as a pastor in ethnic churches. I can serve happily at an ethnic church because I understand that one my roles as a pastor in an ethnic church is to preserve their culture. So whereas American churches were investing in ski trips for their kids my church was investing in Korean school on Saturdays. Churches have always played this role for immigrant communities. It’s not something I would want to commit the rest of my life doing, but knowing that my ministry was temporary I was content with my role. Problem was, I’m not very Korean so I wasn’t very good at this aspect of my ministry.

I find that most American churches are no different than this ethnic church. That is, they too are intent on preserving or accommodating a certain form of American culture. E.g., I recall speaking to a pastor of a large church in a college town. I think he knew and I knew that his church ought to hire a college pastor as their next staff member b/c of their strategic location. But what took precedence? A worship pastor. Now I’m not knocking worship pastors. If a worship pastor was at the heart of the church’s mission – great. But in my opinion the church already had many gifted worship leaders. The real issue was that the church had moved into a new facility and b/c of now being in a larger space worship was “flat.” The customers were unhappy and they needed service.

How did I get missional? It was through my dissatisfaction with church. Church is not to be enslaved to its culture. It is not a vehicle to maintain or perpetuate a certain form of it. The church is to be a witness to its culture. It is to critique its culture. The church does not exist merely to attend to the felt needs of the parishioners. The church is to be an alternative community. Many traditional mainline churches have forgotten about the gospel. Many conservative traditional churches have limited the gospel to a verbal invitation. Many seeker churches also define the gospel as a verbal invitation but busy themselves with a number of other activities that bear no relationship to the gospel. The church is to be defined by the gospel at its core as well as at its periphery.