What does it mean to be Missional?

Church Planting: Brad Brisco
Monday, March 28, 2005

Over the past several years I have had the wonderful opportunity to teach a few weekend courses at a local Christian college. I recently completed teaching a new course simply entitled "The History of Christianity." The class surveys the major movements and events that have shaped the church from its beginning in the first century up to the present day. While there are many events that have had a major impact on how we experience church life today, there are none, I believe, more significant than the institutionalization of the church in the fourth century.

In the first two centuries of the life of the church, the church experienced explosive growth, both geographically and socially. The church made great inroads into different socio-economic levels as well as seeing geographical growth from the city of Jerusalem, north to Antioch, and west to Ephesus and Rome. In the midst of this rapid growth, however, the church experience great persecution under the reign of several Roman emperors. However, the intense persecution of Christians came to a screeching halt under the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine. When Constantine came to the throne he instituted the Edict of Milan in 312AD. This edict not only brought an end to the persecution of Christians, but it even made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.

While bringing an end to the intense persecution of the church was of course a very good thing, the down side was that the church was suddenly institutionalized. The church went from being a dynamic movement to a religious institution. It went from being a living, vibrant organism to a structured organization with buildings, formal structures and priesthood. And the Christian life, for many, became more about one particular time and a place, rather than all the time, in every place.

The word that many use to describe the church in its pre-Constantine days, in addition to the need we have for the church today, is the word "missional." To challenge the way we think about the church and to perhaps begin a conversation on the topic, I have included a brief set of characteristics that help to differentiate between an institutional church and a missional one. If you have comments or questions about the list call me at the associational office.

The Institutional Church:

  1. Exists for the members of the church.
  2. Dependent upon pastors and staff to evangelize the lost.
  3. Main focus is supporting the church activities to attract new families.
  4. Participants compartmentalize their religion and their lives.
  5. Faith is a routine activity that is private and personal.
  6. The goal is to increase attendance.

The Missional Church:

  1. Exist to take Christ to the lost.
  2. Members are personally engaged in their communities.
  3. Main focus is training and equipping others to be missionaries.
  4. Develops relationships with the lost on purpose.
  5. Relationships are the means to influence others in their journey toward Christ.
  6. The goal is community transformation through helping others find Jesus.