The Dawn Treader

"A missional church knows that they must be a cross-cultural missionary (contextual) people in their own community."

Being missional means recognizing that you are truly a missionary in this culture.  Even though you may be a Christian living in America, you may as well be a missionary in the jungles of South America.  In a post Christian culture, our presuppositions are different, our language is different, and our culture is different.  We need to think like missionaries think when entering a different culture.  How can the gospel of the kingdom be best communicated in this context?  It is not a call to change the message, jazz it up, or make it easier to swallow.  It is a call to think cross-culturally about those who are hearing the message, and to be wise and effective ambassadors of king Jesus as we communicate and embody the gospel in the culture.

"A missional church is not missional just because it is contemporary, young, hip, post-modern-sensitive, seeker-sensitive or even traditional."

Being missional is a paradigm shift.  Changing the window dressing on a worship style will not transform a church into a missional church.  That is because in a missional church, the mission is out there.  It is no longer the vision to ask others to come and sit in our service, but to live out our faith in our communities as people sent.  Our connection point with culture is not the Sunday morning church service.  In a post Christian culture, those we are taking the gospel to are not even remotely interested in a church service.

As Ryan Bolger says, "They [missional churches] no longer see the church service as the primary connecting point with those outside the community. Connecting with those outside happens within the culture, by insiders to that culture who express the gospel through how they live. "

It is about embodying the gospel through serving, both in deeds and words.