Sunday, December 2, 2007

Missional: buzzword or reality?

Missional seems to be the new buzz word for Christianity. It's everywhere, but is there a reason for this?
I think that it's not about the number of books being written, not about the blogs, not about the conferences. It's about what the Spirit of God is doing.
Here's a picture of why Holy Spirit wants to move missionally.
Yesterday Pine Lake (the church planting Missio Lux) had their annual woman's brunch. Now this brunch is a very sacred tradition. People opt to hostess a table and then spend weeks designing their table; bringing all their best china and silver to make it shine. Then, the women are encouraged invite their friends and neighbors to come, so they can experience a wonderful morning and hear an invitational talk about Jesus.
This year my next door neighbor Nancy and I hosted a table with our neighbors; all of whom do not attend church. Here's the kicker. This is the last year that Pine Lake is doing the brunch this way. Next year instead of opening it up to our friends and neighbors, we will be hosting women and children from a homeless shelter.
An invitation was made for guests at the brunch to host tables next year. My neighborhood jumped at the chance! They got so excited, thinking that they could be part of an outreach into the world. Many of them signed up to participate.
We've had it so backwards in the modern church. We try to get people to come to church to find Jesus. We need to be Jesus to the world and invite them to participate in the things Jesus did: caring about the poor, visiting the sick, reaching out to the foreigners, building caregiver kits for Caregivers of Aids patients in Africa....hosting a brunch for suffering women and children.
Missional: buzzword or reality? You tell me.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is so great that instead of complaining about change - 70 (SEVENTY!) women signed up on comment cards to help with next year's brunch! I think this is reality.

Anonymous said...

Having a brunch for the homeless is a fantastic idea. That will be exciting to watch. I hope other churches do the same. We've had enough for us! Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

That is so exciting! Thanks for sharing. What a great response to this change! Can't wait to see what happens next year.

Anonymous said...

It happened with my non-church attending neighbor, too! She has a big heart for people but not for church, and this sort of opportunity allows her to access her spirit and connect it with something of meaning, in her love language of service to others. I am so excited, too. I, too, look forward to this change. We are so blessed, our cup is more than full. What a joy it will be to spill that blessing out on those who so greatly needed to experience blessing. We can begin to pray now for a mightly impact and changed lives. Who knows what can happen when these women and children experience the unfailing love of God in such a tangible way? May they know how precious they are and how deeply loved! What a privilige to be the hands and arms and feet of Jesus to show them.