Alan Hirsch, one of the real godfathers of the missional movement, spoke at the conference. He talked about how the church is no longer a privileged voice. “Now we get to work from the margins. We have to live an ethical life and get credibility again.”
He is hopeful that there will be a fundamental shift in the church. He pointed out that we still think about church in Constantinian forms, but the early church was far from privileged.
The early church was not an institution, but a movement. There were different levels of “church”:
Local: Community of God, usually meeting in smaller groups.
City: Church in Ephesus, etc, God’s people in a certain zone
Region: e.g. the Church across the Roman empire. A force, a movement.
Universe: identity
We want to be a missional, incarnational movement. Everyone has to be involved in this, not just clergy. Every believer is an agent of the kingdom. Every believer is a church planter. Every church is a church-planting church. Every person has the potential for transformation of Kingdom.
First job of a leader: Define how people see themselves in that organization.
You’ve got to dream it up. See the people, full of potential. Human beings have real changing power.
We treat money as if it’s an independent power. When issues of politics come up, hatred comes up. You can see how civil wars could happen around that stuff.
In any given system, there’s a distribution curve of resisters to early adopters.
2.5% are innovative.
13.5% early adopters
So all you need is 16% for an idea to be inevitable in that population.
In your churches, there are at least 5-10% of people who, re: missional issues, would say, “This is what I’ve always believed.” Allow for innovation.
We are meant to be a movement. An expansive, social force.
K à M à E
Kingdom informs missiology, informs ecclesiology
“The mission has a church.” Sent and sending. Missional determines God. “It’s not some fetish word, ‘missional’ is intrinsic to our activity in the world.”
You see what God is doing, and you join with God.
The church emerges from mission. Not the other way.
There is a great yearning to be lifted – how does it manifest? Football, money, etc. As missionaries, look in the “wrong places.”
As a missionary, go to the movies. See what is informing the culture, the mythos. Study the idolatry of a culture. All mission is post-cultural.
“Go to the third places. Where people hang out in their spare time.”
You can be doing things you love to do, and still “doing church.”
Red Pill Brethren 