Sully Notes Special | 13 Marks of a Faithful Missional Church – Mark 10 of 13

 

Mark 10 – A Church with Well-Trained Leaders – of 13 Marks of a Faithful Missional Church in the 21st Century American West  

Sully Notes are meant to provide you with direct quotes from some books I've read in the last year, so you can get a taste of the overall theme of the book and then begin to chew on what your life might look like if you applied what you read.

This series of special Notes are touching on a subject growing in recognition and discussion within the 21st century American church. What is the missional church? Is it something we do or who we are? What does a church look like that is living out the mission of God in their cultural context? How does a church remain faithful to the good news of Jesus, the Spirit of God, the Scriptures, the church throughout human history and around the world, and the mission of God that the church is called to join, while also meeting the questions, needs, and desires of the people God is sending us to in the cultures and contexts we live in today? I have found no better book to answer these questions than in Michael Goheen's A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story. 

For these 13 posts, my goal is to share the final chapter of the book – Chapter 9: What Might This Look Like Today – with you. In this chapter, Goheen shares from his pastoral and professional experience in answering the question, "Ten Things I'd Do Differently if I Pastored Again." The list grew from ten to a lucky thirteen. I think all thirteen are essential for considering how Emmaus City will be a faithful church for our city – Worcester, MA. 

Each blog post will feature one mark that will take about 5 minutes to read. Here is the full list featuring links to the previous posts:

• Mark 1: A Church with Worship That Nurtures Our Missional Identity
• Mark 2: A Church Empowered by the Preaching of the Gospel
• Mark 3: A Church Devoted to Communal Prayer
• Mark 4: A Church Striving to Live as a Contrast Community
• Mark 5: A Church That Understands Its Cultural Context
• Mark 6: A Church Trained for a Missionary Encounter in Its Callings in the World
• Mark 7: A Church Trained to Evangelism in an Organic Way
• Mark 8: A Church Deeply Involved in the Needs of Its Neighborhood and World
• Mark 9: A Church Committed to Missions
• Mark 10: A Church with Well-Trained Leaders
• Mark 11: A Church with Parents Trained to Take Up the Task of Nurturing Children in Faith
• Mark 12: A Church with Small Groups That Nurture for Mission in the World
• Mark 13: A Church That Seeks and Expresses the Unity of the Body of Christ

Mark 10: A Church with Well-Trained Leaders

"To live out this demanding missionary encounter in the world, local congregations will need at least three things:

1) leaders who carry and embody a missional vision and equip others to follow,

2) families that are training the next generation in what it means to be faithful,

3) and missional communities that can facilitate the various dimensions of the church's task.

  

It is impossible for a pastor to carry and implement a vision for a missional church alone. Identifying and training leaders who can journey and act as change agents together is essential. But how we conceive of leadership will shape the way leaders are trained. Lesslie Newbigin suggests that too much of our understanding of ecclesial leadership has been formed by a nonmissional setting. His own missionary experience caused him to reenvision what leadership in the local congregation should look like. In the New Testament leadership was primarily in mission, while ministry in the Christendom setting was largely pastoral care of established communities: 'In one, the minister is facing the people – gathering, teaching, feeding, comforting; in the other he is leading the people, going before them on the way to the cross to challenge the powers of this dark world.'

New Testament leadership is best defined in the words of Paul: 'Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ' (1 Corinthians 11:1). Leaders are those who follow hard after Jesus and enable others to do so as well. Leaders are those who themselves lead by example in missional engagement and then equip others also to participate in God's mission. Two images capture this kind of leadership, which is necessary for a missionary congregation:

1) Pacesetter: Leaders are to be pacesetters, people who are ahead of others, setting the pace for others in the congregation, inviting and urging others to follow.

2) Pioneer: A pioneer is one who ventures into unknown and uncharted territory first, so that others can follow him or her there. As Jesus was the pioneer leading the way in his life, inviting others to join him in his mission, so church leaders do the same.

  
If the congregation is to take on a missional identity, leaders must exhibit that vision and work to form structures that engender that calling. If the congregation is to live out of the gospel as the power of God unto salvation, leaders must embody that commitment in their own lives. If the congregation is to learn 'frontline' prayer, leaders must lead the way. If the congregation is to become more radical in the task of raising the next generation to follow Christ, leaders must show what that means in their own home. If the congregation is to engage the powers of the public square, leaders must already be deeply engaged there themselves. Indeed, the key to a missional congregation will be leaders who are already following Christ in his mission and looking for ways to enable and equip the rest of the congregation to follow him more faithfully as well." – pgs. 220-221

Next posts: 

• 13 Marks of a Faithful Missional Church – Mark 11 of 13: A Church with Parents Trained to Take Up the Task of Nurturing Children in Faith
• Sully Notes 13 | Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times: Being Calm and Courageous No Matter What Part 1 of 3 

– Sully

 
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