Mark 6 – A Church Trained for a Missionary Encounter in Its Callings in the World – 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 6: A Church Trained for a Missionary Encounter in Its Callings in the World
"'God's saving power known and experienced in the life of a redeemed community has to issue in all kinds of witness and service to the world.'. Fulfilling this purpose will include at least four areas:
1) faithfulness in our weekly callings;
2) evangelistic words that point to Christ;
3) deeds of mercy and justice for the sake of our neighbors;
4) and a vision for the ends of the earth.
Newbigin chastises the 'deep-seated and persistent failure of the churches to recognize that the primary witness to the sovereignty of Christ must be given, and can only be given, in the oridinary secular work of lay men and women in business, in politics, in professional work, as farmer, factory workers and so on.' His conviction is that the 'enormous preponderance of the Church's witness is the witness of the thousands of its members who work in field, home, office, mill or law court. Lesslie Newbigin is not first of all talking about the opportunities available to them in their workplace to do evangelism. Evangelism is important – this will be emphasized below – but their reference is to the way the laity embody the lordship of Jesus Christ in their work, in business, academics, social work, law, and building construction shaped by a different story. And here we begin to see the unbearable or painful tension in faithfulness. How does the businessperson live faithfully in a world driven by the profit motive? How does someone in social work function within an environment build on a deeply humanistic understanding of the person? How does a scholar be faithful in a university that is shaped by scientistic or relativistic beliefs?
As a congregation strives toward what faithfulness might mean in the various sectors of cultural life, three themes will become more evident in the New Testament:
1) Suffering: if the people of God take seriously their call to engage in a missionary encounter in their various areas of work then suffering will be inevitable.
2) Prayer: if the church does not want to fall prey to a triumphalistic hubris in transforming culture but wants to be a faithful and effective witness, it will need to learn to pray that God will use its feeble and often imperfect efforts.
3) Importance of community: Here the role of the local congregation is important in at least three ways:
- The local congregation must be faithful in its task of nourishing new life in Christ through the gospel, the Lord's Supper, fellowship, and prayer with a vision to the larger calling of God's people.
- The local congregation must be a fellowship that supports believers in their callings through encouragement, prayer, insight, opportunity for discussion, and sometimes financial support.
- The church needs structures and groups that will equip the people of God with the insight they need to carry out their calling. These may be small congregational or ecumenical groups committed to sharing struggles and praying for one another. They may be groups bound by a common calling that probes what it means to be a Christian in a certain sector of the public square. The y may be highly organized and well-funded groups committed to equipping the church for the public mission." – pgs. 213-215
– Sully
Curiosity piqued? Something inside you being stirred? Go ahead and connect. For other updates, like and follow Emmaus City on Facebook.
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