XVII — PRACTICES

XVII — WHY AND HOW ARE MISSIONAL PRACTICES ALIGNED TO THE MISSIO DEI?

Missional practices, performances, facilities, properties, and arrangements are beneficial aids, which must be aligned to the mission of God. This means that every congregational activity, program, project, and organization must be rooted in the Missio Dei. We cannot confuse the actions and activities that support the Missio Dei as the Missio Dei. Such actions and activities are rather supporting elements of the Missio Dei.

For example, nowhere in the Bible does God say we must offer or attend Sunday School. However, in the great going, Christ commands us to make disciples. So, it is well and good for a church to offer a Sunday School program as a way of making disciples. But the Sunday School program itself is not the Missio Dei. Sunday School teaching should not simply consist of a lesson or head knowledge, an activity or a craft. Any activity or program that is not rooted in God’s sending mission is folly. 

Every congregational happening must be aligned to Christ and His mission without the activities or practices being the central focus or being the mission.

Any missional practices in a healthy missional congregation will be designed for making Gospel contact, useful for connecting, caring, cultivating, communicating, and community-creating, all with the intention of pointing the focus to Christ’s apostolic authority. Thus, it is important for congregations to examine who they are – their whole mission ethos, culture, and behavior. In order to be missional, a congregation must solidly understand the difference between the sending of God and human-appointed sending practices. The sending practices point to the mission of God but are not by themselves the mission of God.