‘Missional’ is a buzz word right now. Ask ten people what the word means and you’ll get ten different answers. To me, the word means: to be on the mission of reaching people. A concept that is at the heart of any sports minister as he/she seeks to equip people to reach their community for Christ through sports.
I came across this blog entry today from the Acts 29 blog about definitions of missional. Below are some excerpts. I hope you find them helfpul:
I believe Missional is one of the most misunderstood words used in Evangelicalism today. The term is used in a way to mean anything that is evangelistic or contextualized ministries or edgy and sometimes just defined in the “cool” category (we’re “missional” because we play indie rock, have a soul patch and worship in a dimly-lit warehouse with candles and artwork). Its meaning gets lost in the method by which it is employed. For mainline churches, missional is an attempt to resurrect its roots and passion for evangelism. For those tired of organized religion, it may be a defining word to live like Jesus without aligning with a church that is perceived to be irrelevant. In most cases, missional is described by a method one uses to evangelize. Missional, therefore is difficult to define and thus we are relegated to a description of its uses.
Tim Keller, Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City describes it in terms of identifying oneself with the non-believer and how we function as a church body with cultural-sensitive methodology and addressing the same issues inherent in the culture where the church ministers. Keller asserts, “We don’t simply need evangelistic churches, but rather ‘missional’ churches.”
Ed Stetzer, President of Lifeway Research distinguishes missional from mission-minded as an attempt to sensitize the established church with biblical missions across the street and not just missions across the seas. “Missional means actually doing mission right where you are,” Stetzer writes. “Missional means adopting the posture of a missionary, learning and adapting to the culture around you while remaining biblically sound.” Stetzer condenses the statement to say, “Missional means being a missionary without ever leaving your zip code.”
