Missio Dei and Missional Church
June 1, 2007 – 3:25 pm | by Duncan Macleod
John 16:12-15 (Contemporary English Version)
12 I have much more to say to you, but right now it would be more than you could understand. 13 The Spirit shows what is true and will come and guide you into the full truth. The Spirit doesn’t speak on his own. He will tell you only what he has heard from me, and he will let you know what is going to happen. 14 The Spirit will bring glory to me by taking my message and telling it to you. 15 Everything that the Father has is mine. That is why I have said that the Spirit takes my message and tells it to you.
It’s Trinity Sunday this weekend - the Sunday after Pentecost is celebrated. I’ve been asked to preach at my local church, tying in my work on the missional church. I’ll be preaching from John 16:12-15 in which Jesus talks about being sent by the Father, and sending us the Holy Spirit. The Father sends the Son. The Father and the Son send the Spirit. The Father, Son and Spirit sends us into the world. So how do we send?
I thought this might be an opportunity to expand on the theme of ‘Missio Dei’ - the missional nature of the Triune God.
“Missio Dei” is Latin for the mission of God. Over the last sixty years there’s been a lot of discussion among missionaries and church leaders about mission belonging to God, not just the church. God is actively involved in the world - a missionary God.
Jügen Moltmann, a German theologian, wrote in his 1977 book, “The Church in the Power of the Spirit”, “It is not the church that has a mission of salvation to fulfill in the world; it is the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father that includes the church”.
So how does all this affect anyone? Or is it just some theology for professional theologians to enjoy?
Getting our focus on the mission of God helps us rethink what mission is about. God’s mission in the world is a lot more than the 33 years of Jesus’ life. It’s certainly involves a lot more than the last moments of his life, death and resurrection. If we take seriously God’s involvement with the whole of creation we’ll be looking to take part in that. If we believe that God is still active in the world today through the Holy Spirit, beyond the church, we’ll be looking for signs of that and joining in. Is God involved in the passionate movement around the world to address global climate change?
Entering into the mission of God helps us realise the importance of relationship building. Jesus in the Gospels talks about being sent and sending in the context of relationships of confidence, trust and transparency. Mission for Jesus was not just about projects that needed to be completed. It was about who he had come from, who he was going to. I work with a team of mission planners who ask the ‘who questions’. Our first two questions, before looking at strategies, are “Who Will Go?” and “To Whom Will We Go?” Maybe we also need to encourage the question, “Who sends us?”
Missional communities need missional leadership provided by people who can commission and resource community members. In my work for Vision for Mission, in the Uniting Church in Australia, I’ve become involved with ‘U-Turn’, a resourcing movement designed to kick-start small missional groups. We’re encouraging people to start small groups that involve at least three people from outside, meeting at least eight times a year. Vision for Mission is providing $100 per group that starts in Queensland. We’re putting the funding directly into the accounts of local congregations so that they can be part of the commissioning. It’s a risk I know. Some Church councils may not get the point of some of the groups and slow up the process. But the process of sending, commissioning, is transformative in itself. It means that local groups of people are reflect the missional nature of God, sending and being sent.
Here are the first two questions put together for our missional planning process:
Who Will Go?
Who are we? What is our capacity to engage the community around us? Where are our energy levels? How motivated are we to engage in mission? What are the physical, human, spiritual, property and financial resources we have at our disposal? Identify local champions who will drive the mission process.
To Whom Will We Go?
Look locally for specific people groups and subcultures. Know and understand your target community in terms of demographic, and community needs and resources. Who are the gatekeepers and stakeholders in this community? What social/justice/spiritual needs and opportunities are there? What will frustrate or prevent us reaching our target group? How will our community change over the next 2-5-10 years? What is our purpose in going?
