Being shaped by our missional God

‘…if we believe in the missio Dei, then the only logical consequence is that it challenges the primacy of ecclesiology.’ (Mark Collinson)

Let’s clarify two words first

1.      The missio Dei

The mission of God

-          The theological turn to mission about not being something the church does, but something that is part of God, belongs to God and we are invited join in with.

2.      Ecclesiology

The study of the church

-          How we gather and be church together.

The challenging quote from Mark Collinson above, is in the context of the Church of England. However, I think this speaks to any of us who are in new missional churches, communities and adventures, who have to, at any point, engage with the wider church.

Missio Dei challenges our inherited ecclesiology because the Spirit interrupts our human efforts and leads us to Jesus. When we say that mission is God’s, our events and activities, although well-meaning, come into question, and our human structures of organisation, though many good, come under fire. If the disciples had followed their own pattern of thought, then 5,000 people wouldn’t have been fed and children wouldn’t have been welcome to join in. Jesus interrupts and leads us towards his heart. Of all the people, it was the pharisees who Jesus regularly interrupted, the ones who thought they knew how to worship God. Jesus is the same today as he was then.

If we genuinely believe that our missional God is to be the author of our missional selves, and the missional church, it has consequences for how we live as Christians and, by extension, being church together. I’ve been in a meeting or two where I’ve had to say, amongst many things, ‘people don’t want to come to church as it is, because it doesn’t speak to them or meet them where they are at, which is why we are doing it this way.’ And it hurts, because I have to once again justify my actions but more importantly because I wish we could all go on the journey together, and it’s also deeply painful for others to hear that what they’re doing isn’t working anymore. The missio Dei, a missional God who is active in the world and inviting us to join in, places God at the centre, which will always challenge anyone and any structure that wants to be the centre themselves.

Jesus knew the consequences of ushering in a new way all too well, and arguably, Jesus’ actions and words were always challenging an established system. He does it by just being who he was called to be, and doing what he was called to do. Following his Father’s voice, living a life in the Spirit, loving the marginalised, being the truth and making disciples. The focus was never a well organised church, but a people listening to their heavenly Father, in the life of the Spirit, loving the marginalised, being the truth and making disciples. It’s about us having the Spirit-given courage to be bold and follow the way, setting a new path that consequently shapes what we know as church. God is first, and God’s missional identity shapes our ecclesiology. In the words of Mark Collinson ‘Church isn't even the object of the story. The world is the focus of God’s revelation, and when the world starts seeking who God is, then the church will be revived, revitalized and renewed.’

In our rural context, being shaped by our missional God rather than ‘church’ may look like someone not regularly showing up at church because they are building relationships with parents at the football club. It might be the steady presence in the village café, or choosing to be at the local show amongst the farmers rather than at another church meeting. It may look like not being in the recognised Church at all and giving the time to loving and understanding the community. It can look like absence, or even disengagement, but it is actually the dissent of someone seeking to follow Jesus.

This way of following Jesus is not shaped by classic Sunday attendance, but by seeking to join the Spirit in the community. This shakes our established ecclesiology, and the power structures within it. I am not saying that gathered church doesn’t have a place, but that our church life should be shaped around joining in with our missional God. I want to encourage us to be bold, to listen to the whispers of the Spirit and follow where God leads.

Jo Allen

Joint CEO, Rural Ministries

Mark Collinson, Do Church Planters believe in the missio Dei?, in New Churches a theology edited by Will Foulger and Joshua Cockayne, pp. 21-33.