Dec 5, 2001
by Dan Nighswander, general secretary
Many are asking the question "Can someone explain the difference
between what we were doing and what we are now, with this new termmissional,
supposed to be doing?"
Astute observers recognize that the missional vision is a re-statement
of what has been the church's ideal since God called it into being. It
is, after all, the Biblical mandate. For Mennonites it is especially familiar
because it describes the Anabaptist understanding of the church. Simply
put, the missional vision is that the church is sent into the world to
participate in God's mission of reconciling all people to God, to fellow
humans and to creation.
But the church has often fallen from this ideal. Consider the missional
vision as a tool that helps us think about all the hindrances that keep
us from fulfilling the vision we already hold. What questions does it
prompt?
When we make a practice of distinguishing between God's mission and
our own agenda, we are not thinking missionally. When we ask God to bless
our work, we have lost the missional perspective. Instead of God helping
us accomplish our goals, Christians must determine what God is doing and
align their attitudes and activities with that. Does your congregation
do this?
In your friendships, your daily labour, your volunteer work and the
way you use money, do you demonstrate that God's mission is your primary
concern? Is your sphere of mission both as close and as large as God's-"across
the street and around the world?" Does your congregation's life and
"personality" demonstrate an alignment with God's mission?
How does God's passion for reconciliation shape your attitudes and your
behaviour in the aftermath of September 11? What would your family and
colleagues at work say about you? What would they say about your congregation?
The question deserves a longer discussion and the answers will be different
in every setting. I invite you the Missional Travelbag on this web site,
use the study guide Discover Anew: What God calls us to do! in your congregation,
and view the new video, "A Missional Vision for Mennonite Church
Canada" sent recently to your church.
When the answer becomes clear, send it to us as a testimony to what the
missional vision means to you.
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