Missional vs Evangelism

I first heard the word missional a few years ago. It’s not the same as being a missionary but spoke more of a lifestyle of living in a way that expressed Christ to others.

I liked the idea because I had never been very good with evangelism. Being introverted, I didn’t do very well in striking up a conversation with strangers and telling them about Jesus. So the idea that living a Christian life in front of people as a form of evangelism appealed to me. They would see with their eyes what Jesus was like. Of course the new problem was that a lot of the time I didn’t do a very good job of showing Jesus.

As time went on I found out that there was a reason that a lot of people and churches were going the missional route rather than good old fashioned evangelism. It’s because they were being honest about what they believed; turns out that they don’t believe in evangelism. There are people that believe that what Jesus did on the cross wasn’t really for everyone. It’s the belief that only certain people are the elect and therefore allowed salvation. John 3:16 doesn’t really mean that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Those are just code words. When decoded it means that someone can only believe if God lets or makes them believe.

So the result of this belief is that you can’t go out on the street and tell someone that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life. Maybe He doesn’t. Maybe the wonderful plan He has for them is election to damnation for that is the opposite of election to salvation.

I also found that a lot of the church-planting movement fits in and is intertwined with this whole thing. It’s summed up in the “if you build it they will come” idea. You set up a church and invite people on a journey. The old altar call is a thing of the past too. You can’t really call people to salvation if they might not be part of the “called” group. So people come to the church and if they are one of the elect then salvation will take hold. If not then they will probably drift away.

Now I know these thoughts are a bit simple and unpolished but I hope you get the idea I’m trying to convey.

We need to understand that words have meaning and consequences. When we use words we need to know what they mean and also what someone else means by them. It can make a big difference.

Philip