Missional Metrics XII
Number of Bibles purchased because someone asked for one.
One of the criticisms leveled against the emerging (and here I do not mean "Emergent" which is an entirely different animal to my mind) missional church is the apparent lack of focus on Scripture, especially when it comes to evangelism. I say "apparent" because in reality nothing could be farther from the truth. Those in the missional church place a high premium on Scripture and helping those who do not yet follow Christ begin to engage the Word of God. After all, if we are to truly learn how to be more faithful Christ-followers, then we must become serious students of the Scriptures that are the primary witnesses to Jesus' life. So why the criticism? Two reasons...
First, while missional Christians are passionate about sharing God's Word with those around them, they are equally as passionate about doing it within the context of a relationship. In fact, they are committed to building an authetic friendship with the person first because they understand that people really don't care what you know until they know how much you care. They also understand that people in a post-modern world are not looking for more arguments as to why the Bible is true, why the Christian faith is true, why God exists, why Jesus was God incarnate, etc. They are looking for a community of people who actually live their faith out on a daily basis. They want to see that following Jesus makes a difference in one's life. And unless they see that difference, they are pretty unlikely to be open to any conversation about the Christian faith. On the flip side, if they do encounter a Christ-follower, someone who is seeking to live their life the way Jesus would if he were them, they are often very open to any conversation about faith. Missional Christians understand that drive-by evangelistic efforts are often too formulaic and too simplistic (do we really believe that the only thing required to become a follower of Christ is saying a little prayer? Getting our heavenly ticket punched? Doesn't it involve more? Like a complete change in life? Metanoia?) and do not really introduce people to the robust depth and breadth of Christianity.
Second, and this follows on the heels of point one, engaging Scripture for missional Christians is ultimately a transformative experience. The emphasis is placed on life change, not just head knowledge of the Bible. For too many years we have relied on teaching methods that focus almost solely on imparting information. The goal of Sunday school classes and many small group Bible studies is simply to learn as much information about the Bible as possible which we hope will then lead to personal application. However, there is little to no accountability. Little to no follow-up from week to week to find out how folks actually went out to live what they were learning. And therefore little to no personal transformation. Missional Christians are seeking out different ways of engaging Scripture, mainly within the context of intentional small groups where one can be challenged from week to week and be held accountable to actually incarnating what they are learning. The goal is not information download but actual, measureable life-change.
To be sure, it is all a process. It doesn't happen overnight. But the bottomline is that as we follow Christ, we should become a more holy, more pure, more faithful people and this should become obvious in the choices we make, the relationships we have, and the life we are living.
(This is the last of the metrics posed by Hugh Halter and tomorrow I will begin adding a few more that I believe help us evaluate the faithfulness of the missional church.)
First, while missional Christians are passionate about sharing God's Word with those around them, they are equally as passionate about doing it within the context of a relationship. In fact, they are committed to building an authetic friendship with the person first because they understand that people really don't care what you know until they know how much you care. They also understand that people in a post-modern world are not looking for more arguments as to why the Bible is true, why the Christian faith is true, why God exists, why Jesus was God incarnate, etc. They are looking for a community of people who actually live their faith out on a daily basis. They want to see that following Jesus makes a difference in one's life. And unless they see that difference, they are pretty unlikely to be open to any conversation about the Christian faith. On the flip side, if they do encounter a Christ-follower, someone who is seeking to live their life the way Jesus would if he were them, they are often very open to any conversation about faith. Missional Christians understand that drive-by evangelistic efforts are often too formulaic and too simplistic (do we really believe that the only thing required to become a follower of Christ is saying a little prayer? Getting our heavenly ticket punched? Doesn't it involve more? Like a complete change in life? Metanoia?) and do not really introduce people to the robust depth and breadth of Christianity.
Second, and this follows on the heels of point one, engaging Scripture for missional Christians is ultimately a transformative experience. The emphasis is placed on life change, not just head knowledge of the Bible. For too many years we have relied on teaching methods that focus almost solely on imparting information. The goal of Sunday school classes and many small group Bible studies is simply to learn as much information about the Bible as possible which we hope will then lead to personal application. However, there is little to no accountability. Little to no follow-up from week to week to find out how folks actually went out to live what they were learning. And therefore little to no personal transformation. Missional Christians are seeking out different ways of engaging Scripture, mainly within the context of intentional small groups where one can be challenged from week to week and be held accountable to actually incarnating what they are learning. The goal is not information download but actual, measureable life-change.
To be sure, it is all a process. It doesn't happen overnight. But the bottomline is that as we follow Christ, we should become a more holy, more pure, more faithful people and this should become obvious in the choices we make, the relationships we have, and the life we are living.
(This is the last of the metrics posed by Hugh Halter and tomorrow I will begin adding a few more that I believe help us evaluate the faithfulness of the missional church.)
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