Missional: from the latin theological term Missio dei, that can be translated as "Mission of God". It refers to the work of the church as being part of God's work. So the church's mission is a subset of a larger whole mission that is it is both part of God's mission to the world and not the entirety of God's work in the world.God created the church to be a sign of His coming Kingdom. Leslie Newbigin says, “The church is a sign of the kingdom, pointing people to the reality which is beyond what we can see.”
In light of those conversations, let me share something I found by JR Woodward at Dream Awakener (www.jrwoodward.net/jrwoodward/). His post "A Working Definition of Success" provides a working definition of what missional might look like.
1. Not simply how many people come to our church services, but how many people our church serves.
2. Not simply how many people attend our ministry, but how many people have we equipped for ministry.
3. Not simply how many people minister inside the church, but how many minister outside the church.
4. Not simply helping people become more whole themselves, but helping people bring more wholeness to their world. (ie. justice, healing, relief)
5. Not simply how many ministries we start, but how many ministries we help.
6. Not simply how many unbelievers we bring into the community of faith, but how many “believers” we help experience healthy community.
7. Not simply working through our past hurts, but working alongside the Spirit toward wholeness.
8. Not simply counting the resources that God gives us to steward, but counting how many good stewards are we developing for the sake of the world.
9. Not simply how we are connecting with ou culture but how we are engaging our culture.
10. Not simply how much peace we bring to individuals, but how much peace we bring to our world.
11. Not simply how effective we are with our mission, but how faithful we are to our God.
12. Not simply how unified our local church is, but how unified is “the church” in our neighborhood, city and world?
13. Not simply how much we immerse ourselves in the text, but how faithfully we live in the story of God.
14. Not simply being concerned about how our country is doing, but being concern for the welfare of other countries.
15. Not simply how many people we bring into the kingdom, but how much of the kingdom we bring to the earth.
