Can Mennonite Brethren be Missional? (repost)

"What is the missional church?" This discussion has recently picked up on Facebook and specifically on Tony Jones' blog. In this post (reposted from July) I offer a definition and a connection to my denomination, the Mennonite Brethren, an offshoot of Anabaptism.

Direction Journal, a publication of Mennonite Brethren higher education institutions, recently published an article of mine titled, "Can Mennonite Brethren be Missional?" The issue it appears in addresses the theme, "The Emerging Church: Critiques and Appreciations" (Spring 2010). The issue and article are now available online.

In the article I give a brief overview of North American church culture, define the missional movement and suggest nine points of similarity between the historic Anabaptist church, specifically the Mennonite Brethren, and the missional movement.

Here's a quick summary of those similarities:

1. A distrust of creedal and dogmatic formulations and a reliance on the biblical witness.
2. A corporate hermeneutic that honors the local community rather than an institution.
3. A holistic witness incarnated as a liberating gospel in both word and deed.
4. The "priesthood of all believers" -- the belief that all followers of Christ are active participants in God's mission.
5. Loyalty to the kingdom and the grand narrative of God's story rather than to an earthly nation-state.
6. The ability to live and worship in a place of exile, persecution, and dislocation.
7. The congregation as the place to live a life of witness and service while being a counter-cultural presence engaged with the world.
8. A community ethic of love and accountability.
9. Voluntary, non-coercive membership in the church community.

And here's a teaser that might get you interested in reading the full article.

What is the missional church? This question is being asked by churches across North America. Is it a new fad? The latest “new and improved” technique for attracting a younger generation? An innovative program for evangelism? Or is it a new way of doing mission work? The word “missional” is used in many different ways: some people understand its historical and theological origins, and others flippantly use it as a label for a new marketing scheme. The purpose of this essay is to answer the question by first examining twenty-first-century North American cultural shifts, then by locating the place of the church within those shifts, and finally by identifying some ways that Mennonite Brethren might resonate with and learn from the missional conversation.

Here's the article. Do you have thoughts, corrections, rebuttals? I'd be glad to hear them.

 

Comments

[Kim Quinn]

Dear brother,
can you explain the terms in this to a dumb-dumb like me? Especially #'s 1,2,&3.

[James Bergen]

Tim, I ran into and read the Direction article. A good piece! I didn't know you did that. Good work. Thanks for being an ongoing voice of shaping us as followers of Jesus, and as MB's who are trying to move forward into what God has for us.

[Tim]

Hi Kim, The article is a bit technical because it was written for a journal. I'll be glad to simplify.

#1 A distrust of creedal and dogmatic formulations and a reliance on the biblical witness. This means that Anabaptists didn't rely on creeds and tightly crafted statements of faith. They preferred to approach the Bible as a community and interpret it in the "here and now" of their own (often persecuted) context. To this day Mennonites don't put a lot of energy into creedal statements. This has both pros and cons.

#2 A corporate hermeneutic that honors the local community rather than an institution. Anabaptists, and thus Mennonites, have encouraged a plurality of voices when it comes to interpreting the Bible. We have never looked to one leader (such as the Pope) to tell us what to do, but have invested a great deal of energy into hearing God speak through his Word and through the words of each other. Historically, we have said that we are "a people of the Book."

#3 A holistic witness incarnated as a liberating gospel in both word and deed. Anabaptism has been viewed by many as a "third way" (as opposed to the Catholic church and the Protestant reformers like Luther and Calvin). We believe that the gospel should not just be spoken, but also lived out as we care for the world that God has created. A common theological understanding is that liberals tend to favor social justice and conservatives favor evangelism. As Mennonites, we are both Anabaptist and Evangelical which means that we are invested in meeting both physical and spiritual needs. This is a "holistic gospel."

I hope that helps!