Monday Morning Insights

Photo of Todd
    .

    Are We Gaining Ground Missionally?

    Bookmark and Share

    Other findings:

    Five changes are gaining momentum in congregations all across the country:
    --Affirming the whole gospel
    --Not looking to a megachurch model
    --Focusing on making disciples
    --Encouraging a missional mindset as a means of spiritual formation
    --Establishing partnerships to advance the gospel.

    You can read more here…

    What do you think?


    Leadership Journal conducted a survey of 700 evangelical pastors on how their perceptions of the gospel and mission currently compare with their understanding a decade ago. Here are some of the findings:

    Pastors are focusing more on the Gospels than on the Epistles.

    More pastors believe the gospel is advanced by demonstration and not simply proclamation.

    More pastors say the goal of evangelism is to grow "the" church rather than to grow "my" church.

    More pastors believe partnering with other local churches is essential to accomplishing their mission...

    Comments

    if you want a Globally Recognized Avatar (the images next to your profile) get them here. Once you sign up, they will displayed on any website that supports them.

    1. CS on Wed, November 19, 2008

      “More pastors believe the gospel is advanced by demonstration and not simply proclamation.”


      I’ve been noticing this trend for a while, with the often- and wrongly-attributed quote and concept from St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel, and when necessary, use words.”  That it is more important to be living the Christian life and then people will want to know about what you have.  Sort of like, “People won’t care what you know until they know that you care.”


      But, this totally avoids what God wrote through Paul in Romans 10, stating that it is the preaching that saves souls.  Until we open our mouths, write down words, or communicate the Gospel directly, the Gospel will not be advanced as these pastors hope.  If you care about people, yes, live the Christian life, and preach the Gospel.  And do them together, not preferring one over the other.



      CS

    2. Mac @ Motorcycle Fairings on Wed, November 19, 2008

      I kind of wonder why if in the bible Jesus said to go and preach, only Jehovah’s Witnesses are the ones following in the full extent of the word this command?

    3. Peter Hamm on Wed, November 19, 2008

      CS, with MUCH respect… I enjoy having you around and hope you never go away (I love the balance you bring here, and you are one of the very few who is able to continually do it gracefully), but I confess that I wonder if you read the words you want to and pass over others sometimes.


      From the article:[More pastors believe the gospel is advanced by demonstration and not simply proclamation.]


      It doesn’t say “not proclamation” it says “not simply proclamation”. you are looking for a disparity where none exists, methinks, by attributing a totally extraneous quote to the sentiment.

    4. Stewart on Wed, November 19, 2008

      Peter -


      I confess I read it the way CS did. Perhaps not really based on the article Todd pointed to, but on a more general familiarity with the “missional” movement. I think the big potential downfall of the missional movement is a tendency towards neglecting evangelism by proclamation/friendship/whatever in favor of what I will call “witness” (I’m using the terms of the movement).

    5. Brian L. on Thu, November 20, 2008

      What I read in the article is that the church should be doing BOTH - hands-on ministry to the less fortunate AND proclaiming the truth.  Not one OR the other, as it seems to be communicating to CS and Stewart.


      I totally believe in proclamation, since my main gift is evangelism and I’ve been privileged to be able to lead people to Christ through both personal witness and pulpit ministry.  But the church needs to share the compassion that Scripture commands throughout.


      Proclaiming WITHOUT doing good works which God commands us to do is only half the job.


      If churches can combine these strategically and wisely, I believe it can have a huge impact on our effectiveness for Christ, and as a side benefit, help people see the Church for what it is supposed to be - the representative of Christ on earth; not the representative of (insert political party, special interest, or completely wacko viewpoint here…).


      We are at a point at my church where we can finally start being more proactive on the helping part, and I’m thrilled.

    6. CS on Thu, November 20, 2008

      Peter:


      I want to likewise thank you for the excellent discussions we have through this forum and for your insight.  Your kind words are very gracious.


      “It doesn’t say “not proclamation” it says “not simply proclamation”. you are looking for a disparity where none exists, methinks, by attributing a totally extraneous quote to the sentiment.”


      My background did shape the way I read this sentence, like Stewart.  I know that it says, “not simply proclamation,” but in my experiences, this has meant that the Gospel presentation is incomplete, altered, or pushed to the back.  In conversations with pastors who subscribe to this missional theology, I’ve had to practically hold them to a wall to get them to tell me when and how they present the Gospel.  They’re so focused on the good deeds and relationships that they think that somehow the Gospel will be osmotically transferred.  Some even go so far as saying that they never mention things like Hell, repentance, or Christ by name.


      So, I didn’t skip over the word, so much as read the the article and cross-referenced it with my own experiences to draw the conclusion I did. 



      CS

    7. Peter Hamm on Thu, November 20, 2008

      CS,


      I totally get that. Every time I hear someone respond to that, I wish once again that they could visit our church, not just for a service, but for a week to see how we run things.


      For some of us it’s both/and, not either/or.


      Blessings!


      Peter

    8. Home Decor on Wed, January 07, 2009

      I will say that more than ever the minor prophets are playing an important role in giving details about how we should conduct ourselves in this time of the end.

    9. Page 1 of 1 pages

      Post a Comment

    10. (will not be published)

      Remember my personal information

      Notify me of follow-up comments?

    Sponsors