Musings: Notes From My Daybook

To non-conference attenders this will mean little.  However, I recommend looking at the resources from the Gospel and Our Culture Network.  I have included some additional books in the book noted yesterday.

Some thoughts:   In North America, the approach to mission has been to think that mission is just one of many programs that a church runs.  We have the youth program, the worship team, the fellowship committee, and the mission committee.  Churches in American see themselves as sending churches--launching mission activity in various places throughout the world.

However, in all of this sending, churches have neglected to understanding that mission is not just another program of the local church.  Rather, mission is the very reason for the church's existence.  As such mission is the very core of everything that a church does.  Darrell Guder says it well:  "[The mission of God]  defines the church as God's sent people.  Either we are defined by mission, or we reduce the scope of the gospel and the mandate of the church.  Thus our challenge today is to move from church with mission to missional church."