Category Archives: Missional Christianity

In a later post, Mark Love adds to his thoughts on evangelism — So, one of the points I’ve tried to make in this series is that if you think the driving question of Scripture is, “how can an individuals … Continue reading →

When we say “mission,” most people think “evangelism” — which is not wrong. It’s just very badly incomplete and in desperate need of repair. I’m hardly an expert, but I would like to share a little of my learning, for … Continue reading →

We now move to a recent book from Robert E. Webber, Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God’s Narrative. Webber argues that the assembly should reflect how living today reflects our hope for eternity. Not only does worship point to the culmination … Continue reading →

Story What is the message that the assembly should communicate to the members and to visitors? There are, of course, countless good things that one might teach, but what is the over-arching goal? Sometimes we approach the assembly microscopically, that … Continue reading →

If the church’s mission centers around Jesus as incarnated in the local congregation, then liturgy becomes extremely important in terms of spiritual formation. That is, if God wants the church formed in the image of Jesus, then how we conduct … Continue reading →

So I covered Christopher J. H. Wright’s view of the church’s mission a few posts ago. Let’s review. In a recent lecture, Wright broke mission down into five elements: Evangelism (proclaim the good news of the kingdom) Teaching (teach, baptise … Continue reading →

We’ve seen that both Thompson and Hauerwas find that mission is built not on the individual and not on benevolence or evangelism but on the ethics of the congregation. Thompson finds this in Paul’s epistles. Hauerwas finds it in the … Continue reading →

When I first started reading Thompson’s The Church according to Paul: Rediscovering the Community Conformed to Christ, I thought it was going to be a Neo-Anabaptist book. “Neo-Anabaptist” refers to a movement led by John Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas, … Continue reading →

Thompson’s book, The Church according to Paul: Rediscovering the Community Conformed to Christ, is top-notch theology. The problem with the book is that it’s really nothing but top-notch theology. Thompson doesn’t offer anything in the way of examples or illustrations. Now, … Continue reading →

Christopher J. H. Wright lists as one of the church’s mission the teaching of new converts. This includes teaching, baptizing, and nurturing new believers. In the Churches of Christ, we have a strong tradition of teaching and baptizing. Nurturing, however, is … Continue reading →