“Missional Church” is truly the buzz today. I hear more and more people talking about the “missional church.” However, it is clear to me that not everyone means the same thing. This makes me think about the power of mental models.
All of us have our own mental models of church. Peter Senge defines a mental model like this: “Mental models are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures or images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action. Very often, we are not consciously aware of our mental models or the effects they have on our behavior.”
Many of the people I hear talking about “missional church” still have an old mental model of something that I would not really consider missional. It is often more like an old “church growth” mental model.
One of our colleagues, Robert Westheimer, defines missional as “a state of being sent or called into action, e.g. ‘on mission.’” I like that! However, just being on mission to grow your church is not what I believe a missional church to be. As I’ve mentioned before, a missional church is one where every member is a missionary, following God’s calling into the world, whether it be your workplace, a neglected area of the city, a global focus, or all of the above.
What does a new mental model of “missional church” look like? Do I really have a new mental model of “missional church?” Do you? Are we aware enough of our mental models that we can see where they are and are not missional? What do you think?
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2 comments:
Glen ... thanks for this blog! I've been subscribed to you through blogwatcher and reading faithfully ... thought I'd respond.
When we first started talking "missional church" it was always clear that no one knew what we were talking about. My mental model comes from knowing that George Hunsberger is a missiologist. And I have always been intriqued about ways of proclaiming (through talk and action) the good news to different cultures. Missional Church, then, is about proclaiming Christ to the culture in it's own style and by connecting to them; it is not about preserving a "church culture" which is what so many of our existing churches are about. The challenge comes in separating church culture from Christ culture ... that's so hard for most of us who were reared in the church.
I understand missional church is more than this ... but this is the foundational model in my mind.
Wendy, thank so much for sharing. I really like Hunsberger a lot! Your insights are very helpful to us all. Keep it coming!
Erin, I loved your blog! What a powerful example of mental models. Thanks!
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