Leonard Sweet, considered one of the church's most provocative thinkers, said the old model of church is "killing the West," at a conference at Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological Seminary, according to the Associated Baptist Press. http://www.christianpost.com/news/old-church-model-killing-the-west-25670/That is a pretty big paint brush to be painting with.
I think the early church believed that knowing Christ also meant taking on the missio dei, the redemptive mission of God to the whole world. But I am not sure how that happened as I am sure that the cost of ones life, with Paul running around throwing everyone in prison, meant this was something everyone just "did." Right now I am thinking about those in the church through the Middle East and North Africa and in other eras, China and Russia. So what mission look like then and there?
According to David J. Bosch, "mission is not primarily an activity of the church, but an attribute of God. God is a missionary God. Mission was understood as being derived from the very nature of God…sending the church into the world…a movement from God to the world…. There is a church because there is a mission, not vice versa. Mission [is] understood as being derived from the very nature of God. It is thus put in the context of the doctrine of the Trinity, not of ecclesiology or soteriology. The classical doctrine of the missio Dei as God the Father and the Son sending the Spirit [is] expanded to include yet another ‘movement’: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit sending the church into the world”
That might mean that we know our neighbours, our politicians, our local business establishments. We share in the community activities and are recognized by the agencies that work there. So our presence is not just through our buildings but their our social networks.
The last thought comes from Samuel Escobar, “’Mission’ means ‘sending.’” “The mission to which God sends those he chooses is always a ‘mission impossible, possible only because God will act in order to accomplish his purpose.”
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