In this diagram, my largest concern is me, my soul, my personal destiny in heaven, my maturity, and my rewards. Occasionally, after 'winning' people based on personal self-interest, churches can entice people to care a little about the church--but is it any surprise that people 'won to Christ' by self-interst come to the church asking, 'What's in it for me?'
"Is it any surprise that with this understanding of salvation, churches tend to become gatherings of self-interested people who gather for mutual self-interest--constantly treating the church as a purveyor of religious goods and services, constantly shopping and 'trading up' for churches that can 'meet my needs' better? Is it any surprise that they have a mission to the world when most Christians equate 'personal salvation' of individual 'souls' with the ultimate aim of Jesus? Is it any wonder that people feel like victims of a bait and switch when they're lured with personal salvation and then hooked with church commitment and world mission?
"The following diagram shows a radically different alternative:
"In this diagram, Jesus comes with saving love for the world. He creates the church as a missional community to join him in his mission of saving the world. He invites me to be part of this community to experience his saving love and participate in it.
"This missional approach changes everything. In fact, I don't think I realize how much it changes yet because I'm still getting used to it.
"Among other things, it eliminates old dichotomies like 'evangelism' and 'social action.' Both are integrated in expressing saving love for the world. Those who want to become Christians (whether through our proclamation or demonstration), we welcome. Those who don't, we love and serve, joining God in seeking their good, their blessing, their shalom.
"This approach gets rid of distinctions like ministry (what we do in the church) and mission (what we do outside it), since ministry is for mission from the start. For example, I seek to develop virtues not just for my own benefit, but so I can inflict less damage and more blessing on the world. I seek to better understand Scripture not just for my own sake, but so I'll be better equipped to serve God and my neighbors.
"It also gets rid of terms like missionary and mission field, since now every Christian is a missionary and every place is a mission field.
"Perhaps most profound and yet most troublesome, it gets us beyond the us-them thinking and in-grouping and out-grouping that lead to prejudice, exclusion, and ultimately to religious wars. It opens up a third alternative beyond exclusive and universalist religion. Exclusive religion says, 'We're in, and you're out.' Good news for us, bad news for you. Understandably, universalist religion reacts and says, 'Everybody's in!' That's good news for everyone at first blush until you ask, 'Why is there so much injustice then? Why are so many sad, cruel, harassed, and helpless? If everybody's in--is this as good as it gets?' Saying that 'everybody's in' can too easily lead to complacency about injustice here and now and can create a kind of nice, relaxed, magnanimous apathy. This magnanimous apathy may be better than the narrow antipathy often associated with exclusive religion, but I think we need a better alternative.
"Missional Christian faith asserts that Jesus did not come to make some peope saved and others condemned. Jesus did not come to help some people be right while leaving everyone else to be wrong. Jesus did not come to create another exclusive religion--Judaism having been exclusive based on genetics, and Christianity being exclusive based on belief (which can be a tougher requirement than genetics!).
"Missional faith asserts that Jesus came to preach the good news to the kingdom of God to everyone, especially the poor. He came to seek and save the lost. He came on behalf of the sick. He came to save the world. His gospel and therefore the Christian message, is good news for the whole world.
"The idea that the Christian message is universally good news for Christians and non-Christians alike is, to some, unheard of, strange, and perhaps heretical. To me, it has become natural and obvious. Let me explain..."
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