"What Does it Mean to be Missional?"

I have had friends over time ask me again and again, “what does it mean to be missional?” Actually, I just had to add that word to my dictionary because it was unrecognized. It is a fairly new and fresh term that has been tossed around for the past few years within and without the emerging church movement. However, the word is around 100 years old according to the Oxford English Dictionary. It states that missional is an adjective that describes the way in which we do all of our activities, rather than identifying any one particular activity. Within the last few years, it has come into more common use.

So what does it mean to be a missional? I believe that it has many definitions and that’s what you will get with the different people you ask. I have read so many definitions that I have begun to believe that no one really has it down for sure. I do think that it will get narrowed down in definition and become such a common word these days as purpose-driven and seeker-friendly.

Are there any missional churches where I live? Many churches already have begun the journey to become more missional, but have never recognized themselves as such. Some believers are becoming more missional and are eager to share the story of their journey. Others make a distinction between witness outside the church and the rest of church life because to be missional means to be witnesses of God in the midst of our culture and daily life and not only in foreign lands.

To be a church in the world but not of the world is the mind set of being missional. Missionally minded is to be a believer that embraces culture not to be defined by it but to be an influence in it. Modern church has created a sub-culture within the four walls of the sanctuary but missional churches are breaking down those barriers and bringing church to the culture.

Fortunately, we have smarter people that take their time to really think about this stuff and make it available for others to read. Here at a friend of missional you will find a very detailed and thorough description of what it means to be missional…