05.30.08
Missional Living: Local, communal, every day
Recently there has been a good deal of attention focused on SE Portland and living a “missional” life. What does this mean though? Obviously I don’t have all the answers and neither do any of the folks involved in this conversation but we’re all feeling called to explore this idea together and we’ve defined a few things along the way.
First, missional living is local. It’s about the neighborhood you live in, the place(s) you work, the people you see on your commute (hopefully by bus or bike 
), and those you come in contact with when you purchase a latte or go grocery shopping. This is not to say that global missions have less value, they absolutely do not. However, this is simply an attempt to refocus individual hearts to be living intentionally and interacting with the lives that they come in contact with in every day life.
Secondly, it’s communal. You don’t run after Christ alone. There are other believers coming alongside you. This is about the church being family. Living in community can be a stretch for those of us who happen to be more introverted ( say, me on occasion) because it challenges individuals to not only be available to others but to pursue relationships. Be proactive.
The most challenging aspect of this heart attitude is that it happens every day. I am reminded of a sermon Rick McKinley preached a little over two years ago entitled “Cross-shaped Devotions” where he points out that Jesus calls us to pick up our cross and follow Him daily. This means seeking the face of God, being obedient, being faithful every day. The most convicting part for me is when he mentions how often the believer’s mindset is to lay down the cross “temporarily”. I’m going on vacation to the Bahamas for two weeks so I’m going to lay down my cross and I’ll pick it back up as soon as I get back. I’m choosing to sin and in that moment I’m laying down my cross. I don’t feel like it today so I’ll stow it away in my laundry room for another day. That kind of a mindset. And I am so guilty of this. I tend to embrace the first two, living in local communion but I do so sporadically. There are days when I don’t want to live missionally. The conviction for myself is that bearing that cross everyday does not mean giving up a 2-week trip to the Bahamas (heck no, I’d never turn that down) but it does mean living intentionally, seeking God even there. I believe God blesses each of us in different ways. In America, those blessings are pretty luxurious, like long trips to foreign countries and lots of fun perks in life that more than a third of the world couldn’t even imagine. I don’t think that cross-shaped devotion means we become monks and abstain from any of the “fun stuff”. It’s harder than that. It’s about relishing the gifts we’re given while not becoming distracted by the pleasures of this world and slipping God into our back pocket until we need him again.
A few parting thoughts. Living missionally is not a new “fad”, or at least it shouldn’t be. And it shouldn’t be happening just in SE Portland. God is EVERYWHERE. He has shown up and is working all over the place. We’ve been invited to join Him where He’s already at. Therefore, missional living, is more about joining God in His work then being “sent out”. I recommend listening to Michael Frost for a paradigm shift on that subject. Being missional doesn’t mean that we do an activity or volunteer in a program so that we can go home at night and check off the mission box on the list of “Christianity’s To-Does”, it means actively engaging the heart to love God and love people in all areas of life.
There is so much more to this conversation and to the working out of our faith as believers that this barely holds a candle to it all so please don’t take my few comments as the authority on what it means to “live missionally”. I am simply a fellow journeyer on the path to becoming more like Christ and welcome dialog that will help me be transformed.