[This post is part of the A.P.E. Theology series. Read the rest of the posts here!]

You do not have to look far to discover that Christendom still maintains a stranglehold on the mindset of the American church. Many leaders still maintain that minor tweaks in the why we “do” church brings the possibility of attracting new people to the programs and activities of the church. They simply have not fully grasped the reality that we no longer live in a place where the church is the dominant seat of culture. The shift from a Christendom to Post-Christendom society is nearly complete; and the corresponding challenges are great.

But what is an appropriate response to the challenge?

The solution is to recognize the church’s relationship to the culture in terms of a missionary encounter. In other words, to see that in a Post-Christendom context the church is once again placed in an alien world. The mission field is no longer located somewhere else, instead it surrounds us on every side. And the greatest problem with making cosmetic changes to the church, is when we falsely assume those changes will some how help the church grow and we therefore put our time and energy into those practices instead of equipping and releasing people into this new, and rapidly growing mission field. There is no final answer or perfect solution to transitioning the existing church in a missional direction. But if there was one—a silver bullet—it would be the formation of every church member into a missionary.

We must move to empower and unleash all of God’s people as missionary agents of the King,

“commissioned to represent him in every sphere and domain of society. The institutional paradigm, because it so identifies the church with its formal institutions (buildings, clergy, programs, etc.), effectively blinds its members to the profoundly missional capacities of the people of God as a Kingdom of priests.”[i]

Empowering all of God’s people as agents of the King will involve helping people to learn how to think as a missionary. Further there are skills that need to be developed to meaningfully engage the people and places we encounter. These involve learning how to better identify and participate with God’s activity where we live, work, and play.

However, beyond equipping people with specific missional practices, the church must be prepared to freely release people into their missional calling. The church needs to give permission. In other words, it needs to say to its members that it is good to start new initiatives. It is right to take risks for the Kingdom. It is okay to miss a church meeting when you are engaged in activities with those uninterested in the church. Our good friend Kim Hammond often says that missionary formation involves the giving of language and license. We must give people new missionary language, but we must also then give them the license to go and do what God has called them to. Which in most cases will not be located in the church, but instead will be positioned in the world where God has already placed them in their everyday lives.

This unfortunately runs contrary to the kind of recruitment the church is use to. Author Reggie McNeal argues that the typical church strategy for recruiting and deploying people in the church is actually missionally counterproductive.

Frequently pastors lament to me that they can’t get their high-powered laypeople “involved.” They almost always think about offering them church jobs to entice them. The idea that God has gifted people only for church jobs flies in the face of his redemptive mission in the world. We ask people to leave their place of greatest connection and influence (their homes, their businesses, their schools, their communities) to come to the church to do some church work! …. Why should they leave these to tend to matters that can easily be handled by those who enjoy the church scene? I am not saying that ushering or serving on the finance committee are unimportant. It’s just that limiting church member contributions to these responsibilities reflects a lack of missional awareness.

Laypeople see the disconnect in the “every member is a ministry” strategy. They are voting by not lending their time, energy, and money to ministry “vision” that has the church as the primary beneficiary or recipient. Church has become increasingly irrelevant to their workday and home lives. Church ministry to them is an add-on activity to an already crowded life. They wonder why God can’t use them where he has already embedded them—in their homes, workplaces, schools, and communities.[ii]

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