Bait and Switch 4

There were some interesting comments over on the JesusCreed blog that related to my previous posts (bait and switch).  It is nice to see that others are talking about this stuff. 

From Chris:
"Here's a question. Where do the missional folks stand with respect to salvation? Are the missional folks working toward conversion? Does it matter for the missional folks? I find the missional idea that all of life is mission very appealing. The missional imagination seems to advocate the idea that caring for the poor has value in and of itself and that caring for the homeless is not simply another 'way' of reaching the lost." 

From RJS:
"I don't think caring for the poor - or anything else is simply another way to reach the lost. Rather caring for the poor and everything else is a way to enter into the mission of God - which will reach the lost.

But "missional" will only enter into the mission of God if it acknowledges and proclaims God's actions and mission in the world. So as I see it this means that evangelism is an indispensable part of anything that is missional."

From Scot:
"Chris, RJS gets this right and I see this in this book, though the book is not a manual on evangelism or even on how evangelism fits into the missional imagination. There is no question that some have opted for "missional" because they don't like "evangelism" or don't want to do "evangelism." Some have said "missional" is the way to evangelism, but don't get to evangelism. But, missional in its fullest sense involves evangelism because God's mission is to tell the Story of Jesus."


I would add to what Scot said: "...and some have opted for "evangelism" because they don't like "missional."


My pendulum has swung over to the "missional" side of things and away from "evangelism."  For me it was a needed correction.  In the Christian culture I was surrounded by for most of my life, "evangelism" was viewed as the ultimate goal.  The rest was optional.  I don't buy that anymore.  I am trying to articulate what I do buy.  I agree with Chris that exceptional love and mercy stands on its own and is not subordinate to "evangelism."  However, I do think there is something to speaking words of life and light.  I just don't think you can do that until you have a certain level of spiritual formation.  In the circles I have hung out with, there was an implicit view that actually becoming Christ-like was optional and often bypassed under the delusion that we had a higher calling - "saving souls."

There is no short cut.  That which short cuts attempt to bypass is the point, it is the good news.  There is a new way to live and it is good.  The current of our self and culture is swift, however.  We must put out intentional. well-directed effort.  Then we will find grace.  Then we will be changed.  Then we will learn to participate in what God is doing in our community.  Then we will have words that give life and light.  This is not to be bypassed.   It is to be savored.