The Forgotten Ways - Part 3

The second element of mDNA that Hirsch describes in The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church was a little surprising and unexpected for me, but it makes perfect sense. That element is disciple-making. Immediately behind the first element of being firmly centered on Christ (christocentric monotheism) is the focus on discipleship. Without this, everything else teeters on failure. In fact, Hirsch cites a painful story from his past about what happened in a previous church when they neglected discipleship.

According to Hirsch, one of the biggest obstacles to true discipleship is the consumer mentality prevalent in the Western world today. It has invaded all arenas of life, including the church. He writes,

Ninety percent or more of the people who attend our services are passive. In other words, they are consumptive. They are the passive recipients of the religious goods and services being delivered largely by professionals in a slick presentation and service. Just about everything we do in these somwhat standardized services and "box churchs," we do in order to attract more participants, and to do this we need to make the experience of church more convenient and comfortable. It is the ultimate religious version of one-stop shopping - hassle-free. But alas, all we are achieving by doing this is adding more fuel to the insatiable consumerist flame.

- Hirsch, 110.

These words sound a little harsh to me, and I'm guessing his 90% figure is a guess based on his experience and not hard data, but I think he is making a valid point in general.

I had a great conversation this past week with a friend about church gatherings. If "the church" is a missional community, or even a collective of missional communities, then what should gatherings look like or be about? Corporate worship, mutual encouragement, sharing, teaching? I think this is a big question for missional churches today. In other words, how can a missional church still gather together regularly (although not necessarily weekly) and yet keep the focus and emphasis on its mission and not the gathering? Because once the gathering becomes the focus, we are back in the attractional paradigm.

Hirsch would say (I think) that we must maintain an emphasis on discipleship - discipleship that follows the model that Jesus gave us. He continues by saying,

And this is exactly how Jesus does discipleship: he organizes it around mission. As soon as they are called, he takes the disciples on an adventurous journey of mission, ministry, and learning. Straightaway they are involved in proclaiming the kingdom of God, serving the poor, healing, and casting out demons. It is active and direct disciple making in the context of mission.

- Hirsch, 120

Hirsch is convinced we cannot disciple people or become disciples ourselves by passive listening and learning. We must be engaged in the process, actively working out what it means to follow Jesus as his disciples in everyday life. "I simply do not believe we can continue to try and think our way into a new way of acting, but rather, we need to act our way into a new way of thinking" (p. 122).

The Forgotten Ways - Part 2

A while back, I mentioned that I had started reading The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church by Alan Hirsch. Well, I'm finally getting back around to trying to finish it after many diversions over the past month or so. My neglect in finishing it certainly has nothing to do with the book - it's a phenomenal read. Which is why I wanted to say a little more about it here.

In section 2 (the main part of the book), Hirsch tackles in more detail what he believes is the engine behind some of the tremendous Jesus movements throughout history. Through his research, he has identified six elements that are common in these movements - what he calls the missionalDNA (mDNA) that is inherently present within the church. The full aggregation of mDNA composes what he calls Apostolic Genius, the "phenomenon resulting from...real experiences of God, types of expression, organizational structures, leadership ethos, spiritual power, mode of belief, etc" (pg 78). But before he gets too far, he spends a little time talking about what he means exactly by the term missional. While recognizing that mission and missional have been somewhat overused and misused, he can't seem to bring himself to simply dismissing the terms in the hopes of better descriptors. Instead, he wants to readdress them and pack them with deeper meaning. He says,

...in my opinion it [the term missional] goes to the heart of the very nature and purpose of the church itself. So, a working definition of missional church is a community of God's people that defines itself, and organizes its life around, its real purpose of being an agent of God's mission to the world. In other words, the church's true and authentic organizing principle is mission.

- Hirsch, 82 (emphasis mine)

Then he sets out to describe those six common elements present in mDNA. The first is what he calls a christocentric monotheism - expressed simply in the statement, "Jesus is Lord." In other words, whatever form a church takes, this is the foundation - the heart of the matter. A church can never become that agent of God's mission to the world without first and foremost being centered on Christ. Hirsch writes,

What does all this practically mean for those seeking to recover Apostolic Genius in the life of the community of God? For one, it will involve (re)engaging directly the central confession of "Jesus is Lord" and attempting to reorient the church around this life-orienting claim...I have become absolutely convinced that it is Christology, and in particular the primitive, unencumbered Christology of the NT church, that lies at the heart of the renewal of the church at all times and in every age.

- Hirsch, 99

I couldn't agree more. More to come in future posts...