📖 Biblical Definition
At its best, "missional" recovers the biblical truth that the church exists not for itself but for the mission of God. The Father sent the Son (John 20:21), the Son sends the church (Matthew 28:19-20), and the Spirit empowers the witness (Acts 1:8). Every believer is a sent one. The church is not a building people come to but a people God sends out. This is genuinely biblical: Israel was to be a light to the nations (Isaiah 49:6), and the New Testament church understood itself as an embassy of the kingdom of heaven (2 Corinthians 5:20).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
The word "missional" did not exist in 1828. See MISSION.
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MIS'SION, n. [L. missio, from mitto, to send.] 1. The act of sending, or the state of being sent. 2. Persons sent; any number of persons appointed by authority to perform any service; particularly, persons sent to propagate religion. Note: Webster's definition centers on being sent by authority for a specific purpose — particularly the propagation of religion. This is the core meaning the "missional" movement seeks to recover.
📖 Key Scripture
• John 20:21 — "As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you."
• Acts 1:8 — "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
• Matthew 28:19-20 — "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations."
• 2 Corinthians 5:20 — "We are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The word has become a buzzword that replaces evangelism with social activism.
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While the missional movement began with a valid recovery of the sent nature of the church, it has frequently devolved into two errors. First, "missional" has become a buzzword emptied of content — churches rebrand everything as "missional" without changing anything substantive about their life or practice. Second, and more dangerously, "missional" has been used to replace gospel proclamation with social action. Being "missional" becomes serving in soup kitchens, pursuing justice causes, and engaging culture — all good things — while the call to repentance, the proclamation of the cross, and the call to saving faith fade into the background. The missio Dei in Scripture centers on the reconciliation of sinners to God through Christ — not merely the betterment of social conditions.
Usage
• "A truly missional church does not merely serve the community — it proclaims Christ to the community while serving it."
• "The word 'missional' is only useful if it means what Jesus meant: 'As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you' — sent to call sinners to repentance."