Missional in Ten Words or Less

The other night my wife and I found ourselves explaining missional church to another couple new to the idea.  We found that we could talk about it in excruciating (probably) detail, telling this poor couple far more than they really cared to know.  What was harder, we discovered, was summarizing the essence of what it means to be missional.  Not a soundbite, by any means, but a way of communicating missional that people can remember and hold on to.

I found this disconcerting.  I remember reading somewhere that you don't really understand what you're talking about unless you can summarize it in ten words or less.  The fact that I went on quite a long time with this poor couple might suggest I know a lot about missional.  On the other hand, it might mean that I've yet to internalize and get inside missional enough that I truly understand what it's about...a reminder, perhaps, that living the missional life is not, as the old cliche goes, a destination but a journey.

Still, it got me to thinking.  As a fairly traditional mainline congregation that is attempting to embrace missional/incarnational church, we need to be able to explain it in a way that people can grasp without sitting through a lecture.  I shared this with a colleague whose understanding of missional church is invariably spot-on.  She suggested this: Moving out into our community to activedly participate in God's mission in the world.   OK, it's 14 words, not ten, but I think it's pretty good.  Then I found these words from Hugh Halter and Matt Smay: Living out the gospel in community together on mission.  Nine words, which I massaged down to seven: Living the gospel in community on mission.

Not bad, I think.  It covers what, to me, are the major components of what missional is about--living the gospel, community, and mission.  Next time I'm asked to explain missional church, I'll give the short answer.  Better yet, if possible, I'll just demonstrate.