Missional & Location: Inseparably Connected – UPDATED
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UPDATE (June 10, 2007): I just had lunch with Brother Maynard and I think we understand each other better. We didn’t even have to resort to trading fists (wink). I want to add that in order to understand this post, please go and read the comments at Bill’s blog I link to below. When I quoted BroMay, I presumed readers would get the context by read those comments first. That was a mistake, meaning that some would have read the excerpt of his comment out of context and got the wrong impression.
BroMay, obviously believes that location/context is important. What was at issue was that he felt I had not clearly communicated my concept, leaving the impression that I believed everyone must relocate to be missional. While he & I may still disagree on some of the details on the issue, we understand the others position better.
The other day, while reading over at Achievable Ends (one of my daily favourites), I noticed a link to a new blog by Allelon called “Moving into the Neighborhood”. Admittedly, when I saw that title I made the assumption that it was (at least in part) about relocating for missional purposes. When I realized that this was not the intention of the blog, but rather about being missional engaged in suburbia, I expressed my disappointment in the comment section. Here is where the misunderstanding began.
I was not disappointed that Allelon was launching a blog on this topic, but rather, as I was excited about the prospect, I was disappointed that my assumption had been wrong. In fact, I think few organization are better poised to explore this important issue. Perhaps now more than ever the need for an intentional engagement of missionality within the suburban context is necessary. For those who find themselves in this context, I believe this blog will be invaluable.
However, the discussion that resulted between myself and my good friend Brother Maynard has sparked some interesting questions for me. Is location a significant aspect of missionality? Brother Maynard suggests:
Missional to me is about incarnating the message, embodying it… and on that basis, location doesn’t matter. The inner city is of course a concern and needs people to embody the message there, but that’s not the same issue. People need to act/engage missionally. End of sentence.
I agree that missionality is incarnational. Location certainly does not centrally/exclusively define how missional a person is. However, I do believe that location cannot be separated so definitively from missionality. From an individual perspective, location becomes a much more clear issue- no location or vocation is more important than any other. However, if we look at the big picture of the larger Church, it’s importance becomes more significant. Let me try to explore this from my own context.
I was first introduced to the importance of relocation over five years ago when I first met my late friend, Pastor Harry Lehotsky. He made pioneering the YWAM ministry in Winnipeg possible with all the ways he served us, but on one condition- that we would move into the neighbourhood and make it our own. We gladly agreed. He then gave us a copy of “Restoring At-Risk Communities: Doing It Together and Doing It Right” by John Perkins. Relocation was one of three R’s Perkin’s advocated (the others being reconciliation & redistribution). After five years, I am more convinced than ever.
I live and minister in an inner city neighbourhood that is populated by dead and dying churches (that said, those that remain are often amazing examples for us all). The need for missional communities to become part of the neighbourhood is desperately needed. While I am not advocating every Christian abandon their rural and suburban neighbourhoods, I believe for communities to be missional they must consider intentionally rooting their lives in specific communities as an essential expression of their missional commitment. One cannot be missional without prayerfully considering their location, not letting it be incidental to the incarnational faith.
Again, I am not saying everyone must relocate. Rather, I am saying that to be truly missional we must all, as individuals and communities, consider if our location in the context of our missional vocation, both in the specific vocations and the universal vocation of the whole Church. The great narrative of God through history as seen throughout the entire Bible seems significantly rooted in location. We cannot assume that we are called to a location simply because that happens to be where we are- that may end up being the case, but the question must be asked.
What do you think? Is location critical to missionality? Am I overstating things as a result of my own choices and vocation?
