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Contents:
A Mission-Shaped Church
by Steven W. Manskar
What shapes the life of your church? Is it the programs? Is it the pastor and his or her personality, drive, and ambition? Is it a struggle for survival and a desire to simply keep the doors open? Is it fear of change or a desire for change for change's sake?
Does your church exist for its own benefit, to meet its own needs? Or does your church exist for the world, to be a Christ-centered sign-community of he coming reign of God?
"What if the church is not about attracting people into a building but living as God's people in the public space of their own community and neighborhood?"1
When congregations practice and encourage accountable discipleship, they place Christ at the center of their life and mission. The members then live as witnesses to Jesus Christ in the world, and the congregation's mission is to
participate in God's mission for the world (see Luke 4:81-19, 6:20-26, 7:22-23, 14:15-24; Matthew 5:3-12).
When Christ is at the center, everything we do flows from him. The congregation becomes "salt and light" (Matthew 5:13-16) for the world. Its life is directed outward for the world through acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
When congregations make accountable discipleship part of the infrastructure of their disciple-making system, they become mission-shaped churches that strive to participate in God's mission for the world.
What shapes the life your church?
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1Alan J. Roxburgh & Fred Romanuk, The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006), 170.
Steven W. Manskar is the Director of Accountable Discipleship for the General Board of Discipleship.
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