The Missional Church: From Atrophy to Emerging...

I have been perusing the site Friend of Missional for some time now. The articles, definitions and discussions have been quite interesting to me. About half-way down the homepage there is a section explaining the missional church movement that was taken from the book Breaking the Missional Code by Ed Stetzer and David Putman (which is in my ever growing stack of books to read). This is an interesting piece of work that I would like to share with you and also maybe add to the conversation just a little. Apparently they argue that the missional church movement is a shift in thinking here are their categories:

From programs to processes
From demographics to discernment
From models to missions
From attractional to incarnational
From uniformity to diversity
From professional to passionate
From seating to sending
From decisions to disciples
From additional to exponential
From monuments to movements

A lot of this isn't new information. Many of us have been preaching these shifts for years what I would like to argue is another shift in thinking:

From atrophic to emerging

When I use the word emerging I am not talking about the emergent conversation - I'm talking about life itself. Please understand that in the beginning God created everything very good. This word good is interesting - I find it interesting that God didn't make everything perfect. The word perfect implies an ultimate end; something that is perfect can get no better. It is the ultimate. Many people may argue that God did make everything perfect (in fact I used to teach this), but when you read the first two chapters of the bible and you read the last two chapters of the bible you will skip all of sin and repercussions and - I believe - get a good look at what God had in mind all along. God moves from untouched creation to global city. Some how this city is completely unlike cities as we know them today. Somehow this city is the unique combination of creation and massive amounts of people. Therefore, Creation can become better than it was originally.

Since Genesis 3 the world has atrophied, so bad in fact that not two chapters later God decides to destroy it with water - save one family. From that day there has been glimmers of hope and light, but ultimately creation has been depleting. It is as if creation is on a collision course with destruction!

Then something interesting happens - Jesus. He is the second Adam - and doesn't fall to temptation. He defeats death - creation's ultimate end of atrophy. He becomes the goal for humanity to follow and become. He is the light to follow and through him Christianity emerges. Christianity becomes a group of people who are passionately pursuing the life of Jesus Christ. They realize quickly that he is a better way to live. They also realize that following Jesus can somehow stop the collision course.

Christianity has always been about moving from an atrophic to an emerging creation. We strive to see God's kingdom come "on earth as it is in heaven." The original creation didn't know death or destruction. It didn't know starving children, or AIDS. It is the church's responsibility to show Christ to this atrophied creation. A missional church helps other understand and be a part of that mission. A missional church stands in the way of creation's atrophy. A missional church strives to become more and more the way God originally created life to be.