What is the Missional Gospel? Part 7: Concluding Thoughts, Challenge to Define, and Timely Question
By Keith Whitfield
(2) Being missional is living a life that is shaped by the Mission of God
With the broadening of the idea of mission, we must have a clear understanding of the relationship between the missio Dei and the mission of God’s people/the church. This is not a new concern. Many have offered proposals on the relationship between the missio Dei … [Read More]
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 7: Concluding Thoughts, Challenge to Define, and Timely Question
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 6: Concluding Thoughts, Challenge to Define, and Timely Question
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 6: Concluding Thoughts, Challenge to Define, and Timely Question
By Keith Whitfield
Note: A couple of weeks ago we published five articles in a series by Keith Whitfield titled “What is the Missional Gospel?” We noted at that time that some concluding thoughts would be forthcoming. Over the next two days we will publish Keith’s final two articles, which wrap this series. For those just now tuning in, Keith is the … [Read More]
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 5: The Evangelical Missional Church
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 5: The Evangelical Missional Church
By Keith Whitfield
At a recent conference, Tim Keller addressed the challenges of evangelism in a post-modern context and gave six principles on how to pursue evangelism in this context. The first principle was “Gospel Theologizing,” and what he meant by this is phrase that all theology should articulate the gospel message. He says our theology should be an exposition of the gospel, and our presentation … [Read More]
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 4: The Emerging Missional Church
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 4: The Emerging Missional Church
By Keith Whitfield
Brian McLaren announced in 2004 at “The Billy Graham Center Evangelism Roundtable” that “we are in need of radical strategic rethinking of our current strategy as gospel-oriented Christians seeking to follow the Great Commission” (“The Strategy We Pursue,”). He argues that this need is urgent and apparent given the low church attendance by people in our culture, the number of Christian kids dropping … [Read More]
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 3: The Ecumenical Missional Church
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 3: The Ecumenical Missional Church
By Keith Whitfield
The ecumenical missional church arises from a growing dis-ease with an approach to church that they claim was inherited from Christendom. Their concern with this approach to the church is that it views the church as a place and a “vender of religion.” Breaking from this, they attempt to return to the gospel to set forth a new vision for the church and … [Read More]
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 2: A Brief History of the Term “Missional”
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 2: A Brief History of the Term “Missional”
By Keith Whitfield
The “missional” phenomenon is rooted in a broad movement to engage culture with the gospel. From Vatican II, the ecumenical movement, the rise of the megachurch, and seeker-sensitive churches, to the Gen-X churches of the 1990s, engaging the culture with the gospel is a defining mark of ecclesiology over the last sixty years. In the last twenty-five years, particularly in … [Read More]
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 1: A Survey of Perspectives
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 1: A Survey of Perspectives
By Keith Whitfield
An adjective is causing a controversy. The adjective “missional” has become a popular description of the church and its ministry for many people in recent years. The use of this modifier has attracted concern and criticism from more than a few people.
Some have expressed concern because it seems faddish. It might be. No doubt, there is a certain danger with fads in that … [Read More]
What Does It Mean To Be Missional?
English-speaking Christians, including many Southern Baptists, have increasingly used the word missional in recent years. This adjective has been used to describe individual believers, local churches, the church universal, and even God himself. The term has also elicted much controversy, in part because there is such a wide variety of churches and thinkers who embrace the missional label. Some Southern Baptists have been very hesitant to use the term, while others have unashamedly owned it, … [Read More]
Messenger Insight Podcast with Alvin Reid
In the most recent Messenger Insight Podcast, Baptist Messenger editor Doug Baker talks with BtT contributor Alvin Reid about his new Evangelism Handbook, what it means to be missional, contextualization, and the future of the SBC’s North American and international mission efforts. They also discuss the recent numerical decline in the SBC, a historical reality that is denied by some observers. You can listen to the podcast at the Messenger Insight website.
Aspect 2: A Mission Based Upon God’s Mission
(By: Danny Akin & Bruce Ashford)
Scripture and mission go hand in hand. Baptists have missional convictions because they are a people of the Book.[1] Our network of churches possesses a missional DNA. History informs us that the majority of the early Baptist networks arose from a need for interchurch cooperation in missional endeavors and that the SBC is no exception since cooperation in missions has been her raison d’etre from the very beginning.
In the following … [Read More]
