Thursday, April 26, 2007

Missional and Attractional are not Antonyms

One of the best things that I have learned this week at the Exponential conference is that exponential growth comes when we realize that missional is attractional. If we define missional as living sent, or apostolic in nature, and attractional as putting on a quality church service, then the greatest amount of growth comes when we have both. We have all seen church plants that spend big bucks on gadgets that no one experiences. He has it attractionally and fails missionally. On the other side of the boat we have seen determined missional types who are out there being the church, but never building the church. We cannot forget that the word church literally means called out ... assembly. Even in the definition both sides are required. In the portable church session with Bob Franquiz, he made this point tremendously by stating Jim Collins' and the power of the "And". The best church is one that uses the power of the and. Like a good fisherman can cast his line gently over the reeds and under the limb, into the shade and make a great presentation (missional) AND then have a bait that is realistic enough for the fish to see, smell and taste (attractional). There is no war between missional and attractional. They are companions, partners, who by working together create expodential growth in the church.

1 comments:

Missional Jerry said...

something to think about