Learning to Be Missional

How do you communicate to the average person in the church what it means to be on mission with God without using the word "missional"? I've found that most of what has been written about being missional aims at the church leader. Most of the people  worshipping in our churches want to make a difference in this world, but they don't want to learn all the theological language of being "missional."

So in my writing over the last couple of years, I've sought to talk about being missional in a way that relates to everyday people. The results will hit the shelves next month in the form of Difference Makers. My aim was to write about a theme in a way that relates to the average person, the kind of person who goes to work everyday — as an accountant, a teacher, a factory worker — and does not have the time or the energy to read thick books about what it means to be a "missional" Christian.

The approach taken here is multifaceted.

1. The chapters are very short. There are 40 of them and they can be read daily for 40 days. Or if person wants to bite off bigger chunks the short chapters are grouped into seven sections.
2. Each of the seven sections includes practical experiments that the reader can do in order to grow in their difference making journey.
3. There are seven small group discussion guides included at the back, and I will soon have youtube.com videos that will accompany them.
4. I'm also now writing seven sermon outlines that a pastor can adapt to teach while the church reads this book together. 

The goal is to move beyond information about what we should be as missional Christians to providing baby steps that will guide us on that journey.

One reviewer commented, "I hesitate to call Scott Boren's Difference Makers a book because reading it is more like submitting to a tutor, a coach, a spiritual guide. Pastors, Christians, no more conferences, please. Instead, read this book."--David Fitch