The Relational Mission

I am reading David Benner's new book, Opening to God . It's well worth the time. Last night I finished the chapter on what he calls "Attending." He plays off the four parts of Lectio Divina and uses the metaphor of paying attention to help us understand what it means to practice Part 1, which is traditionally called "Lectio." He challenges us to expand our ability to practice Lectio, that is "reading," by calling us to pay attention to what is going on in life around us. He invites us to read life, to read ourselves, and to read creation. He calls us to wake up to what is already present but we don't often see. In many ways, we could apply the four parts of Lectio Divina to the call to "being" missional. It provides us with a tool to see how life on mission is much more than doing some activities that look missional. (As I have stated before, I am not against "doing" missional things. Therefore, don't hear me promoting...

We all have an imagination, but many of us don't think that we do. Christianity has been so shaped by Western logic we can't even see that the logic we use is itself a kind of imagination. It's just not a very imaginative one. Still we all have one. And I have found that when it comes to the idea of "missional", being a missional people and leading in missional ways, we all come to the topic with an imagination about what missional is. Sadly, most of us need our imaginations reframed. How do we do this? Step #1: Realize that you already have an imagination. See introductory paragraphs above. Now begin to articulate what that is. Step #2: Imagine that "missional" might actually mean more than what you now know. If you want to learn something new, you have to make space in your mind to ask different questions. Step #3: Stop thinking that "missional" is first about how to do church better. If you have not truly done Step 2, then this will be...

I love reading the vast literature that has been published over the last ten years on spiritual practices or spiritual disciplines. But I get troubled by the consistent use of language that assumes the reader has a college education. I guess this assumption is made because most resources seem to use a lot of Latin words. They talk about things like "lectio divina", "purgation", "solitude", "Psalms of lament", and "the daily office". Who talks like that? Why can't we use words so that we all know what we are talking about, like "dwelling in the Word", "purging", "alone with God", Psalms of sorrow", and ... well I've not come up with a good term to replace "the daily office" yet. Any ideas? I grew up on the farm, and while I have read more than my fair share of 500 page books that use lots of "five-dollar words," I still talk language that my friends from high school could u...

I'm in Richmond, VA, the home of VCU, on Final Four weekend. I'm about to head out to watch the game with a bunch of VCU Ram fanatics. Secretly, I'm rooting for Butler. I say secretly because I don't want to get skinned alive and I have no allegiance to Butler. So to be secretive about it is not compromising any conviction I might have or loyalty to Butler. But if Texas A & M were in the Final Four playing VCU and I withheld my convictions and commitment to rooting for my alma mater, then that would be compromise. I would not be being true to my convictions. I would not be a truthful witness to what is real within me. I think this has bearing on what it means to be missional. Sometimes we stir people up to "do" something missional but what they are doing is not truthful to who they are. They are "doing" more, i.e. "witnessing" or serving or something of the like, but it not true to their nature. It would be like me going tonight and a...