Seeking: Nutty Christians

This afternoon a beloved but soon to retire professor at AMBS, Alan Kreider, lectured in my Formation in Ministry class to share his bubbling enthusiasm and stories of mission in the church. During the lecture he gave us ten characteristics of missional leaders. These characteristics are not bound to pastors or missionaries, but would be applicable to all individuals and congregations who seek to further the kingdom of God.

The Missional Leader:

1. Prays- to ask God to open our eyes to see God at work and that His will be done (Lord's Prayer), then notices God working through an examen, records God's works and offers praise, or confession for missing it.

2. Doesn't try to reinvent Christendom- accept that we are not in the center of Christendom and imagine new ways to move forward.

3. Articulate and embody hope- recognize negative hope, and see and name positive hope.

4. Tell the stories of how God has been at work in our lives, in our communities, in the world, in history.

5. Encourages people to see significance in their work- all work has a purpose and a mission.

6. Encourages congregations to recover testimony and praise- to keep us remembering that God is at work.

7. Expects to see God at work- outside the Church and Christianity, and outside traditional church structures, in new forms.

8. Encourages hospitality- to give hospitality to each other, to offer hospitality to those on the outside, and to receive hospitality.

9. Equips people to be articulate about their faith- if we don't know how to talk about our faith then we can't share it with others.

10. Equips people to pray- to be able to notice God at work and seek God's will (as in #1).

Alan left the class with the thought "The problem with Christians is that we don't do nutty enough stuff."

Perhaps we don't see God working in our lives, our congregations, our communities, or our world because we aren't looking. And maybe we're not being "nutty" enough to step out of our comfort zones, attempt the impossible, and join in God's work in new ways.