Missional Paradigm Shift
I created this diagram for something I’ll be presenting in the near future and thought I would share it. Feel free to use it. What  I am trying to do through it is illustrate what I think is the key paradigm shift which will have to take place in the average Christian’s thinking for the church here in Scotland to transition to a more missional mode of existence. If I am frank I am pessimistic about the ability of most established churches to make this paradigm shift. I have an annoying problem with Microsoft Word, for no apparent reason it continually reverts to US spelling from British spelling, somehow US spelling has been programmed as its default. What I am discovering personally and with churches is that the Christendom way of being church has a tenacious hold on our thinking. I am trying to think out of the box and imagine new ways of authentically expressing the Kingdom of God but that old Christendom thinking creeps up on me, it’s my default way of being church. Many churches and Christians cannot see beyond it. Yet if we do not make this paradigm shift I fear we are heading for cultural irrelevance and a biblically inauthentic faith. Just my thoughts … what are yours?
[…] James Petticrew offers two posts that provide a good overview of the ecclesiological issues that have undermined mission in recent decades and offers the way forward in a helpful way. Missional Paradigm Shift and Two Wrong Turns in Church History. […]
Consumerism is the biggest obstacle to missional activity!
Thanks for your post!
Here’s a good quote from Organic Church by Neil Cole:
“We try to woo people to come and keep coming. What we end up with is an audience of consumers shopping for the best ‘services.’ We cater to this sort of thinking by trying to compete with other churches with a better show.� [p69]
Dan Kimball (The Emerging Church)understands that this needs to change. “There is no way a missional church that understands her place in God’s story can produce consumer Christians. It would go against its very nature.� He urges churches to resist “the tendency to become consumer-oriented by keeping the mission at the forefront of all we do.� [p78]
Check out The Missional Challenge for more of my thoughts! Thanks!!!
Thanks to Eddie Arthur for pointing me here. This is useful stuff.
To change default language for MS Word you need to: locate Normal.doT (use find); right click on it and choose Open (not the default action for templates); Select all (Ctrl-A) then use Tools>Language>Set Language and choose English(UK); Save the template. New documents are usually based on normal.dot, but if you have any other templates (.dot) files, you can update them too.
Paul I have done all that and most of the time it works, but somehow out of the blue, MS Word just reverts to US spelling, deep in its programming it spells like an Amwerican! That is why it reminded me of my struggles to change the way I think of church, I have been deeply programmed to think in the Christendom rather than the missional paradigm.
[…] issues that have undermined mission in recent decades and offers the way forward in a helpful way. Missional Paradigm Shift and Two Wrong Turns in Church […]
[…] if you are interested in how the British church can make a real impact on our society. They are: Missional Paradigm Shift and Two Wrong Turns in Church […]