these are my notes. a lot was said and very fast. make a comment if you have a question. maybe we can get scot to jump into the conversion. pictures from this pilgrim experience. jake & aaron attended the same meeting & will most likely have some good notes.
Scot McKnight
Missional Jesus
missional is today's buzzword. buzzwords are good and sometimes they are bad. in the past discipleship became the buzzword. in the 80's became 'spiritual disciplines' because of richard foster. then dallas willard shaped into 'spiritual formation' . people are nervous about evangelism that they use the word missional. evangelism has morphed into missional and is not as clear as evangelism so it is murky.
theology of the word missional
- missional comes from mission literature, missiological studies. Missio Dei. there is a conviction that we have to discover what God's mission in the world, and our responsibility is to participate in that mission. (acts1:8, talks of missional) what does God want us to do in this world versus what is our local church trying to accomplish
- the church doesn't do mission. the church is the mission. when the church isn't missional it isn't church. for a lot of people church is about sunday morning worship and a sermon. the mission of the church is to do what God's mission in the world as God's instrument
- by talking about missional, we avoid simplistic evangelism. if you start talking of the mission of God as kingdom then evangelism is a lot more about what you do when you accept Jesus. it affirms holistic evangelism. it allows for justice and justice ministries. it requires ecumenical corroboration. increasingly denominations don't matter and it is more about what God is doing in the local community. asserts the primacy of the kingdom of God.
Reading the bible:
What is God doing in this world in this text
Luke 1: 46-55 "Mary's Song" (view on mary, we don't have a good view on mary, just an anti-roman catholic view of mary) if you just had this text, what would you think Mary's idea of what her son was going to do in this world. it is a mosaic of old testament hopes. you can see justice in here. do you see anything about going to heaven? Mary's vision is that when the messiah came it would be the way God wanted it to be.
Luke 1: 67- "Zechariah's Song" (is his view of his son john role similar?) "salvation from our enemies" who are the enemies? rome.. only after the end of all this does he turn to his son john the baptist. the vision is there is going to a society where there is going to justice and liberation. where they can worship God is holiness and righteousness.
Luke 3. looking at John the Baptist as he begins preaching. John gets to announce the coming of Jesus. verse 10, 'anyone who has two shirts should share with the one that has none'.. a little like Mary. John's first idea is about economic distribution. economic justice. verse 14, 'don't extort money and be content with your pay'. John is thinking of really concrete deeds.
if we just have Mary, Zechariah & John, what is the mission of God?
Society
- Justice
- Reformation
- economic Justice
- Revolution
- Forgiveness
- Liberation
Luke 4:14- Jesus Rejected at Nazareth, Jesus puts into claim these same things. he makes it really personal with saying "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your ears." (i learned it from my mother & uncle)
in the Beatitudes. he turns the knife on Herod. "whoa to you who are rich, you have already received your comfort." whoa.. whoa... check 'em out. it is almost exactly like Mary's magnificat.
the mission according to these texts. Is to create a society of Justice.
Luke 7 : "are you the one that is supposed to come" the person from Malachi 3 & 4. Jesus say, "go tell him what you have seen and heard..."
What did Jesus expect? he had the same expectations.
Mary still had to learn this. in Mark she tries to rescue Jesus from himself. they call him to come home to mother and brothers and sisters.. and Jesus responds "who is my mother, who are my brothers and sisters?" ..
John 19 : Mary saw it coming. Jesus on the cross. he says, "take care of my mother. she has some dreams that have yet to come true."
Acts 1:14 : there is Mary with all the disciples, the brothers and sisters of Jesus. she is right there. then the Holy Spirit came and Mary was there.
all this. and Mary was right in the middle of it saying "this is what the magnificat is all about. the local church breaking bread together" imagine a society of Justice. a society of forgiveness, liberation, economic justice, reformation, and revolution.
the mission of Jesus, we are talking about the church as an alternative to culture and an embodiment of magnificat in place. it begins with you and me living it out daily. not by a mission statement. instead we have to live it out.
where the church went off-board
- platonic dualism influenced the church
- personal salvation, less on the church
- slick marketing evangelism
- i think Jesus used the language Kingdom for what God was doing in the world and Paul preached an aspect of the Kingdom..
four points on the missional community
- the mission of Jesus is to create the missional society, the missional community. it is a Jesus community Mark 3:31-35 it is the community of Jesus
- it is an alternative community. Jesus makes statements that are really un-believeable Matthew 17:24-27
- prophetic community, it speaks too and against the rest of society. Jesus had words for ceaser and herod and empire. he warned them and that things were not right.
- a moral community, the sermon on the mount is a moral map for the people who follow Jesus
