"Missional" Church

So we've been talking about the missional church.
But let's be clear about this term- it's redundant.

The church at it's very heart is missional.
Or as I quoted yesterday- "God's church doesn't have a mission. God's mission has a church."
The church, ie, the people of God, ie, you and me and everyone who puts their faith in Jesus, is God's continuing mission to the world.

But saying "missional church" is helpful at this time in our culture in that it reminds us of our primary calling/purpose. "Missional church" brings us back to the heart of what being called out by God and send back to the world in Christ means for us as Christians.

Our God is in mission, and therefore His people, His church, can be/do nothing less.
Or to throw out another pithy quote:
"Our theology drives our missiology drives our ecclesiology."

Ecclesiology is seminary talk for the church, the "Ecclesia" (gathering) of God's people.
Ecclesiology is how we understand, structure and "do" church.

Our problem too often is simple blindness to the ecclesiology that we grew up with or become a part of. We just "assume" the church has to do and be certain things, when in fact, many of the things we do as a church are simply reflections of culture or tradition.

This is NOT to say culture or tradition are bad. Not at all.
But at times we have to take the church back to formula.

• Who is God (theology)?
• What is God doing in me and in the world (missiology)?
• And now who are we and what do we do as His ecclesia, the church?

The take away is this:
What happens, or what changes, if we make mission the organizing heart of being/doing church?

It has profound implications for our culture which has for so long allowed "doing church" to inform and direct our mission.

So help us answer this, "How does putting mission back at the center change/inform how we "do" church?"