Previous Post – Judging Others – SOTM Series (12)

(UPDATE: I think, perhaps, I have been too subtle in this post with respect to the attractional church.  I am not attempting to defend what has been critiqued as the attractional church, but rather offer an alternative.  While attractional churches are still part of the Body of Christ that I affirm as family, I have strong concerns about the impact of said approaches on the quality of the faith & community it produces.)

One of the central themes to the missional movement has been the call to return to an incarnational understanding of ecclesiology and missiology.  As Christ’s Body, the Church is called as one to embody the truth, hope and love of the Gospel in all we are and do, in addition to what we proclaim.  Like Jesus, we are then called to go into the world and actively pursue the lost.  In this sense, as all Christians are part of His Body, all Christians must be by nature missional- that is, shaped and moved by our shared vocation to establish God’s Kingdom through the message and saving work of Jesus Christ.

When incarnational ministry is discussed, it is often discussed in contrast to the attractional ministry model that has so deeply shaped the evangelicalism that we see around us today.  In brief, the attractional approach to ministry seeks to draw people into our churches through attractive and relevant programing, services and opportunities.  The means by which they seek to attract people varies greatly, both in style and intention.  For the sake of this article, I am going assume that most attractional churches seek to offer what they see as healthy, God-oriented programs, services, etc.- that is, despite how it plays out (for better and for worse), let us assume the best of intentions from the attractional church.

Now, it should be said from the beginning that missional-incarnational is not at complete odds with the attractional.  They are not mutually exclusive or completely incompatible.  Rather, it is about priority and emphasis.  I am deeply convinced that missional-incarnational should lay the foundation, working as the primary (though not exclusive) organizing function of the church.  Within that, there is a place for attractional ministry, as long as it is subject to the missional-incarnation emphasis.  Or as I once heard Ed Stetzer put it, the church should not be attractional, but it certainly can be attractive!

Recently, as I was considering this dynamic, I found my mind drawn back to the story of the prodigal son.  After squandering his inheritance, the destitute son decides to return home to his father, for even life as a servant in his family home would be better than the empty life he was living.  And so, he begins the journey home.  When he still a ways off, his father sees him coming, runs to meet him and brings him the rest of the way home, kissing and embracing him with love and compassion.  And then they celebrate his return with a great feast.

This parable, like the two prior to it, is (in part) a story about repentance, recovery and restoration.  What struck me as so beautiful about this story was that, when life turned sour for the prodigal, he knew the nature of his father’s home- that is would be a place of security and forgiveness, even if it meant humbling himself to the lowest position as servant.  His father’s heart was known to him, even in the face of his selfish and reckless behaviour towards him.  His confidence that his welcome, in one form or another, was sure, inspired him to make the journey home.

Are the communities of faith that we build such homes?  Do we represent the Father’s heart in such a way that, even in the face of rejection and exploitation, the prodigal would know that our churches would welcome them?  Sadly, most people would characterize the church as a place where just the opposite is likely to occur.  And yet, it is this kind of attractional nature that we must desperately seek to embody as His people.  This is what we should endeavour to become so that people will be drawn to Christ and His Church.  This is attractional ministry at it’s truest.

And like the father in this tale, we must also go out into the world and meet people even before they have “made it home”.  We need to learn to see with new eyes, recognizing when people are in the process of returning to the Father, even before it happens explicitly.  We are to meet them with joy and love, not judgment and harsh requirements.  Without question, once the son was home and the celebration was complete, his duty to the father would have been clear and uncompromising.  However, it the process of returning, the emphasis was on embrace.

Like the elder son in this parable, we can expect that we will resist this approach as though it were unjust and compromising.  After all, they are sinners and must learn from their mistakes, not be celebrated for them!  And yet we must hear our Father’s words when He says: “My son, celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” After all, we are all returned prodigals.

This vision of a missional-incarnational community is one I can believe in.  Not only does it call us to embody the richness of who Christ is and what He has called us to be, but it also requires us to become together a community of welcome that would inspire the lost to begin their journey home, a journey on which we would join them with love, grace and patience until they are ready to enter into the embrace of the Father and receive their full inheritance.