Are You Missional? 10 Diagnostic Questions
Trevin Wax Blog | June 7, 2012
In the book Live Sent: You Are a Letter, Jason Dukes lays out 10 questions to help Christians discern whether or not they are operating with a missional mindset. I've adapted and explained them below. Challenging words!1. When you speak of church, what prepositions do you use?
Do you focus on church as a place or event more than a people who are sent?
2. When you think of missions, do you think of a mission trip to a distant city and a service project in your own community or do you think about daily life among your family, neighbors, and coworkers?
The answer should be both. Living sent means you are a missionary in your everyday encounters.
3. What is your common declaration about lost people around you? "Can you believe the way those people act?" OR "When can you come over for dinner?"
Hospitality is a key to living sent.
4. Is my tendency to disengage from culture and retreat into safer, more Christian environments? Or is it to engage culture even amidst discomfort and danger?
We must be among lost people in order to be an effective witness.
5. When you hear "make disciples," do you think of a classroom or your relationships?
We should be equipped to disciple people in the daily routine of life, not just the classroom.
6. Do you spend a lot of time wondering whether you should quit your job to surrender to ministry? Or do you simply live to minister to anyone and everyone where you are currently?
Pastoral ministry is vitally important, but too many Christians are unaware that they too are involved in ministry to the people around them.
7. When you think of a friend who needs help, do you think, "I need to get him to see the pastor" OR "I wonder what I can do to help"?
Pastors are to equip God's people to do the work of the ministry, not be the only ones who minister and witness to the lost.
8. When you think of heaven, do you think "kingdom come" or "kingdom is here"?
As people who believe the kingdom is both now and not yet, we ought to live as people who are the "presence of the future."
9. Do you think godliness is measured with a mirror or within community?
Introspection (the mirror) is not the only way we become holy before the world. Jesus said people would see our fruit through our love for and life with other believers. "An intimate, shared life with God is most clearly demonstrated in intimate, shared life with one another."
10. Do you have a lost friend who would actually introduce you as his or her friend?
If we are to live sent the way the sent One intended, then we must have genuine friendship with the lost too.
Comments:
June 7, 2012 at 10:26 AM
These are good questions to ponder.
On #5 I think it's a mistake to separate the term disciple from Christian. They mean one and the same in scripture. So I would ask, 'When you hear 'make disciples' do you think of something other than proclaiming the gospel to those not-yet-saved?" If so you are likely to think you are fulfilling the Great Commission by having discipleship groups even if you never talk with nonbelievers about Jesus.
The verb, 'disciple' or the noun 'discipleship' are modern words--not biblical. I think this is the cause of confusion.
June 7, 2012 at 03:43 PM
Great questions, Jonathan! I especially like #7. We can definitely reach out more to people around us without needing to call in a deacon, elder or pastor.
June 25, 2012 at 09:20 PM
[...] Are You Missional? 10 Diagnostic Questions HT: Ed Stetzer - Some great questions for reflecting whether or not you’re thinking outwardly or whether your faith (and church) is self-absorbed. [...]
June 13, 2012 at 01:53 AM
[...] Another blogger named Tr3vin W@x has taken these questions and given some helpful responses to them. This can be found here [...]
July 31, 2012 at 06:10 PM
Certainly.
July 31, 2012 at 06:07 PM
I would like to share this article in our church newsletter -- may I have permission? Please advise.
July 26, 2012 at 02:21 PM
This is such a great list of questions. Thought provoking and stirring. Number 4 particularly resonates as this is a tension to live in that requires constant thought, prayer and evaluation. Thank you!
10 Questions to Ask If You’re Wondering, “Am I Missional?”
June 8, 2012 at 01:37 PM
[...] Steve Knight Leave a CommentTrevin Wax over at The Gospel Coalition has extracted and expanded on 10 diagnostic questions from Jason Dukes book Live Sent: You Are A Letter to help us determine if we’re truly being [...]