Are you missional?

Missional is a popular word in church circles today. It’s also a hotly debated word. Ed Stetzer writes: “Any discussion of missional cannot be complete without asking the question, ‘which missional?’”

For me, a missional person is consistently on point for Jesus. Always ready to give a reason to a friend, colleague, neighbor (or a complete stranger), for the hope he has as a Jesus-follower. A missional person understands God has committed to him the job of influencing others for Jesus.

It’s good to know we don’t have to be perfect to be missional… we just need to be purposeful. Being missional means I walk the walk and talk the talk. My speech and behavior link up. I could list seventy behaviors of missional people, but I’ve boiled then down to seven:

Pray

Write down the names of people you are connected with who don’t follow Jesus yet, and pray for them regularly. Pray for opportunities to talk with them about Christ. Ask God to create circumstances that will help them see how much they need Him.

Stay alert

It’s not enough to pray for those names on our list. To be missional, we have to open our mouth and speak the truth in love… and to look for opportunities to demonstrate the love of Christ in practical ways.

Develop our story

This may sound strange… but writing out our conversion story helps us be missional. Don’t author a novel—make it a 1-pager. When it comes to sharing our story, we’ll be more influential if we’re prepared instead of trying to wing it.

Understand our accountability

You and I will be the only Christian some people ever meet. Let that one sink in for a minute. Pretty scary, huh? It represents a serious responsibility God holds us accountable for.

Don’t expect unbelievers to act like believers

A misguided believer told me every time someone at work cursed he would loudly say “Hallelujah!” What he didn’t get was when he responded that way, he wasn’t being missional… he was being obnoxious. If our first inclination is to correct unbelievers when they curse or condemn them when they brag about their drinking exploits, we’re adopting a losing strategy. It helps to remember what knuckleheads we were before our conversion.

Understand our role is to plant and water

The rest is up to God. We can’t save anyone. Our role in being missional is to demonstrate genuine interest in people, to behave maturely in front of them, (to apologize when we don’t), and to verbally share the story of how God got a hold of us, cleaned us up, and continues to walk with us today. Our responsibility is plant the truth. To water it via prayer, and follow-up conversations. It’s up to the Holy Spirit to finish the job.

Remember it’s fun to share our story

I love to preach and teach. I thoroughly enjoy working alongside leaders. But nothing is more satisfying and rejuvenating to me as sharing the story of how Jesus rescued me at age 16 from an empty way of living, from a path destined for addiction, and how He gave me a brand new life.

If you want to be missional with those in your circle who are not yet Jesus-followers: Pray for them… be alert for opportunities… develop and master your story… understand you’re accountable… have realistic expectations of them… plant and water… and get back in touch with the joy of sharing your story.

Are you missional? Are you positively influencing those in your circle of influence? Remember, we don’t have to be perfect to be missional… we just have to be purposeful. I’m not much for New Year’s resolutions… but I’m resolving to get better at being consistently on point for Jesus in 2016. Hope you will join me!