The Gospel According to Matt

Today we had the privilege of attending a Pastors’ Luncheon hosted by the Aspen Group; and had the opportunity to hear Dave Ferguson speak on “Creating Culture for Missional Movements.”

Dave’s Big Question: Can we start something to reach people who won’t come to any church, under any circumstance?

• Dave’s Guess: 50% of America can be reached through common church venues; but 50% of America simply will not come to church, no matter how contemporary//relevant//positive the environment may be.
• We have to recover the biblical idea that following Christ means “going & sending” people in the missional sense (Genesis 12; John 3; Luke 12; Matthew 28).
• Lovers of God have always been a “sent” group of people.

Four Ways to Create A Missional-Movement Culture:

1. Find a way to ORDAIN every Christ-Follower.

• We are ALL a chosen people, a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9).
• We have to give our people permission to live “on mission.”

2. Learn to lead with a “YES.”

• Don’t automatically say “No” to every idea.  Develop the “Yes” reflex.
• It might get messy, but it’s the only way to start a “Movement.”

3. Teach people to GO, not just to BRING.

• Plant the Gospel before Planting a Church.
• Missiology before Ecclesiology.

4. Be both INCARNATIONAL and APOSTOLIC.

• We can’t just go into the world with the Gospel, we have to coach others to go into the world with the Gospel.
• Discipleship = Deepening + Sending + Reproducing.

For more, we highly recommend Dave Ferguson’s and Jon Ferguson’s book Exponential: How You And Your Friends Can Start A Missional Movement.  This book tells the story of one of America’s most influential churches while sharing ideas and concepts for planting, not only a church, but also a movement of churches.

For another review of Dave’s talk and the Aspen Pastors’ Luncheon click here.