I keep saying I won't be posting anything more here but there was an article by Mike Breen (with the provocative title: Why the missional movement will fail) that someone alerted me to this morning which I think is essential reading, and certainly very much related to the kind of material that has appeared frequently on this blog. Here's how the article starts....
It’s time we start being brutally honest about the missional movement
that has emerged in the last 10-15 years: Chances are better than not
it’s going to fail.
That may seem cynical, but I’m being realistic. There is a reason so
many movements in the Western church have failed in the past century: They are a car without an engine.
A missional church or a missional community or a missional small group
is the new car that everyone is talking about right now, but no matter
how beautiful or shiny the vehicle, without an engine, it won’t go
anywhere.
So what is the engine of the church? Discipleship. I’ve said it many times: If you make disciples, you will always get the church. But if you try to build the church, you will rarely get disciples.
More here.
