We all individualy must live a missional life, but how does City on a Hill work into the construct of our individual lives?
So to understand living a missional life, we need to start by asking...
What is a missional church?
You likely either never heard the word “missional” or have heard it so much lately that it is void of meaning. Since we call ourselves a missional church, we need to provide some definition to the significance of this label.
Jesus gives His followers this charge in the bible, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, ESV) This is the foundation of being missional.
First, we are committed to being and making disciples who obey Jesus in all of life. We don’t entertain, build self-esteem, promise material prosperity, push political agendas or pursue irrelevant debates over secondary issues. We seek together to live radical lives for Jesus through the power found in His perfect life, substitutionary death on the cross and resurrection.
Second, we are committed to being and making disciples in all changing cultural contexts. The concept of “all nations” in the above passage is best understood as “all ethnic” groups of the world. The Apostle Paul expresses his strategy of making disciples in differing cultural contexts in I Corinthians 9:22-23, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel.” This means being faithful to the gospel without compromise while living in the freedom it allows in differing contexts and cultures. Our style may look very different from what you have observed in other churches. But our substance is carefully and prayerfully thought out through the framework of biblical truth.
Third, we are committed to going to those who don’t yet know Jesus rather than trying to get them to come to us. Our ministries are designed to equip missionaries who will impact our city. They aren’t designed to appeal to the felt needs of outsiders in hopes of attracting them to our community. We don’t have a complex structure or a myriad of choices in the realm of activities and ministry offerings. We only have two expressions at City on a Hill. We gather together in a large group to worship God from affectionate hearts. We also gather together as small bands of missionaries to share our lives and serve our city.
We believe that our local churches must be faithful to the content of unchanging Biblical doctrine (Jude 3).
We believe that our local churches must be faithful to the continually changing context of the culture(s) in which they minister (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).
We believe that our mission is to bring people into church so that they can be trained to go out into their culture as effective missionaries.