Those who are excited about living missionally may think of the purpose driven model as yesterday’s pizza because it focuses so strongly on attracting nonattenders. What’s wrong with that? In itself, nothing, of course, but the missional movement is fueled by the conviction that many people will never be drawn to attend church events where they can hear the gospel. Instead, the church needs to be turned inside out, with far greater emphasis on connecting with those who are not inclined to attend church programs.
Is the purpose driven model fixated on attracting people to attend church services? The five concentric circles Rick Warren uses to describe Christian faith and spiritual maturity could imply that once the believer has reached the innermost circle, the goal is reached and the work is done. Therefore, the purpose of the church is to move people from outside the church (the outer circle) into a place of spiritual growth, trust in Christ and engagement in ministry (the innermost circle). Do that and the process is complete. Right?
Well, the five circles could be used that way, but what if missional thinking were applied to purpose driven concepts? When a missional approach is overlaid with a purpose driven process, the result is (1) a refinement of missional thinking and (2) an energizing of the purpose driven model.
The key is to think carefully about that inner circle, where the believer has been “equipped for ministry.” What sort of ministry? Some form of service within the church? Not necessarily. Years before the word missional began to be used, Rick Warren insisted, “I believe that you measure the health or strength of a church by its sending capacity rather than its seating capacity. Churches are in the sending business.”
Still, it is a safe bet that when Warren wrote, in The Purpose Driven Church, about the church’s sending capacity, both he and his readers assumed God was sending Christians to draw more people to the church, where they could hear the gospel and discover God’s great purpose for their lives. Before the missional movement gained strength, that was all that most churches cared about. Bring ’em in so they can be transformed by Christ.
But what if those who have moved through the circles (Community, Crowd, Congregation, Committed, Core) were to adopt a missional framework and begin to live their faith in the outer circle (Community) among those who are unlikely to come near a Christian church? The missional way of thinking pushes hard on the purpose driven model right at this point. To the extent that the purpose driven approach is based on an attractional assumption, missional thinking reminds us not to miss the adventure of the saving work of God far from the church.
But there is a corrective on the other side as well. Too often missional Christians don’t know what to do once they are on the field, serving and loving and witnessing among people who are disconnected from God. The five concentric circles offer a useful tool for making disciples. It is inevitable that a loosely organized missional community will develop form and structure over time. The five circles provide missional Christians with a process for reshaping lives.
In short, missional and purpose driven concepts are not mutually exclusive. The five circles in the purpose drive model are one place where an integration of concepts can sharpen both models.
