God's Missionary People by Charles Van Engen - My Reflections

Chp. 1
During the 60s social activism began to rise and the church began to consider mission in all of its duties. This stress on mission began to overtake some of the religious elements of the church such that the church was now focused on changing society, whether their message to society contained the gospel or not. Still, today this is a problem within the church. Rather than preach an unfiltered message, preachers and congregations are watering down the gospel in order to be politically-correct and inoffensive in the hopes of buttering up individuals to join their ranks.

Chp. 2
In opposition to this emphasis on politically-correct social activism, Van Engen stresses a new paradigm of church in mission where the church is actually built up into an entity that expresses its faith in the mission it carries out.

Chp. 3
Van Engen looks to the book of Ephesians in order to define the essence of the local church. He defines the local church as one member of the entire Body of Christ, which is the ekklesia. Thus, one member is wholly independent, but it can only be fruitful when it is tied to other members of the body.

Chp. 4
Van Engen contends that the four elements of the Apostolic Creed ought to be reworked for mission and not simply the inward workings of the church. For example, catholic implies that the church ought to grow (geographically, culturally, numerically, etc.).

Chp. 5
Van Engen identifies other values that the church should embrace alongside with (and related with) those of one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. The church ought to identify with the oppressed, witness, carry out works of mission, yearn for numerical growth, and live for the good of the world.

Chp. 6
Van Engen offers a redefinition of the mission of the church using the words koinonia, kerygma, diakonia, and martyria. Kerygma stands for the proclamation that "Jesus is Lord" in the midst of society. Our message needs to be direct when we state that "Jesus is Lord" in the midst of a pluralistic, "coexist", religious society.

Chp. 7
Local churches are not "ends in themselves" but are "tools of the kingdom of God." Thus, churches are the conduits of the Holy Spirit and not the resting places of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given preeminence and will use churches for His glorification.

Chp. 8
Van Engen argues that the ministry of the church must reflect the ministry of Jesus. Van Engen focuses on the prophetic, priestly, kingly, healing, liberating ministries of Jesus most – but this wasn't all Jesus was. In short, the church needs to embody Jesus – every aspect of Him and every ministry he performed!

Chp. 9
The church ought to set missional goals that are reasonable for it to attain. The means by which these goals are attained ought not to be so radical as to lead to alienation; yet they ought not to be so worldly that they fail in leading to salvation.

Chp. 10
Van Engen vehemently opposes "factor Beta" (i.e. having 10% of the church interested and doing all of the work leaving the other 90% disinterested and uninvolved) yet he fails to offer any real convincing strategies to avoid this situation in churches.

Chp. 11
Leaders are to be both servants and authority figures. Focusing too much on one or the other will lead to abuse – on the one extreme by the congregation feeling and acting as if they are the power-holders and on the other extreme as the leader "lording his authority", leading to a dissatisfied congregation.

Chp. 12
In order to link the visions of the church to missional contact with the world, the practice of biblical, spirit-led administration is a must. This task is all-too-often overlooked by those in leadership positions.