9Marks on Missional
Jonathan Leeman, Director of Communications for 9Marks, just wrote an article titled, “Is the God of the Missional Gospel Too Small?” In this article Jonathan challenges us to consider four reasons why he thinks the missional conversation is leading to an ill-conceived emphasis on social justice which is “but a first step toward a new liberalism.” Fair enough.
I was looking forward to an enlighten read, but that’s not what I found. The problem is that what Jonathan has written is poorly documented and appears to be a self-serving piece pushing a specific theological perspective which does little to enlighten us. His allegations are only supported by vague statements like:
“More and more evangelical and missional leaders have begun to characterize the gospel…as a ‘small gospel.’”
What leaders? Who are they and where did they say it?
“One recent nearly 600 page book on the mission of God contains only one index entry on hell.”
What is the title of this book? Was a discussion of hell relevant to the subject matter being covered by the book? Did a thought leader within the missional conversation even write the book?
“It’s almost as if non-Christians aren’t really lost, blind, enslaved, and dead in their sin. They’re just misguided or oppressed. They don’t need the Holy Spirit to create them anew;”
Where has any mainstream missional thought leader said such a thing? I don’t think you would find Ed Stetzer, Tim Keller, Alan Hirsch, Michael Frost, Darrell Guder, or Lesslie Newbigin making such a statement.
Come on Jonathan, if you are going to pontificate, you have to document your points–which may be perfectly valid, but who can tell?
Added 01/22/2010: Some addition perspective on “A Growing Divide? 9 Marks and Missional.”
Added 01/25/2010: Also see, “Missing the Missional Mark.”
Added 01/26/2010: Also on the subject is, “You Might Not Be Missional….”
Added 01/27/2010: Others continue to post on the issue including, “The Missional Slope, or Should Have Linked to Kinnon.”
Added 01/29/2010: And, “Losing the Plot.”
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Tags: 9Marks, Jonathan Leeman, Liberalism, Missional, Missional Gospel
January 18th, 2010 at 1:17 am
I stumbled across the same article a few days ago and it struck me much the same way - it’s almost as if he uses ‘liberalism’ to be a cover-all word by which he means ‘anyone who doesn’t hold a strict reformed theology.’ I got a similar impression with many of the articles on 9Marks though - liberalism seems to be the big boogy monster and only very conservative theology is able to resist it (take a look at the current range of articles to see what I mean). I think such an attitude is unhelpful as it prevents an informed discussion from taking place.
January 18th, 2010 at 7:25 am
Amen and Amen
January 18th, 2010 at 8:19 am
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January 18th, 2010 at 10:20 am
David, I’ve read 9Marks material in the past and wrote a post on some of it a number of years ago. They certainly have a theological agenda (which is fine with me) and I don’t mind them taking on issues, but I wish they would do it in a way that was helpful.
January 18th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Rick. when I first read it…I had to give myself a bit of a time out. I find it very upsetting to read a critique like Jonathon Leeman’s. I don’t know how you formulate a lot of what he says from a missional context, unless it is only from a theological perspective ( and even then I find it difficult ), or if it is only to direct traffic into the church.
From my experience of doing street ministry, and working with youth on local first nations reserves, I don’t need to constantly remind them of hell. Most live on the fringe of it, and experience hell every day. I think in a sense ” missional ” is about making the gospel bigger…and is huge commitment. I think from the point of cultivating relationship with people on the fringe of society, It is like planting the seed in rocky barren ground. You have to cultivate, plant, feed, nurture. Using Jonathon’s tools of measuring what the growth of missional is easy, through the seed and run. The reality is missional is a huge investment, that many churches are unwilling to invest in. They want to see return on their investment, that usually in the terms of #’s and $$$. The poor, the drug addicts, alcoholics and mentally ill, usually don’t bring that kind of return. Like you say, it would have been good to here from a missional leader in the trenches on the front line of the mission.
January 18th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Oh, yeah…the really fascinating thing about the “Mission of 9 Marks” was that “Mission” was not one of them. Or did I miss something in the fine print.
January 18th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Good thoughts Ron. America is past the time when all we have to do is “throw out the seed” and see a harvest. America IS now a “foreign” mission field (if I can use this type of language) and as Jesus followers we must approach it as a missionary would. This usually means meeting physical needs (like clean drinking water or AIDS help) as a way to show Gods love, concern and to build relationships. No missionary assumes meeting physical needs is their primary task, nor do those traveling the “way of Jesus.” As you rightly noted, “The reality is missional is a huge investment” that can never be measured with the “buildings, budget, and butts” yardstick of old.
January 19th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Rick,
Thanks for responding to that article. I read it also and had to take a time out from the article because I was so upset. It seems to me that 9 Marks does push a theological agenda in most of their articles, that being a strict reformed agenda. A while ago I used to read most of their articles, but I had hard time with, in my mind, a negative tone to some or most of the articles. Anyway, thanks for your questions and points.
January 19th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
[...] Jonathan Leeman of 9Marks critiques the missional church. Rick Meigs critiques Leeman. [...]
January 29th, 2010 at 10:29 am
[...] on January 17th in 9Marks on Missional, I took Jonathan Leeman, Director of Communications for 9Marks, to task on his post, “Is the [...]
March 1st, 2010 at 4:44 pm
[...] Then comes an ill-considered attack from Jonathan Leeman, Director of Communications for 9Marks, where he claims the missional conversation is leading to an ill-conceived emphasis on social justice which is “but a first step toward a new liberalism.” See my post “9Marks on Missional.” [...]
March 5th, 2010 at 7:42 am
[...] missional conversation as a first step toward a new liberalism. (See Rick Meigs’ post, “9Marks on Missional“; I was mildly critical of their definition back in 2007 when they were using it favorably.) [...]
April 10th, 2010 at 3:43 am
My thoughts on the missional conversation is that it is just a big waste of time. I minister in upstate New York as a pastor in a small church in a small community. Less than three percent of people in upstate New York claim to be evangelical christians. It’s hard for me to listen to people talk about missional living, when they don’t have the slightest clue about what it means to be a missionary. Like most things in the evangelical world, it is a passing fad. Everyone wants to be missional but very few people truly want to sacrifice for the mission. Why do very few people want to minister in upstate New York? It’s simply one of the most rocky ground in the entire United States. It truly is a mission field. I wish people would start acting like missionaries and stop pretending to be missional. If you want to be missional, come to upstate New York. We can use missionaries.
May 12th, 2010 at 4:02 am
Hello Don -
Just curious as to where you are located in Upstate NY? Appreciate your insights.
I hail from the greater Glens Falls, NY area.
You can email me at: mjmorizio [at ] gmail [dot] com
Thanks.
July 14th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
wow, Ron, you proved Jonathan’s point when you described the youth on the first nations reserves as experiencing “hell”. Really?! Hell? Have you read the biblical descriptions of hell?
It’s easy to dismiss this article as “reformed theology” when that was not really even mentioned in the article itself. The book I believe he was referring to is a well-known book in the missions community that came out a few years ago and every seminarian would know the 600 page work “Mission of God” by Christopher Wright, Oxford. (BTW He is actually giving yoh the title if you reread the quote but I think he was trying to protect the author) Either way the book only serves as an example of what has been repeated hundreds of times at other conferences (Urbana, Passion) and Christian circles. Jonathan is right on. He has an unpopular view but I’m glad he said it. I’m sad that it is being dismissed as theological propaganda. Think a little.