“The idea of the missional church as single-handedly captured the imagination of church leaders of all backgrounds and denominations. Take your pick: from the boomer power pastors of suburbia to the preaching punks of ’emergia’ and the collared intellectuals of ‘liturgia,’ everyone wants to be missional.” p. 33
Quoting Darrell Guder, et al from the Missional Church (Eerdmans, 1998)
“Either we are defined by mission, or we reduce the scope of the gospel and the mandate of the church.” p. 34
“Unfortunately it [the church growth movement] fell victim to an idolatry as old as the Tower of Babel, the belief that we are the architects of the work of God. As a result we have the best churches men can build, but are still waiting for the church that only God can get the credit for.” p. 38 (emphasis added)
Aside: I have written here (http://wp.me/pGYIn-9D) about this issue on a personal level. Oh, how I long for a movement of new churches with an old and orthodox theology that are filled with a life so vibrant that only God gets the glory!
“. . . when the paradigm shifts, the value of thinking in the old paradigm drops to zero.” p. 44
Speaking on the issue of what people in churches substitute for mission when vision is absent in the local church:
“Perhaps the greatest substitute for healthy membership identity is the group of people at church–whether ten or a hundred–who ‘know my name.’ At the risk of bashing biblical community, please hear me out. I am not slamming community itself. I am identifying ‘community without a cause’ as both unbiblical and a common source of identity for the churchgoer.” p. 45
“Every leader needs to etch some things in granite (never-change core) and write some things in sand (must-change methods). The problem [in many of our churches] is that when we fail to clarify and nurture the things written in granite, our people get too attached to the things written in sand.” p. 47
“Many leaders want their people to run a missional marathon but unknowingly feed them junk food, leaving them malnourished and unprepared for the future.” p. 47
ChosenRebel's Blog 
’ At the risk of bashing biblical community, please hear me out. I am not slamming community itself. I am identifying ‘community without a cause’ as both unbiblical and a common source of identity for the churchgoer.”
— Community needs to be active. Not just in reaching in the surrounding ‘community,’ but as well being active in restoring, upholding, and encouraging others. My thoughts are this ’cause’ needs to be both internal and external.
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I agree, but the issue that is usually neglected in such groups is external. The group, or the house church needs to be deeply burden-bearing internally, but it also needs to be ‘on mission’ together in the community externally.
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