Missional vs Attractional – A False Dichotomy

I watched this video today:

The video seeks to describe the "missional" church. I have an issue with this video because it indirectly seems to claim that other church models are not missional. Missional is really just carrying out God's mission, which could be summed up when Jesus said his purpose was to seek and save the lost and our purpose is to make disciples (followers of Jesus) of all people.

Sometimes the other model that is not named in the video is called "attractional", based on the idea that the church attracts people to services, events, etc. I think this is a false dichotomy and Christians and churches should be both.

The "attractional" model is inherently missional anyway, because all churches will tell you that most of their guests are invited, so somebody was being missional to them before they visited church. Missional models are attractional whether they like it or not, because just like churches, we as individuals are either attractive or not in terms of how we live our life. I'm not talking about appearance. I'm talking about living a life that makes others take notice and ask why. 

It would be easier if it didn't matter how we looked, talked, loved, or lived as individuals and as churches while we try to help people find their way back to God. But, that is not the case. People will not listen to what we have to say unless something about us "attracts" them rather than pushes them away.  

Wow. It's Quiet Here...

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