The Road To Missional (Michael Frost) is one of the many books to come out recently to help Christ followers and Christian leaders alike better understand what it means to embrace a Missional mindset. This was a fun book to read, keeping you engaged and gripped by the topic.
Frost actually writes the book out of the frustration that many have abused the word, diluted it to mean something far less than it's meant to be, or possibly using it as an adjective - buzz word - for anything they'd like to make sound more important in church programming.
The shape and flow of the book moves from big picture to action.
Imago Dei is the starting point where the reader is reminded that God is on mission and his mission has a church. The church's role is alerting the world to "God's reign." Like a movie trailer, the church then demonstrates (though imperfectly) what God's reign looks like through ordinary people so the world can get a glimpse of it - both present and towards the New Creation.
From there Frost begins to redefine evangelism within the context of God's greater mission of restoring the world, not reducing it to merely sharing "4 spiritual laws."
He spends a whole chapter addressing one of the main obstacles to the missional church, that being the "market-shaped" church, primarily fueled by consumerism. As he explains, "we treat people like a market, seeing them as clientele, not image-bearers of the living God." He counter acts this unfortunate slant in the next chapter with a clear call to the humility found in the cross.
A refreshing aspect of Frost's ideas are that they are grounded in a robust view of both the gospel and the Kingdom. His chapter called Breathing Shalom is worth the book, especially if one has not read through some of NT Wright's books. In fact, Frost does a great service of summarizing some of Wright's heavier theological arguments as he scatters them through the book. Breathing Shalom summarizes Wright's writing on Peace, Justice, and Beauty found within Christ's Kingdom vision.
Though this book specifically meant to be a 'how to' approach, there's lots in it that is practical and relevant. One of the most refreshing ideas for any Christ follower or Church leader will be Frost's invitation to stop doing church seminars on how to do church in all our favorite styles, but rather, get us into the world where Jesus is already at work.
There's been so many new books recently published on the missional church it would be very hard to keep up (if you even feel you need to). However, if you're planning on reading at least one in this last batch of them to either help you discover the heart of what missional is or to keep you aligned and excited on the missional path, Frost's recent addition is worth it.
Direct, less then 200 pages, building his points without extending them into boredom, and warmly inviting us on the road to missional.
*Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group
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