God’s Mission is the Eucharist

From The Living Church-

Anyone surveying the various addresses by bishops to their respective diocesan conventions, or the rhetoric employed in all sorts of ecclesiastical conferences and meetings, would be hard pressed to avoid coming upon the phrase “God’s mission.” The currency of this phrase is customarily used to purchase a rationale for the existence and purpose of the Church. For example, one will read or hear that the Church exists for God’s mission rather than for its own sake.

This emphasis is often coupled with the effort to redirect our attention away from the inner life of the Church and toward its engagement with the world. The appeal is made to stop arguing about all the contentious issues facing the Church (usually made by apologists for the contentious acts) and get on with God’s mission in the world. Such a church, the one defined by its going into the community and the world on God’s mission, is declared “missional.”

“Missional” is the adjective of approval; it is how we separate the sheep from the goats. Being missional is the way forward, the way we leave behind all those difficult disagreements with their reliance on doctrine, on the substance and authority of belief. If we could just get out there doing what we are supposed to be doing, while equipped with all the demographic studies on what baby boomers really want and what generations X and Y like and dislike, and with the imprimatur of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, everything will be fine.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2011/1/14/gods-mission-is-the-eucharist