Breaking the Missional Code

a review by Adam Pohlman

In Breaking the Missional Code, Ed Stetzer and David Putman try to erase the apparent distinction the church tries to make between missions and evangelism. "Missionaries have known...that they must have a profound understanding of their host culture before planning a strategy to reach the unique people group that exists in that cultural context." We have a mindset that mission work is done with totally lost people overseas while evangelism is sharing coffee with our unsaved neighbor. The church's focus needs to be on the lost people in our own communities and the immediate condition of their souls.

Today's American culture is becoming less and less aware of the Christian message and foundation of our society. The authors note that people who are seeking answers to spiritual questions no longer look to the church; contrarily they look anywhere but the church. The majority of Americans (77%) have been to church and may call themselves Christians, but they have no idea what it means to be a disciple. The growing trend in this country is for people to refer to themselves as "spiritual, but not religious," giving them the warm feelings of "spirituality," without the strict standards of "religion."

Stetzer and Putman make the observation that while "spirituality" is increasing in America, church attendance is falling, with a few exceptions. They note that despite the many church growth methods marketed over the past couple of decades, churches are seeing continual decreases in numbers, and suggest we stop trying to find the one-size-fits all, cookie-cutter model of growing a church. "Our first task is to listen for God's call to us, not to respond to his call to others."

According to the book, we should be focusing more on the cultures within our community and listen to how God is telling us to reach them, not how another church is reaching people in their neighborhood. "If a church does not regularly examine its culture, it ends up as a culture unto itself." The authors say that we need to be willing to let go of our church culture preferences in order to make seekers more comfortable.

The most important message of Breaking the Missional Code is that we must engage the culture and heed the Great Commission. We need to have a deep passion for the lost. We must cry out for our city. John Knox expressed his passion for his people when he said, "Give me Scotland or I die." Evangelism/Missions is not an option for the Christian; it is a mandate for every believer. In accomplishing this task, Stetzer and Putman challenge us, "We are to engage a culture that is not our own preferred culture. Our job is to take the gospel to each community, not hold on to our preferences." We must fight the urge to live in a Christian subculture and go to places that make us uncomfortable to rely on His Spirit to guide us in sharing His unchanging message for a dying world; that the world is lost and destined for Hell, but upon repentance and faith in Christ who died in our place we may have everlasting life.

While some of the book is a little centered on numbers and "church growth", Breaking the Missional Code has a message for our church that cannot be ignored. Our focus must first be on sharing the gospel with our immediate area; all other activities are supplemental to that main objective of "seeking and saving the lost."