Confessions of a Seminarian

What in the world does “missional” even mean?

Part of our vision for this blog is that it would be a medium for all of us to be a missional presence online.

But what does that mean?

For some, being missional equals being “seeker sensitive,” or discussing only the very basics of the gospel. For others, it means crossing the globe to bring the gospel to a culture very different than one’s own. Since this term can be used a myriad of different ways, I will seek to define it for all future use on this blog, and hopefully leave out many of what I perceive to be the past misuses of this term. I’ll begin with the difference between “evangelism” and being “missional.”

At my alma mater, one of the local churches regularly hired open-air evangelists to “preach” in the middle of campus. I never figured out to whom they were preaching, since most students took a wide path around them. Read more »

A New Chapter for Confessions of a Seminarian

At last, it is time for me to “unveil” that which I have been ambiguously alluding to throughout the past few weeks.

Over the course of this blog’s existence, I have noticed some recurring themes. The discussions I have been blessed to participate in have centered on clearing up misconceptions about Christianity, apologetics against both modern and postmodern culture, and exclusive truth communicated with Christian love. Averaging 20 views per day and totaling almost 3,000 views over the course of the last five months, and currently maintaining a solid 35 views per day, the majority of visitors have been non-Christian. The irony in this is that I originally intended my writing to be a resource for Christians to be missional. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the writings themselves seemed to be accomplishing their missional focus.
As a result of this and other experiences, I have realized that:

1. There is a great need for contextualized, intelligible, and beyond-the-surface exposition of the gospel.
2. There is a sore lack of Christian love displayed to both believers and non-believers.
3. I am ill-equipped to fill the almost infinite variety of perspectives, culture, and experiences encountered by myself.

Thus, this blog is no longer mine alone. Read more »