Alan Hirsch has been one of the most shaping authors in my exploration and challenge to embody the church. I can remember having my ecclesial (study of the church) bubble burst into pieces when I first read his and Michael Frosts work, The Shaping of Things to Come about 5 years ago. The Forgotten Ways picks up the conversation of viewing and living out the church as a missional representation of a missional God. Through the incarnation, it is clear that God is seeking his people by entering their world, not by simply standing static in waiting for his people to find him.
Throughout the book, Hirsch’s primary hope is to communicate tangible ways in which the church of the West can rediscover the amazing power that lies within us as is fueled by the Holy Spirit. The mDNA(missionalDNA)that is embedded in each Christian has the potential to activate our Apostolic Genius that will transform the stactic, institutionalized church models (that began with Constantine when he adopted Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire) into dynamic, missional movements. Looking at the examples of the Early Church and the current Chinese Church, Hirsch makes it clear that the “organic” church, established outside the boundaries of institution, is forced to unleash its Apostolic Genius and leads towards authenticity and multiplication. The missional leader is central to creating an atmosphere that allows other Christians to uncover and live out their mDNA. Hirsch describes the apostolic leader as the “custodian of Apostolic Genius and the gospel itself” as they impart and embed the mDNA in their communities(153). They do this by both pioneering new physical forms of church planting and by integrating sound theological, apostolic doctrine. Understanding that Jesus is Lord, Apostolic Genius is unleashed through disciple making, missional-incarnation impulse, apostolic environment, organic systems and communitas.
While this is a very insightful and somewhat academic look at the missional church as the face of a missional God, I find that the missional church is best articulated through practice/embodiment, not by definition and verbal explanation. In any case, that doesn’t take away from the importance of this work as it is a great read and practical tool for the missional leader. It offers plenty of “nuggets” to wrestle through and to implement, whether an institutional church that is working to transition to a more missional model or a leader who is hoping to pioneer a new(or Hirsch would argue “ancient”) vision of the Church.
