The General Conference Acknowledges Failings of MLI

If you haven't already read Brandon Kelly's guest post on the CGGC eNews blog from last week, take a gander.

It's historic.

Brandon talks about the fact that, in the last ten years, many of our churches have bought into the missional mantra coming down from the denomination's highest peaks.

But, he continues, ten years of experience shows that going on mission, as they're teaching it, isn't making a difference.

I'll interject here that it's not making a difference by the, to use our fad word, "metrics" embraced by CGGC people.

As Brandon says it:

-New people aren't showing up on SUNDAY MORNINGS, and
-There aren't any new baptisms taking place.

Brandon notes that frustration in the CGGC is starting to well up.

In the article, uh, Pastor, Kelly, follows up his assessment of our missional woes by explaining what the people in the CGGC walking the missional road are still doing wrong.

Read that for yourself.

I'll note that, as a participant in the first round of MLI, what Brandon's preaching now was not preached to us.

The mountaintoppers have already acknowledged that they've learned a few lessons since the early days of their missional journey.

As a participant in MLI and as someone who bought into the whole thing hook, line and sinker, I have lots of thoughts. MLI, as it was taught to me, and as we put it into practice here, did not work and, I believe, does not work.

(I do believe, though, much of what's core to MLI is faithful to Jesus and His teaching, i.e., the theology is sound, the application is not.)

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But, for now, I think it's worth noting that there's direct word, from our highest mountain, that MLI is not living up to its promises...

...and that Brandon's acknowledging that there's more to being on mission than MLI first taught.

This sort of admission is rare coming down from any mountaintop of the CGGC.

And, while the acknowledgement of failure is not accompanied by the godly sorrow that produces a repentance that leads to salvation,...

...it could suggest a preliminary stage of repentance.

That would be a good thing.

WE MUST REPENT.