From IICM

Overview

Missional Roles

Missional Principles

Social Environments

NeoTribal Cultures

Missional Roles

All of our projects and processes are designed to empower missional believers in their God-given missional roles. These role are defined by Ephesians 4:11.

1. Apostolic Missional Role
Those who have an apostolic gifting are designed to be Intrapreneurial Apostles and/or Entrepreneurial Apostles -- those pioneers who are gifted in starting new ministries & congregations. Intrapreneurial Apostles begin new ministries, new missional teams, and new congregations by working within existing structures. The Intrapreneurial Apostle effects change within a church, denominational or mission agency by taking an entrepreneurial approach to developing new ministries and strategies, often appearing to buck the status quo in the process. Especially gifted in cultural awareness however, Intrapreneurial Apostles understand the organizational culture in which they minister and use this knowledge to help them serve as catalysts in developing new endeavors and gaining the internal support that is needed in order for the new efforts to take place.

Entrepreneurial Apostles begin new ministries, new missional teams, and new congregations by working outside existing structures. Because of their cultural awareness, Entrepreneurial Apostles are particularly "in tune" with the cultural and socio-religious groups in their community. Seeing needs and opportunities, the apostolic gifted person is compelled to undertake a new venture to meet those needs and to respond to those opportunities. As a result the Entrapreneurial Apostle steps out into the unknown in order to implement new ministries, new methods, and begin new missional teams and new congregations from scratch. The Apostle Paul refers to this gifting in Romans 15:20 when he writes: "And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man's foundation."

2. Prophetic Missional Role
The prophetic role in scripture reaches back to the beginnings of the Old Testament and continues into the New Testament. Based on the early church fathers this role continued well into the second and third centuries. The prophetic gift is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to discern current conditions in the congregation and community and to exhort and admonish believers to respond to both existing and future conditions. They “investigate” the internal and external conditions, and through the special illumination of the Spirit of God they are able to exhort and admonish the church regarding appropriate responses.

3. Evangelistic Missional Role
Today the term "Evangelist" conjures up the image of a preacher speaking behind a pulpit and before a large crowd; pressing the claims of the gospel in a series of "evangelistic meetings" or "revival meetings." However, this was not the function of the evangelist during the New Testament era. Matter of fact, it could be argued that there were no church buildings, pulpits, or revival meetings at this time. Instead, the role of the evangelist in the New Testament era primarily focused on personal proclamation and the equipping of believers for mobilization. The gift of evangelist is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to share the gospel effectively with nonbelievers, to incorporate them into the congregation, and to equip believers in the ministry of evangelism. Those with the evangelistic gift “persuade” nonbelievers, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to accept the gospel message and equip them to share their faith with others.

4. Pastoral Missional Role
Many people confuse the pastoral gifting with the institutional office of the pastor. However, long before there was a pastoral "office" in the organized church, many believers exercised the pastoral gift of nurturing and shepherding the faith of others. The pastoral gift is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to nurture the spiritual formation and development of a group of believers. They “relate” to believers, encouraging them in their spiritual walk and equipping them to shepherd others.

5. Teaching Missional Role
Quite possibly many people reading this will think that the "teaching" of Ephesians 4:11 refers to "preaching sermons" and "teaching Sunday School." However, while it could be applied in this way, to do so is anachronistic -- in other words, there were no pulpits, church buildings, or Sunday School classes in the first century -- so understanding scripture as meaning this imposes current practices upon the first century text. So the question remains, what was Teaching Missionality in the New Testament era? And how do we recapture teaching missionality for today? The gift of teaching in the New Testament is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to equip others through organizing biblical information in the context of ministry programming and communicating those truths in culturally relevant ways.