In The Shaping of Things to Come, authors Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch help provide clarity and specificity to the missional church concept. Works on the missional church have tended to be either entirely theological (i.e., Missional Church) or decidedly descriptive and lacking a firm theological base (i.e. Emerging Churches). The Shaping of Things to Come occupies a rare but valuable place between these two spectrums, grounding practical expression of the missional church concept in solid theology.
Frost and Hirsch write their work with church planters in mind, holding out little hope for the transformation of established churches. These institutional churches are mired in Christendom in a now decidedly post-Christendom culture, stubbornly or ignorantly holding to attractional, dualistic, and hierarchical patterns. Most church plants have failed to thrive or reproduce because they have carried with them this Christendom DNA.
The authors propose that churches should adopt a new missional DNA, seeking to be incarnational, messianic, and apostolic. Other authors have called the church to be incarnational, messianic, or apostolic; however, The Shaping of Things to Come provides a better picture of what this means through specific and at times vivid examples. For instance, the authors ask, how should a local tribe of model-car enthusiasts be reached? An attractional church would send out flyers inviting this community to hear a converted model-car enthusiast talk about Christ. A missional church would send out members to be a part of this community and establish a church within this community. Incarnational ministry requires living where the target group lives, using relationships and contextualized ministry to share the gospel.
The authors’ call to recover a messianic spirituality is much needed. The Christian creeds, while orthodox and biblical, speak nothing of Jesus’ ministry. This, combined with the enlightenment emphasis upon knowledge, has led to a Christian faith defined by correct beliefs alone, with a resulting neglect of discipleship, ethics, and of course, mission. The authors’ discussion of Hebraic, Judaic, and rabbinic concepts of spirituality help support their case for everyday spirituality; however, this discussion will feel somewhat “heavy” and drawn out for most Western Christians who are decidedly unfamiliar with eastern spirituality.
Any “fleshing out” of a missional theology must include a model for missional leadership, which Frost and Hirsch provide. They argue for a recovery of all five leadership roles in Ephesians 4—apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher (APEPT). These are also the five ministry matrixes for the church as a whole. The roles of apostle and prophet have indeed been neglected or de-emphasized by the institutional church; however, a more extensive discussion of the biblical basis for the continuation of these roles in the present would be helpful, for many churches see these roles as belonging only to the first century era. Still, The Shaping of Things to Come stands out as an outstanding work of theology and praxis.
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