To the extent that the church has a mission it is to be the church. Not to do this or that. Not to make the world incrementally better. But to be the community brought about by the Spirit’s ongoing mission of convincing people to trust Jesus, do what Jesus did, and renounce all claims to power. The mission of the church is to be the church. If we can accept this mission the world will be exposed as the world in the process. If we can really entrust our lives to Jesus, others will be convinced to do the same. It takes time and patience and a mindset that is mission focused on not being missional. 

The church is not missional. The Spirit is missional. The Church follows the Spirit and participates in the Spirit’s mission. If we think of this the other way around, we go wrong fast. It is not the mission of the church. It is the mission of the Holy Spirit. We go wrong immediately when we try to own the mission.