Our approach to develop a corporate lifestyle, through which these patterns are reflected, is to break down these patterns into building blocks. These building blocks represent Biblical truths which form the foundation for every pattern. They therefor affirm the pattern and will ultimately ensure that it becomes part of a daily lifestyle.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Seeing the Big Picture

1. The Bible is the inspired Word of God through which He reveals himself and his Plan for creation
2. God’s plan leads us to the realization that to Him alone be the glory and honour - it’s all about Him
3. God’s creation was perfect (Gen 1)
4.   Brokenness entered creation when man rebelled against God’s Kingdom (reign) and wanted to be like God (Gen 3)
5.   God promises a new perfect creation (recreated; restored creation) without brokenness in which his reign would be complete (Rev 21)
6. God’s Plan is about the restoration of his Kingdom (reign)
7. God’s plan of restoration is based on and founded in his love for the world
8. Christ is the complete fulfilment of God’s plan
9. The living God is a missionary God and He uses his people as his sent people (missionaries) to be witnesses to his plan of restoration (reconciliation)
10. God wants his people to know, understand, accept and live according to their unique calling and role in his Plan

A.         UNIVERSAL PATTERNS

Demonstrating a Kingdom Lifestyle

1. The missional church understands God’s Kingdom as synonymous to his reign
2. The coming kingdom of God becomes visible where people intentionally seek, understand and obey his will through their words and transformed lives
3. Transformed communities are the showrooms of God’s Kingdom

Discovering who we are (Spirituality; Missional Character)

1. The church understands and accepts that glorifying God, through the proclamation and demonstration of His restoration plan, is the fundamental reason for her existence
2. Spirituality is the unique way in which every believer lives with and before God in this world
3. For a healthy and balanced spirituality, it is imperative to seek and to know God’s will. This happens through the praise and worship of God; purposeful prayer; reflection, meditation and contemplation on God’s Word and ultimately obedience
4. For a balanced and healthy spirituality, it is necessary for believers to know, understand and bear the fruit of the Spirit
5. God empowers his Church through his people being filled by his Holy Spirit (incarnation)
6. God’s people display a God-given diversity of spiritualities
7. God’s Plan has a universal (general), as well as a unique (specific) dimension
8. God speaks to his people (his Church) because it is important to Him that they will know and do his will (Kingdom)
9. The Church is God’s creation (Creatio Dei) in service of God’s mission (Missio Dei)
10. The Church is being reformed to become what she already is in faith
11. The Church’s nature (character) is in harmony with her reason for existence (part of God’s Plan)
12. Christ is the Head of his Church:
13. The Church intentionally lives transformed (different) within her context, community & the world
14. The missional local church displays a balanced insight in being Church of Jesus Christ (kerugma, diakonia, marturia, koinonia)
15. Prayer contributes towards understanding God’s specific will resulting in a daily lifestyle of obedience to it (God communicates)

Yearning for Growth (Numerical Growth)

1. Numerical growth takes place where the Gospel is intentionally proclaimed in order for more people to hear it and respond to it by accepting Christ
2. The missional church has a natural yearning for people to come from the Darkness to the Light
3. The missional church has a natural yearning that more people will bow to his reign and live to his glory
4. Numerical growth is a permanent item on the ‘agenda’ of the missional church

Living the Gospel (Relationships)

1. The reign of Christ compels us to approach healthy mutual relationships as a fundamental matter
2. A missional church takes relationships seriously

B.         CONTEXTUAL PATTERNS

Leading by Following (Missional Leadership)

1. Leaders are a gift of God: They understand God’s plan for his church and support God’s people to discover and fulfil their unique role in it
2. God himself calls leaders as part of his Plan
3. Being appointed by the leading of the Holy Spirit, leaders therefore comply with the Biblical requirements (compare with the requirements found in Timothy; Titus, etc.)
4. Leadership competence depends firstly on their relationship with God (Acts 6:1-7)
5. Missional leaders live in imitation of Christ
6. Missional leaders model a missional lifestyle (1 Cor 11:1)
7. Missional leaders hear and obey God’s voice
8. Missional leaders can function as a team and convey the team dynamics to the local congregation (Eph 4:1-6)
9. Missional leaders serve, empower and lead with vision
10. Missional leaders are responsible and accountable to God

Translating Calling into Vision (Vision)

1. Vision is the discovery and verbalization of God’s specific plan for this church

Turning Vision into Action (Strategic Planning & Operational Management)

1. Strategies, structures en plans serve the vision and therefore ensure the realization of it
2. Strategic and Operational Management bridge the gap between what is (status quo) and what should be (vision)
3. The missional church is being directed by a God-given vision and not by the availability of resources

C.         TRANSFORMING OUTCOMES (Practical Outcomes; Making a Difference?)

Making the Difference

1. The church exists intentionally as God’s sent people in order to be his change agents in the community and the world
2. People hear the Gospel in such an authentic way that they are able to respond to it as part of God’s Plan
3. Unbelievers come to faith in Christ
4. Believers are being trained and equipped as disciples of Jesus Christ

To help the church advance towards reflecting these missional patterns in its corporate life, we developed an indicative instrument – the MissioMatrix. We are well aware of the fact that the characteristics and lifestyle patterns of the church cannot be objectively measured, we do however believe that a critical and introspective assessment of ourselves can help us on our journey to become progressively more what God intended us to be. For this assessment we use the Biblical truths or building blocks as reference. The MissioMatrix does not claim to present us with a fixed, undisputable measurement of how the church performs missionally, but rather facilitates a process of earnest reflection. By repeating this process of assessment, using the indicative instrument and continuous realignment, a growth spiral can be generated through which the church can experience a fresh sense of purpose and fulfilment.