The mission of God, or missio Dei, is predicated on the idea that God is always at work around us and we are invited to join Him in His work.  Throughout history and among every people group, God is preveniently working on the hearts of men, women and children to draw Him to Himself.  As we intentionally and proactively make the commitment to be ambassadors of the gospel to a lost and hurting world, we become co-laborers with Christ in the transmission of the gospel.  The goal, therefore, is to train students to be missionaries to Millennials.

This theological premise provides the bedrock upon which the structure of the Millennial ministry program at Missional University is built.  We believe God through His Holy Spirit is working missionally in the hearts and minds of Millennials to bring them into the kingdom of God.  The task becomes how to help students be uniquely equipped to be the hands, feet, heart, and voice of Christ to this generational cohort in order to join God where He is already working.

When we think of a mission field, we envision a people group with their own cultural symbols, language, mores, and worldview.  The mission field of Millennials is no different. They are unique in many ways: they are the first digital natives, the first fully postmodern generation, and the first to inhabit an entirely new life stage called emerging adulthood. These distinctive demographic features mean that we cannot engage them with a “one size fits all” ministry approach or assume that what has worked for previous generations in terms of discipleship or evangelism will work for them. We need to equip students to understand the uniqueness of this generation. 

Thus, this program emphasizes the “cross-cultural” nature of reaching Millennials using their own cultural forms and symbols.  This is known as contextualization, and it is something that is very important to missional theology.  Contextualization means we must adjust the presentation of the gospel to the context.  Theological terms and constructs are re-imagined using the vernacular of the people group being reached.  For Millennials, this means being sensitive to the cohort characteristics not shared with other generations.  Courses such as Millennials and Technology are designed to take into account the distinctiveness of this generation so that bridges of understanding can be built.  Students will reflect on which sector of society they are called to, whether business, education, the arts, religion/church, government, family, or health/vitality, and consider how they can contextualize the gospel for Millennials in that particular sector.

One of the most unique aspects of contextualization of the gospel to Millennials is the consideration of their postmodern orientation.  Highly right-brained, intuitive, subjective, and relational, Millennials speak a different epistemological language to those of us who are children of the Enlightenment.  In fact, the church is still largely operating from an Enlightenment perspective, severely limiting the ability to effectively communicate to these postmoderns. Thus, it is an important part of this program to equip students with the ability to translate biblical truths and Christian teachings and practices from Enlightenment-based forms to postmodern forms. This is one of the most cutting-edge aspects of this program. 

Although contextualization is an imperative part of missional praxis, we cannot get so focused on making ministry relevant that we lose sight of orthodoxy. It is the commitment of Missional University and this program, therefore, to responsibly balance contextualization with sound theology and ecclesiology so that the transmission of the gospel retains its biblical integrity. Students will be tasked with integrating innovative ideas with biblical truths through rigorous study of the Scriptures.