In missional churches, the baby birds have been pushed out of the nest and are learning to fly for themselves.

Go among the people. Don't assume you know what church looks like.

In order to develop a pioneering missional spirit, a capacity for genuine ecclesial innovation, let along engender daring discipleship, we are going to need the capacity to take a courageous stand when and where necessary.

But herein lies the rub: Christianity has been on a long-term trend of decline in every Western cultural context that we can identify.

In missional churches, the baby birds have been pushed out of the nest and are learning to fly for themselves.

Nowadays we raise our children in a cocoon of domesticated security, far from any sense of risk or adventure.

Interestingly, it's as though the gospel story of Jesus is the archetypal heroic journey, the embodiment of the very adventure that all people in every epoch have desired.