Missional Spirituality

The Inseparable Rhythm of Intimacy and Sentness

For far too long, the church has labored under a destructive, manufactured divide between the contemplative life and the missional life. On one side stand those who cherish silence, solitude, spiritual direction, and interior communion with God—often retreating into monastic seclusion or cloistered devotionalism while remaining largely disconnected from the cries, heartaches, and systemic injustices of their surrounding neighborhoods. On the other side stand passionate church planters, social activists, and kingdom catalysts who exhaust themselves in ceaseless outward activity, feverishly organizing community programs and evangelistic initiatives, only to end up dry, hollowed-out, and cynical because their exterior labor has outpaced their interior life with God.

In our published work, The Art of Missional Spirituality: 31 Sacred Practices for Jesus-Followers (100 Movements Publishing, 2023), we offer a direct refusal of this false choice. We contend that there is no true Christian mission without deep intimacy with the Father—and there is no authentic intimacy with the Father that does not compel us to follow Him out the front door into the mission of His kingdom.

When Jesus invites His disciples in Matthew 4:19, He says, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Intimacy (following Jesus) and sentness (becoming fishers of men) are given in a single breath. They are not two sequential phases of the Christian life where one must spend decades becoming "spiritually mature" before daring to step across the street to meet a neighbor. Rather, they form a single, energizing rhythm of life: we breathe in the grace, affection, and presence of God, and we breathe out neighborly kindness, hospitable tables, and tangible kingdom witness.

The Integrating Image: Pando

Throughout our writings and leadership with The Pando Collective, the ancient aspen grove in Utah—known as Pando—serves as our foundational metaphor. To an untrained observer standing in the forest, Pando appears to be thousands of separate, distinct trees. Yet botanists tell us that beneath the soil, Pando is actually a single living organism: one massive, ancient root system that continuously sends up new trunks.

In missional spirituality, the subterranean root system is our shared, hidden life in Christ—nurtured through silence, centering prayer, scripture soaking, and unhurried communion. The trunks above ground represent the manifold outward expressions of neighborly love, parish renewal, and cultural blessing. Sever the trunks from the root system, and the forest withers into dry timber; bury the root system and suppress new shoots, and life never breaks into the light. True missional spirituality holds root and shoot in holy, perpetual communion.

Dual Credibility Across Traditions

Because missional spirituality unites interior contemplation with outward apostolic sentness, it has resonated deeply across previously divided streams of the wider Church. Our work carries the rare dual endorsement of leaders from Renovaré—the contemplative formation community founded by Richard Foster (including Ted Harro, Carolyn Arends, and Mimi Dixon)—and leaders from Forge America and the 100 Movements Network (including Alan & Debra Hirsch, Rowland Smith, Terry Ishee, and JR Woodward). This dual lineage affirms what the earliest church understood: when everyday believers pray deeply, they love their neighbors boldly.