Blog Re-launch: ‘Counter Culture’ is now ‘Missional Mainer’

Welcome to the re-launch of this blog!

Known as ‘Counter Culture’ since it’s inception in the fall of 2012, it has been on my heart for many months now to go a new direction with this blog. The original idea was to write from a faith-based perspective and offer view points counter to pop culture. However, I have found too often that the name of the blog makes the false first impression that I am trying to be totally anti-culture.

While there is much to reject about pop culture, my true desire is to find common ground where it can be redeemed — and ultimately where new culture can be created for the glory of Christ.

And so I’ve finally settled on a new name to this end. Welcome to Missional Mainer!

missional-mainer

What’s in the name?

As far as the name, the ‘Mainer’ part is obvious. I live and work in Bangor, Maine and have called the Greater Bangor area home for 20+ years now. While I’m considered “from away” by native Mainers, not moving here with my family until I was 13 years old, I graduated from Brewer High School and the University of Maine in Orono — before working my entire adult life in this area as a software professional. Hopefully, that qualifies me as “mainer-enough” in my readers eyes.

So what does ‘Missional’ mean?

If you Google “what is missional” you will find a variety of different — yet similar — results. For my understanding, this article from 2008 provides the best summary of both what the word means, as well as the confusion around it that exists within “Christian circles”.

If you chose not to go read the above article, here is the TLDR synopsis:

To be missional means to be on mission with God out in the world for the purpose of blessing others in His name, to share His story, and ultimately bring more people into His family. And since it’s hard to do this alone, “missional” is typically best done in community with others — safety in numbers if you will!

Lastly, while Sunday church gatherings are beneficial for already-believing Christians to worship God together, and grow in faith by hearing His word proclaimed, the missional perspective no longer sees simply inviting someone to church on Sunday as a first-step in connecting the unbelieving person to God. To be missional means to “go out instead of just reach out“; to build relationships first in every day life; to share God through word and deed; and allow actual church attendance to be a natural by-product that may (or may not) happen later.

So how does all this apply to me, and specifically Greater Bangor? Find out in later blog posts, and thanks for stopping by!