What's a missional?

"We haven't really been interested or involved in missions before, Pastor." I've been around the church long enough to have heard this a few times from a few faitfhul parishioners. Missions has characteristically been viewed as a subset or a committee in a congregation. Tihs committee oversaw some projects or some designated funds for mission work. Mission work was done by others somewhere else for some other people. Missionaries were rare breeds, willing and courageous enough (read crazy) to go in the name of the LORD to a distant land and a heathen people. This was the heart of foreign missions in the 19th and 20th century and retained a kind of late-medieval colonial dominance culture. Most church people were not involved in missions. Many congregations were not involved in missions, save the occasional project; the food or clothing drive, the charity-of-the month "mission giving" opportunity, etc...for the most part mission was left to the broader church as an enterprise disassociated with local congregational life. The local congregation was a house of worship, Sunday School, and fellowship among a relatively homogeneous group of members.
This has changed as the culture of North America has changed. Evangelists are coming from Tanzania to share the gospel here! And churches are beginning to reimagine their identity and purpose vis a vis the language and activity of mission. Missional churches are arising with a newfound energy for gospel-driven action in the world; especially in local context.
The gist is, many people are moved today by a desire or passion to live the compassionate justice of Jesus in and for neighbors. churches are beginning to seek ways of expressing their faith in GOD through intentional interaction within thier communities. not only are congregations sending people on short-term mission trips to Haiti and Biloxi and Appalachia, but congregations are beginning to see thier neighborhoods as the context for mission.
What is the mission or a missional life? It is to interpret the message and ministry of the gospel in terms of a present day, incarnational way of living a more just and compassionate life. It is practicing the sermon on the Mount and the Good Samaritan and the feeding of the multitudes as signs of the promised Kingdom that is somehow present in and through the gathered and sent communinty of believers. Mission is a way of seeing GOD---the GOD whose will, hopes, dreams, desires, and purposes for creation are made known to us in Scripture. God is on a mission to love humanity with a holy and perfect love that transforms us into divine children, whose own purposes and wills are shaped and formed by the one who embodies a perfect humanity---Jesus. To be missional is to conform ones life to the life of Jesus and to submit ones will to the will of GOD.
A missional church lives to love the neighbor i all the ways we are able to do so. A missional church love sthe neighbor because we have recognized God's eternal love for us. We have received grace upon grace; so we respond in worship and in serving others.
A Missional church has an outward focus, an apostolic character, and Jesus at the center of everything. A missional church boldly asks, "What is God calling us to do and be in this place for our neighbors?" A missional church knows its context, is in relationship with neighbors, non-members, and the secular resources that are already doing God's work in the world. The church in Acts announced the resurrection of Jesus and the Kingdom of GOD in words and actions. They cared for the widows and the poor. They welcomed outcasts, gentiles, and marginalized households. They served the needs of the least in their communities. They were actively engaged in an economy of sharing and giving that benefitted all kinds of people. They were willing to stand before powers and authorities as witnesses of injustice, cruelty, and sin. They were advocates who accompanied the voiceless and the oppressed.
Are we a missional church? is the focus of our message and ministry the other?