Toward a Relevant Missiology

June 9, 2008 | Filed Under lesslie newbigin, missiology | 1 Comment

In chapter twelve of David Bosch’s “Transforming Mission” he discusses the historical shifts in Protestant thinking regarding the relationship between church and mission.

To fully understand these shifts Bosch argues one must consider the contributions made by the world missionary conferences from Edinburgh (1910) to Mexico City (1963).

When discussing the Willingen conference (1952) Bosch writes:

Willingen began to flesh out a new model. It recognized that the church could be neither the starting point nor the goal of mission. God’s salvific work precedes both church and mission. We should not subordinate mission to the church nor the church to mission; both should, rather, be taken up into the missio Dei, which now became the overarching concept. The missio Dei institutes the missiones ecclesiae. The church changes from being the sender to being the one sent.

In a pamphlet published [after the conference], Newbigin summarized the consensus that had by now been reached:

(1) “the church is the mission,” which means that it is illegitimate to talk about the one without the same time talking about the other; (2) “the home base is everywhere,” which means that every Christian community is in a missionary situation; and (3) “mission in partnership,” which means the end of every form of guardianship of one church over another.

Concerning A “Theology of Mission”

May 19, 2008 | Filed Under books, missiology, missional | No Comments

Is there, in the light of the present state of theology of the Old and New Testament, any occasion to speak of a separate “theology of mission”? One can maintain this, it seems to me, only if one misunderstands the Church as well as mission.

The Church which has been chosen out of the world is chosen for this end — that she performs for the world the service of giving witness to the Kingdom of God which has come and is coming in Jesus Christ. If theology is really theo-logia — a speaking about God, then she cannot do otherwise than speak of the God who is not a statue but an overflowing fountain of good.

The triune God who is involved with the world in the sending of the prophets, of Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, also sends the apostles and the Church. I think that it would be a “back-translation” into old and theologically abandoned categories, if one were to vindicate the “theology of mission” as a separate field of theology.

The unity between Church and mission, the unity, that is, between mission as a service of the Church and the Church as sent into the world, does not mean that there is no longer room for a basic reflection regarding the conditions and manner and extent of the service of the Church to the world.

But every separate “theology of mission” will make acute the old danger of the separation of things which God has joined together in His Word. This can be nothing but a source of difficulties and problems.

There is no other Church than the Church sent into the world, and there is no other mission than that of the Church of Christ. The consequence for theology, I think, is that a theological reflection of missionary service is possible and extremely necessary, but not a “theology of missions.”

– Johannes Blauw in The Missionary Nature of the Church

The Changing Face of World Missions

April 14, 2008 | Filed Under books, missiology | No Comments

I recently began reading “The Changing Face of World Missions” by Michael Pocock, Gailyn Van Rheenen and Douglas McConnell. The book focuses on the dramatic changes that have taken place both in global society and in the church and the implications those changes have on how the church does missions. In chapter three, titled “Religionquake: From World Religions to Multiple Spiritualities” Van Rheenen writes the following about the church’s relationship with other world religions:

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, theologians in the Western world sought to prove Christianity, to enshrine it as the queen of the sciences, or at least to give a rational foundation for believing God and the Christian way of life. In the new climate of the twenty-first century the most significant theological issue is the relationship between Christianity and the other world religions.

Later in the chapter he offers three very different ways Christians approach adherents of other world religions.

Reconciliation is based on the idea that truth is found equally in all world religions. Reconcilers employ inter-religious dialogue to arrive at common understandings of at least some truth.

Confrontation is based on the idea that non-Christian religions are demonic, estranged from God, contortions of ultimate reality as formed by God. Confrontational ministry is thus defined as a type of spiritual warfare. Confrontational methods may range from gentle admonishment and exhortation to prophetic denouncement.

Incarnation is based on the idea that God enables divinity to embody humanity. Christians, like Jesus, are God’s incarnation, God’s temples, tabernacling in human flesh (John 1:14; Phil. 2:3-8). Christians, spiritually transformed into the image of God, carry out God’s ministry in God’s way. Incarnationalists relate to seekers from other world religions personally and empathetically (as Jesus taught Nicodemus). Sometimes, however, they declare God’s social concerns by shaking up the status quo and “cleaning out the temple.” The end result of incarnation is a non-Christian world is always some form of crucifixion.

What do you believe are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Where do you find yourself when approaching other religions?

More Praying With The Missio Dei Breviary

February 17, 2008 | Filed Under missiology, prayer | No Comments

The past couple of weeks I have been utilizing The Missio Dei Breviary as my daily prayer guide. I have thoroughly enjoyed this simple yet substantial collection of prayers and Gospel readings.

My favorite aspect of the Breviary is the missional emphasis woven through each of the morning and evening collections. Click here to learn more. Here is a sample from Week 3: Sunday Evening:

The Jesus Manifesto

With Jesus, we proclaim:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Father, anoint us with your Spirit. As you sent your Son, your Son has sent us; may we embody the presence of your Son in the world, and in our neighborhood. Empower us to live and proclaim your good news in our neighborhood, and in the world.

Being Sent “Just As” Jesus

January 29, 2008 | Filed Under missiology, missional, theology | No Comments

In [John] 20:21, the point seems to be that the mission of Jesus’ followers is to be guided by the same kinds of parameters that determined the sender-sent relationship between Jesus and the Father. Also, Jesus is shown to invest the disciples with authority and legitimacy.

The more general reference to ’sending’ ties the disciples’ mission to the characteristics of Jesus’ relationship to his own sender, the Father. At this stage, Jesus, the paradigmatic ’sent one’ (9:7), turns sender.

Now Jesus’ followers are to embody the qualities characteristic of their Lord during his earthly mission. As Jesus did his Father’s will, they have to do Jesus’ will. As Jesus did his Father’s works, they have to do Jesus’ works. As Jesus spoke the words of his Father, they have to speak Jesus’ words. Their relationship to their sender, Jesus, is to reflect Jesus’ relationship with his sender.

These correspondences are explicated well by the following observations on the force of kathos (’just as’) in 20:21:

The special Johannine contribution to the theology of this mission is that the Father’s sending of the Son serves both as the model (the comparative aspect of kathos) and the ground (the explanatory aspect of kathos) for the Son’s sending of the disciples. Their mission is to continue the Son’s mission; and this requires that the Son must be present to them during this mission, just as the Father had to be present to the Son during his mission (R. E. Brown, The Gospel according to John)

- Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A bibilcal theology of mission by Andreas Kostenberger & Peter T. O’Brien

Sending Christology in John’s Gospel

January 25, 2008 | Filed Under books, missiology, missional, way of Jesus | No Comments

Here is another great excerpt from Salvation to the Ends of the Earth where the authors encapsulate the sending theme found in the Gospel of John.

“In John’s sending christology, the sent one is to know the sender intimately (7:29; cf. 15:21; 17:8, 25); live in a close relationship with the sender (8:16, 18, 29; 16:32); bring glory and honour to the sender (5:23; 7:18); do the sender’s will (4:34; 5:30, 38; 6:38-39) and works (5:23; 9:4)); speak the senders’ words (3:34; 7:16; 12:49; 14:10b, 24); follow the sender’s example (13:16); be accountable to the sender (passim; cf. esp. ch. 17); bear witness to the sender (12:44-45; 13:20; 15:18-25); and exercise delegated authority (5:21-22, 27; 13:3; 17:2; 20:23).

John goes to great lengths to show that Jesus fulfilled all the functions of a sent one perfectly. He does so in part for the purpose of presenting Jesus as a model for his disciples to follow. When Jesus commissions his followers (20:21), he functions, for the first time in the Fourth Gospel, not as the sent one, but as one who sends others. Like Jesus, his disciples are to fulfill the manifold functions of one sent as outlined above.”

Blessed to be a Blessing

January 21, 2008 | Filed Under books, missiology | 4 Comments

“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all people on earth will be blessed through you.”
(Gen. 12:1-3)

Five times in Genesis 12:1-3 the words “bless” and “blessing” occur. Pointedly, they stand in sharp contrast to the five instances of the word curse in the narrative describing the spread of sin (Gen. 3:14, 17; 4:11; 5:29; 9:25), and thus underscore the point that in the summons of Abram we have the divine response to the human disaster of Genesis 3–11.

- Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A bibilcal theology of mission by Andreas Kostenberger & Peter T. O’Brien

Sending & The Gospel of John

January 1, 2008 | Filed Under missiology, missional | No Comments

John 3:17
“For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

John 3:34
“For he whom God has sent utters the words of God.”

John 5:23
“He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.”

John 5:24
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life.”

John 5:30
“I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

John 5:36-38
“These very words which I am doing, bear witness that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me.”

John 6:38
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.”

John 6:44
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

John 7:28-29
“But I have not come of my own accord; he who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I came from him, and he sent me.”
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6 Reasons Not To Quit

December 7, 2007 | Filed Under church planting, missiology, missional | 5 Comments

Earlier this week I read an outstanding article by Andrew Hamilton titled “6 Reasons Not To Quit.” Andrew is the Director for Forge Western Australian as well as the team leader of Upstream Communities, a missional community in the Perth suburb of Brighton.

I have included the entire article in the post but you can also find the link on Andrew’s blog at backyard missionary as well as here at the Emergent Village Weblog.

While this article will not resonate with everyone, I think it will for those who have a missional/missionary focus towards connecting with those uninterested in the church. I have sent the article to dozens of pastors and church planters and many have responded with strong affirmation to Andrew’s encouragement. The following is the article in it’s entirety.
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Re-Imagine: A Missional Church

November 3, 2007 | Filed Under dmin project, missiology, missional | 1 Comment

Here is a excellent introduction to what a missional church would look like in very practical words and images by Jonathan Dove, Pastor of Mt Albert Baptist Church in Ackland, New Zealand.

God’s Missionary People

October 18, 2007 | Filed Under ecclesiology, missiology, missional | No Comments

With increasing urgency pastors, missiologists, and theologians have called for redefining the Church’s nature, its mission, its reason for being, its relation to the Kingdom of God, and its calling in the world. It has become increasingly difficult to separate the “visible” from the “invisible,” the hope from the reality. These modern Bonhoeffers have convincingly demonstrated that the Church must live out its missionary nature in the here and now.

A new missiological paradigm in ecclesiology is needed so that we might see the missionary Church as an “emerging” reality which, as it is built up in the world, becomes in fact what it is in faith. By grasping and internalizing this new paradigm we will find our thinking about the Church and its mission becoming highly contextual, radically transformational, and powerfully hopeful, exercised with eternity in view.

- Charles Van Engen, God’s Missionary People: Rethinking the Purpose of the Local Church