The Trinity & Missional Ecclesiology

July 20, 2007 | Filed Under dmin project, ecclesiology, kingdom of God, missional |

In an excellent article in Word & World Journal titled “Rethinking Denominations and Denominationalism in Light of a Missional Ecclesiology” Craig Van Gelder discusses the significant developments in the past few decades in trinitarian studies regarding an understanding of mission, specifically in the area of ecclesiology. He highlights two streams within trinitarian studies that inform this conversation, and ultimately inform our understanding of the genetic code of the missional church. Here is a portion of the article:

The Western emphasis on the economic Trinity. One stream is represented by the theological tradition usually associated with the Western church that tended to focus on the work of the three persons of the Godhead – the economic Trinity. An example of this can be found in the work of Lesslie Newbigin. The focus is on the sending work of God – God’s sending the Son into the world to accomplish redemption, and the Father and the Son’s sending the Spirit into the world to create the church and lead it into participation in God’s mission. This stream of trinitarian studies comes directly into the missional church conversation through the work of the Gospel and Our Culture Network.

The Eastern emphasis on perichoresis. The Eastern church, especially the Cappadocian Fathers, placed an emphasis on relationality within the Godhead. In this approach, the social reality of the Godhead becomes the theological foundation for understanding the work of God in the world. Created humanity reflects this social reality of God through the imago Dei, the image of God. The church, through the redemptive work of Christ, is created by the Spirit as a social community that is missionary by nature, called and sent to participate in God’s mission in the world.

These theological streams of Trinitarian studies are contributing today to a renewed understanding of ecclesiology in relation to missiology. The fuller mission of God, understood as the mission Dei, is now being related to the redemptive work of God, as best expressed in the kingdom of God. This relationship provides the framework for understanding the nature, ministry, and organization of the missional church.

The missional church lives between the times. It lives between the now and the not yet. The redemptive reign of God in Christ is already present, meaning that the power of God is fully manifested in the world through the gospel under the leading of the Spirit. But the redemptive reign of God is not yet fully complete, as the church looks toward the final consummation when God will remove the presence of sin and create the new heavens and new earth.

The kingdom of God, the redemptive reign of God in Christ, gives birth to the missional church through the work of the Spirit. Its nature, ministry, and organization are formed by the reality, power, and intent of the kingdom of God. Understanding the redemptive purposes of God that are embedded within the kingdom of God provides an understanding of the church as missionary by nature. The church participates in God’s mission in the world because it can do no other. It was created for this purpose. This purpose is encoded within the very nature of the church.

In this approach, ecclesiology comes to expression and identity in relationship to God’s mission in the world. The genetic code of the missional church makes it missionary in its very essence. Congregations are created by the Spirit and exist to engage the world missionally, bringing God’s redemptive work in Christ to bear on every dimension of life. In being true to their missional identity, they can never function primarily as an end in themselves – a tendency of the self-understanding of the established church. In being true to their missional identity, they can never be satisfied with maintaining primarily a functional relationship to their contexts and communities. The missional church has a different genetic code.