Missiology as theology

For those of us who still think that we can do mission without theology. We should think again. Luzbetak argues that most mission theorists consider missiology to be basically theological. Schliermacher considers all study of mission as a form of pastoral theology. Although today there is no agreement as to how missiology fits into an overall scheme of theology, it is a fact that theology will always occupy the central place and will always play the determining role. He argues that the object of missiology must repeatedly be examined, tested and re-tested, not so much in the light of human wisdom but in terms of how God understands mission. The most important themes in mission are what God regards as genuine salvation activities and what God means by the "kingdom of God."

Thus, "theology is the real acid test inmission and holds the place of honor among the disciplines involved. All other fields, including anthropology, are essentially supportive in nature and have a cross-fertilizing, expanding, strenghtening, and integrating function. In a word, the other fields are essential, but they are supplementary dimensions of a basically theological field."

Although we do not like theology (or even mentioned the word), we can not deny that theology is central in doing mission. If anybody claims that they can do mission or any of its activities, they need to do serious thinking because mission without theology is impossible.

The Church and Cultures: New Perspectives on Missiological Anthropology by Louis J. Luzbetak, p. 14.

Deep and living faith

One of the challenges of being a missionary is living what we are  preaching. We can proclaim to the people how to live by faith but if we  ourselves are not living by faith, then our teaching become questionable at least and false at most. It means our life will show what it mean to live by faith. It is believing God in every aspect of his life including trust in God's provision. It means following God whatever it cost. As I have observed, many Christian workers have left their ministries fearing that they need to work  to meet their financial needs. And we really could not blame them. We have been in the same situation. However, as our needs become bigger, God assures us that his provision is bigger than all we will ever need. As Luzbetak says:

Those engaged in mission must be, above all, individuals of deep, living faith, sincerely believing what they preach, with God as the very heart and center of their lives, the mainspring of their innermost selves. It is a basic theological assumption of the present approach to mission that every Christian, but especially those engaged in a ministry, must strive to be of “the mind f Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16) to such an extent, in fact, that he or she can say with Paul, “for me 'life' means 'Christ' “ (Phil 1:21) and the “life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me” (Gal. 2:19f). To emphasize such personal theocentric oneness and wholeness is merely to re-echo the words of Jesus to the scribe who inquired about “the first of all Commandments” (Mk 12:28).

To illustrate his point Luzbetak tells a story that clearly tells us what it means to have God as the center of one's life. The story is about the response of the wise guru to the question of a young man who approached him.

“Master,” the young man asked, “when can I say that I truly love God?” Instead of giving direct answer, the guru signaled to two of his disciples, saying, “Give him the answer I gave ou when you asked me that very question. Yes, when can we say that we truly love God the way we should?” Compeletely bewildered, the inquirer allowed himself to be led by the two disciples to a nearby stream, where he was at once submerged and held under water for a very uncomfortable length of time. When finally released, the inquirer, coughing and sputtering, and wondering what all this meant, was brought back to the guru. “Now,” the guru solemnly said, “now you are ready for an answer to your question. tell me, my son, exactly what where were you thinking when you were held under water?” Still coughing and gasping for air, the young man half-smiling replied, “What could I have been thinking about, but about air, air, and more air?” The wise guru looked sympathetically at the young man and said, “Now you have answer your own question; you love God truly, the way you should love him, as soon as you seek God, and only God, the way you sought air and only air.”

This is what oneness with Christ through the Holy Spirit and completeness in the Father means. This is also what Paul meant when he said that life and Christ were synonymous. This is what it mean to love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And although this can only be achieved when we die, this must be the goal of every true follower of Christ, especially those who want to succeed in the ministry. Without this God-centeredness even the best programs, methods and movements applied to the ministry are nothing but an exercise in futility, a gimmick, and a sham.

The Church and Cultures: New Perspective in Missiological Anthropology by Louis J. Luzbetak, pp. 3-4

The Primacy of the Holy Spirit in MIssion

I was invited to attend a church planting consultation. I guess the main purpose of the meeting is to convince the local pastors, missionaries and church leaders regardless of denomination, organization, and whatever. However, the goal was not accomplished because most of the Pastors and church leaders did not stay to respond to the invitation. The presentation focused on the incredible accomplishments of the movement in Asian countries (some of them are statistically impossible).

I believe that church planting or mission for that matter is never truly a human accomplishment. And thus, we do not really need to brag about it. It is because it is accomplished by the Holy Spirit through his servants. As Luzbetak says:

The mission of the Church is essentially a spiritual activity--the work of the Holy Spirit. Effectiveness and true success in mission, we maintain, cannot be measured except in terms of the supernatural. Behind every human effort there must be the Power and Free Gift of God (the Holy Spirit and and his Grace). We wish, therefore, to emphasize and declare loudly and clearly, leaving no doubt behind whatsoever, that the scientific planning so strongly emphasized in our approach to mission is in no way meant to be a substitute for the Holy Spirit. Rather, we acknowledge the truth of the Lord's warning that "apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Without the Holy Spirit, the Church would be but a lifeless body, a corpse, and at best a "noisy gong, a clanging cymbal" (1 Cor. 13:1) and not the vibrant Church of the Acts of the Apostles. Not the scientific planning, however cleverly executed, ever force the Holy Spirit to act in any particular manner. (Lumen gentium, no 1-5; Gaudium et spes, no. 2) Such a task can be carried out only in and through the Spirit (Evangeli nuntiandi, no. 75).

The Church and Cultures: New Perspectives in Missiological Anthropology by Louis J. Luzbetak, S.V.D.

New Perspectives in Missiological Anthropology

I have not been reading theology books lately. I don't have any desire to read books about mission. Nowadays, I read books for entertainment or to get myself to sleep. So I guess, it is time for me to pick up a book and try to finish it. I'm reading Church and Cultures: New Perspectives in Missiological Anthropology written by Louis J. Luzbetak. He is formerly editor of the international journal Anthropos , studied cultural anthropology of the Universities of Fribourg and Vienna. He received his doctorate in anthropology from Fribourg. He has taught anthropology at the Catholic University of America and linguistic at Georgetown University. Church mission has always been the focal point of his teaching and research. He is at present in the service of the Pontifical Council for Culture Vatican City.

His theology and mission obviously comes from the Catholic perspective. Which is more of a strength rather than otherwise. It is evident that the Catholic Church has more experience and relatively more success than the evangelical mission endeavors.

Here is the summary of the chapters of the book from the preace:

Chapter 1 lays the theological foundation, for missiological anthropology. This explores the solid rock on which the application of anthropology to mission  must be based.

Chapter 2 describes in detail is meant by "Missiological Anthropology." He discusses in detail how missiology and anthropology blends. He further states that the scope and purpose of the book is missiological whereas the process and analysis is anthropological.

In chapter 3 he examines the failures and successes of the past.  He looks closely at the theory and the history when this theory is applied. At the same time, the theoretical presentation serves as a preview of the theory that is to come. It also serves to clarify some of the terminology that will be used in the chapters to follow.

He entitled chapter 4 as the "Signs of Times," looks at the present and the future of mission to see what challenges await missiological anthropology. It also provides the basic theological parameters within which present-day mission anthropology must be applied.

Chapter 5 examines the recent anthropological developments in regard to the concept of culture. IHe then formulates this knowledge into a working missiological model. In Chapter 6, he looks at culture as a system and in the next chapter, he examines the  the dynamic of culture. It should be noted that traditional accomodation generally passed over such important considerations; on the other hand, inculturation (incarnation, contextualization, "evangelization" of cultures--all synonymous) may not do so.  Chapters 5,6, and 7 are the heart of inculturational theory. Corresponding missiological application are made throughout these chapters as to illustrate the relevancy of the anthropological theory discussed. Chapter 8 is an epilogue. Here the anthropological theory of the early chapters is synthesized in the light of the nature and misson of the Church.

It looks like an excellent reading for those who are involved in mission.  Cross-cultural Christian workers have a lot to learn from this book specifically with regards to making the message of the gospel  clearer through understanding the target people culture.

Clark Pinnock: Mission and the Holy Spirit

I was kinda get burnout with writing the dissertation last week. My brain abruptly stopped working. I tried to read books but I could not make sense of the words I was seeing on the pages. I started having doubts about what I had written so far.  I am also missing home. Suddenly, I wanted to return to Thailand to my family and our adopted children.

It's Monday today and I am hoping I could start anew.  I went into the library this morning and looked at the book I that might be helpful to make my brain alive again. I found Clark Pinnock's Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit. It seems like a very good book. Opening a few pages I read this fascinating paragraph:

If Christians are to be effective in mission, they must offer a faith that is vibrant and alive. People who want to meet God and will not be satisfied with religion that only preaches and moralizes. Knowing about God is not the same as knowing God. Christianity was born on the day of Pentecost because a question was asked about a transforming experience: "What does thie means?" (Acts 2:12). Speaking about God is meaningful only if there is an encounter with God back of it. Only by attending to the Spirit are we going to be able to move beyond sterile, rationalistic, powerless religion and recover the intimacy with God our generation longs for. 

A response to a modern-day prophecy

This post is about a response to the modern-day prophecy about the Philippines. A prophecy of almost the same nature but different content for Thailand had been made last year. Lately, I had been witnessing preachers prophesying to people in the congregation. And I agree, most of those prophecies were not really about predicting what will happen in the future but sort of general statement that can always come true whatever the situation is. But I can testify that the prophecies were meant and to encourage.

Here is the email I received from my professor. I deleted some sentence that may cause security problem with those who are ministering in the restricted countries. This does not affect the main thought of this email

Dear Partners in Global Missions,

I appreciate the ‘prophecy‘ below, but there's really nothing new about it! The last time someone gave this kind of ‘prophecy‘ in the Philippines, I heard the ‘prophet‘ ran away with another woman and divorced his wife!

The Bible is clear on how a nation can prosper, and there is no need for a ‘new revelation‘ on this theme. After all, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong became prosperous even without a prophet prophesying about their imminent riches!

The sending of missionaries from the Philippines does not even need a ‘prophecy‘ because the Risen Lord has given this command 2,000 years ago. For one thing, God's covenant people in the Philippines need only to OBEY the Great Commission. Nowhere in the Bible can we find a text that requires a PROPHESY for fulfilling the Great Commission aside from the required OBEDIENCE necessary to fulfill it. For another, churches should promptly obey the Great Commission and enlist, train, commission, send, and support their missionaries across the nation and around the world.

When the Korean Church sent more than 20,000 missionaries to different parts of the world, believers did so out of their OBEDIENCE to the Great Commission. The Church in Myanmar (a much economically deppressed country than the Philippines) has more than 4,000 cross-border missionaries because believers simply obeyed the Great Commission even at the absence of a ‘prophesy.‘

Of course, we do not need ‘prophesy‘ to find oil reserves on our lands and shores because they are a ‘given‘ under GENERAL OR UNIVERSAL REVELATION. Our Filipino engineers only need more time to ‘discover‘ them, depending on the latest technology available. (They may, however, need ‘discernment‘ and ‘wisdom‘ where to find the reserves!)

Speaking of ‘missionaries‘ from the Philippines going to the countries mentioned in the ‘prophesy‘ below, already thousands have gone into those areas. The Philippine government used to call them OCW (Overseas Contract Workers), but we, believers, know them as Overseas Christian Workers!

Do we need ‘prophesy‘ to ‘show‘ us the existence of the PRINCIPALITY OF CORRUPTION across the Philippine archipelago? I think Filipinos are not naive on this one. We simply turn on our TV set to find ourselves watching all forms of corruption, from commercials to telenovelas!

Of course, I believe in genuine biblical prophesy. What we should be extra wary about are the so-called modern-day prophesies that sound like ‘pastoral counseling advices‘ that feature the obvious rather than the mysterious.

Remember the old hymn, ‘Standing on the Promises?‘ That's exactly how God's covenant people should live. We live each passing day according to God's promises (Psalm 119) rather than modern-day prophecies.

Tons of grace,
Terry Casino

Modern-day prophet

I believe that God can use modern day prophets to reveal his will for individual and for a nation. No doubt, if God used the prophets thousand of years ago, he can still use them today. I have been receiving emails about prophecies for the Philippines and somehow I have doubts this is authentic. Below is the prophecy of Cindy Jacobs for my country. Next time I will post the response of my theology professor about this and modern-day prophecy in general.

THE NEXT TWO YEARS EXTREMELY SIGNIFICANT You know I love you Philippines . I want you to pray, the next two years, the Lord is showing me, are going to be extremely significant for the Philippines . You're kind of on the cusp of re-civilization, I want to say that, either you're gonna go into greatness, it's going to transform the nation, or I see that there's gonna be some troubled times. So PRAY, PRAY, PRAY! I know you're already praying, but this is the time God is gonna pull down the SPIRIT OF CORRUPTION, and God is going to release the Spirit of truth and righteousness into this nation, because 'Righteousness exalts a nation.' The Lord is giving MANY PROMISES for the Philippines . I mean the Philippines is going to be ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST NATIONS on the earth. You know I prophesied that there'll be oil found off the coasts of the Philippines , and there's much more to be found, there's gold, the treasures of darkness are there. I remember prophesying in Baguio City that there's going to be treasures of darkness, and it has not been found, they were saved for the Body of Christ. And remember, they found this treasure, the Japanese had buried them on the ground after World War II. That was a sign. What does God mean to do? The SPIRIT OF POVERTY will be broken. I want to say to you, mothers will be able to feed their children, there is going to be a system put in place. FOR MINDANAO Even in Mindanao, you know, I've prophesied over Mindanao, and I want to say to you again Mindanao , 'Arise, you are the blue-flamed warriors that I talked about, warriors of fire, warriors that God is going to bring with HOLINESS,' and it's gonna happen. I just see literally THOUSANDS OF MISSIONARIES going out of Mindanao , thousands, thousands. I mean to Cambodia , Vietnam , Laos , Bangladesh , even to India , Central Asia -- Kyrgystan , Kazakhstan . The Lord says, 'I'm a just God,' those places where darkness has tried to grip, where it seems there's been so much desolation, so much poverty, so much sorrow. The Lord says, ‘I, the Lion of Judah , am going to rise in those darkest places, and bring justice, and the people who were set in darkness will see a great light. But not only see a great light, but be LIGHT-BEARERS to the ends of the earth,‘ says the Lord. (In view of fighting going on in Mindanao right now) I did not know there was fighting going on in Mindanao right now. I want to say, ‘Where sin abounds, grace much more abounds.‘ You might say like Jeremiah thought in the Book of Lamentations, ‘God, You've abandoned us, where are You?‘ But the Lord say, ‘Do not lose hope and do not lose heart, because the Lord says ' Mindanao will be transformed.'‘

Satan is making a last great stand. Satan has come down with great wrath because he knows his time is short in Mindanao . So RISE UP, even though, you know, it's terrible, and everywhere you look around is devastation, ‘Out of this darkness is going to come a TRANSFORMATION MOVEMENT that will be shown and modeled around the world,‘ says the Lord. NATIONAL FAST FOR THE COMING ELECTIONS You know, the Lord shows me, over the Philippines there is a PRINCIPALITY OF CORRUPTION, and this corruption has been so systemic, and so deep, and this principality thinks it controls the Philippines . But the Lord is showing me that there will be a NATIONAL FAST, praying -- everyone, the north, the south, the east and the west, the whole church, not part of the church, STANDING UP and FASTING and PRAYING. There should not be a day that there isn't fasting going on for the Philippines . And I am calling you, wherever you are, whoever is hearing my voice, whatever pastor is hearing my voice, whatever youth movement, the Lord is saying, 'LOVE YOUR NATION.' This is a strategic nation. Fast for the elections coming up!

Lamin Sanneh on expansion of Christianiy

In the 70's prophets of doom predicted that Christianity will experience a steady decline and its adherents would be greatly reduced. This is confounded with the resurgence of Islam. This fact seems to put the nail in the coffin.

However, by the year 2002 the continuous growth of Christianity in Asia and Africa come as a surprise to many. It could not be denied though that a decline is happening in its counterpart in the West.

According to Lamin Sanneh, “it had become clear that a major expansion of Christianity had been under way in Asia and Africa in spite of prevailing pessimism. In Africa in 1985, there were about 16,500 conversions a day. In the same period, some 4,300 people were leaving the church on daily basis in Europe and North America.

Many people, however, are skeptical about this growth not only because this comes from Africa but also because many Christians believe that these African Christians have abandoned the Christian exlucivism and instead become tolerant and inclusivist.

Nonetheless, the facts of the expansion of Christianity cannot be disputed. Lamin Sanneh offers an explanation and cites four major factors.

First, the expansion happened after the era of colonialism and during the period of national awakening. It can be assume that colonialism is a big hindrance to the growth of Christianity.

Second is the result of the Bible translations in local languages, in this case African languages. With the vernacular translation went cultural renewal that encouraged Africans to view Christianity in favorable light.

Third is that the locals stepped forward to lead the church. Young people especially women, were given a role in the church.

The last factor is a theological one: “Christian expansion was virtually limited to those societies whose people had preserved the indigenous name for God. That was a surprising discovery, because of the general feeling that Christianity was incompatible with the indigenous ideas of religion.”

The Bible: not a textbook in theology

Jason pointed out a fascinating essay by Knud Jørgensen, the director of the Areopagos Foundation in Norway/Denmark and assistant professor at the Norwegian School of Theology. He is also a member of the Lausanne Theology Working Group. You can read the entire post here. For the meantime here is the interesting excerpts:

The New Testament narratives are the prime examples of this. The Bible was not intended to be a textbook in theology, but to be a casebook about mission—God’s mission and our mission. The Bible includes narratives about the God who acts to our salvation and therefore equips his people to be sent to the world. Theology is therefore meant to be “an accompanying manifestation of the Christian mission and not a luxury of the world-dominating Church.”

The Gospels are clearly written to witness about Jesus Christ to diverse target groups in the Greco-Roman world, and all the epistles have grown out of the pastoral needs of the new congregations in a mission situation. There was hardly time and space for the theological research of today. Rather, the scriptures of the New Testament came into being “in the context of an emergency situation, of a church which, because of its missionary encounter with the world, was forced to theologize.”

The biblical texts do not suit the unengaged theology of the enlightenment. For the same reason, the missiology of the Global South resonates most closely with the biblical texts. A major problem, however, is that it is most often the Western, unengaged theology that has been exported to the rest of the world as part of the missionary period from the end of the eighteenth century.

This theology has become largely speculative, and often irrelevant to the mission and pastoral concerns of the Church in the Global South and in the West. It represents a blind alley and should not be regarded as the norm of Christian theology. This implies that we, together with the younger churches in the Global South, must protest against this theology; it is inadequate as a model for an engaged theology. It is a blind alley also in light of the Christian understanding and tradition as we find it in scripture, in the early Church and in the Reformation.

Moreover, this is not limited to academic theology. I think this includes the way we read and interpret the Bible. We have the tendency to belittle the way local culture read and interpret the Scripture. Everything that does not conform the way we have been taught, we judged it as inadequate and wrong.

Church unity is mission

Darkness comes early this time of year. I turned on the headlight of the van. I feel tired after bringing almost thirty children to their homes. As I was making a right turn, the Pastor of the Kachin church waved to us. I waved back and did a wai (prayer like posture Thai greeting) while driving the van and drove fast him. But then he came running after us and when I saw him. I pulled over and I looked back and asked what it was he wanted. He gave us an invitation for the Kachin’s church thanksgiving day on Saturday.

A very small congregation of Kachin tribe from Myanmar was worshiping few kilometers from our house. Few blocks from this church, you can also find a Shan church. A Lahu congregation is also located near our vicinity. May family neither attend nor visit these churches although they are practically our neighbors. We belong to a church that is composed of mixed tribal groups from Myanmar and Thailand up on the hill.

I can’t understand why Christians from different tribal groups could not worship together although they speak a common language. In fact they are almost indifferent to each other. Apparently, these churches are planted and sponsored by missionaries by whom that particular tribe is the people group they chose to work with. The missionaries’ strict focus on their chosen people group in total disregard to other resulted in a further fragmentation of the body of Christ. Sometimes thoughtless observance of what seems to be effective strategy in mission has its downside. Missions should be concerned with the unity in the body of Christ. Believers from different ethnic backgrounds worshiping together have more missionary impact than hundred of small congregations who are indifferent to each other.

And I agree with David Bosch in Transforming Mission when he says:

The unity of the church—no, the church itself—is called in question when groups of Christians segregate themselves on the basis of such dubious distinctive as race, ethnicity, sex, or social status. God in Christ has accepted us unconditionally; we have to do likewise with regard to one another. On the basis of Paul’s thinking, it is inconceivable that, in a given locality, converts could comprise two congregations—one of Torah observant Jewish Christians, and another of non-observant Gentile Christians (Sanders 1983:188). In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ a new age has dawned, in which Jew and Gentile are joined together without distinction in the one people of God. “Is Christ divided?” (1 Cor. 1:13). That is inconceivable! Segregation in the church destroys its internal life and denies its grounding in the substitutionary death of Christ. Only Christ, not Paul or anybody else (cf 1 Cor. 1:13), was crucified so as to reconcile people with God). “One has died for all” (2 Cor. 5:14). And Christ’s work of reconciliation does not just bring two parties into the same room that they may settle their differences; it leads to a new kind of body in which human relations are being transformed. In a very real sense mission, in Paul’s understanding, is saying to people from all backgrounds, “Welcome to the new community, in which all are members of one family and bound together by love”.

Bosch: Christians true identity is found in mission

Christians find their true identity when they are involved in mission, in communicating to others a new way of life, a new interpretation of reality and of God and in committing themselves to the liberation of others. A missionary community is one that understands itself as being both different from and committed to its environment; it exists within its context in a way which is both winsome and challenging.

David J. Bosch. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. New York: Orbis Books, 1991. p.8

A terrible failure

I read Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission by David J. Bosch two years ago as part of our reading assignment in a mission course seminar. But I was pre-occupied with other class assignments that time that I did not pay close attention to what I was reading. And besides, I thought that going to the mission field in that time was impossible for us. Now, I have a copy of the book in my hands and read it with new eyes, my understanding is deeper. It seems the words become alive and I can relate to what Bosch is talking about. I think it is a great idea to make this a required reading to all the Filipino missionaries who will go out and minister cross-culturally.

…toward the end of his life Max Warren, for many years General Secretary, referred to what he termed “a terrible failure of nerve about the missionary enterprise". In some circles this has led to an almost complete paralysis and total withdrawal from any activity traditionally associated with mission, in whatever form. Others are plunging them¬selves into projects which might just as well—and more efficiently—be undertaken by secular agencies.

Again, in some Christian circles there is no sign of such a failure or nerve. Quite the contrary. It is "business as usual" as regards the continuation of one ¬way missionary traffic from the West to the Third World and the proclamation of a gospel which appears to have little interest in the conditions in which people find themselves, since the preachers' only concern seems to be the saving of souls from eternal damnation. Here the right of Christians to proclaim their religion is beyond dispute since the Bible clearly commands world mission. To even suggest that there is a fundamental crisis in mission would be tantamount to making concessions to "liberal" theology and to doubting the abiding validity of the faith once handed down to us.

Whilst the zeal for mission and the self-sacrificing dedication evidenced in these circles must be applauded, one cannot help wondering whether they are really rendering a valid and long-term solution. Our spiritual forebears may perhaps be pardoned for not having been aware of the fact that they were facing a crisis. Present generations, however, can hardly be excused for their lack of awareness.

David J. Bosch. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. Mary Knoll, NY, Orbis Books, pp 6-7.

Mission of the Triune God

Lesslie Newbigin, The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission. Grand Rapid, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans. 1995. 192 pp

Chapter 3

“In the name of Jesus” is the first natural answer a Christian usually utters when the question of authority arises. However this answer is not understood if you are in place where Jesus is virtually unknown that is if he is known at all their knowledge of Jesus is radically different from the Christian’s understanding of Jesus. For example, Newbigin cites that for the Hindu, Jesus is just one of the jeevanmuktas. He is one of the few who attained full realization of the divine in this life. For the Muslims Jesus is one of the messengers of Allah. For the man of Western society, he is one of the world’s religious leaders to whom we will find reference (along with Buddha, Muhammad, Moses and Guru Nanak). These show that it is impossible to answer the questions “who is Jesus?’ with out using a language that is shaped by the pre-Christian experience of the one who is asking the question. The risk of identifying Jesus with local deities is always present with them. Nonetheless, those who become believers will know that in some aspect he is like them, but more so uniquely more than them.

In light of this, Newbigin insists that it is impossible to know Christ Jesus at all as a natural happening. If our knowledge of him is based in our cultural and religious presupposition, it will always result in a distorted knowledge of him. Our understanding of who Jesus is the work of the Holy Spirit. Nobody knows Christ based on one’s intellectual capacity. When Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God Jesus quickly commented that it is not his own achievement but a gift from above. Peter’s incredible insight about Jesus is the work of the Spirit of God himself (1 Corinthians 12:1-3, 1 John 4:1-3). It is the action of God by which he chooses and anoints the messengers of his reign. It is the work of the sovereign Spirit to enable men and women in new situations and in new cultural forms in the language of their own culture. The mission of the church is its obedient participation in that action of the Spirit by which the confession that Jesus is Lord becomes the authentic confession of every new people, each in its own tongue (20).

Newbigin quotes the first chapter of Mark’s gospel to answer the question. He thinks that the scripture passage can best answer the question. In the passage, Jesus was introduced as the one who announces the coming of the reign of God and is anointed by the Spirit of God. This is how Jesus was proclaimed by the first believers in a pluralist society that knew not Jesus at all. This Trinitarian language was how the first Christians articulated the proclamation about the identity of Jesus. “This understanding is not the result of speculative thought. It has been given by revelation in the actual historical life and work of the Son” (26).

Thus the question of the authority of the words “in the name of Jesus” can only be answered in terms that embody the Trinitarian faith. Even though this model cannot be verified by reference to the axioms of our culture, this is offered on the authority of revelation and with the claim that it does provide the possibility of practical wisdom to grasp and deal with human life as it really is (28). Therefore, Christian mission can be understood only if it will be seen through a Trinitarian lens —as proclaiming the kingdom of the Father, as sharing the life of the Son and as bearing the witness of the Spirit (29).

By what authority?

Lesslie Newbigin, The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission. Grand Rapid, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans. 1995. 192 pp

Chapter 2

Fifty years ago, the West and its missionaries thought that the entire world will become Christian. However, this somewhat prideful forecast about the conversion of the entire world to Christianity is not happening. In fact, as Newbigin himself claims, the West is now largely secularized and become itself is becoming a missionary field as well.

The Western Christians believe that because of their “better culture,” progressive civilization and wealth have become the authority to make the world a better place. And missionaries brought this idea with them. They think that because they are ministering to primitive, backward and poor countries, they could use those qualities as the source of their authority in spreading Christianity. Apparently, according to Newbigin this is not in anyway true.

After fifty years, nations that are predominantly Islam, Buddhist and High-Caste Hindu consistently refuse to accept Christianity and its missionaries. They asked the question: “What right do Christians have to preach to them?” If mission is understood to involve merely calling people of other faith to conversion then other religions would questions its validity. In fact, if this is the only reason in doing mission, even from within Christianity itself, its validity will always be questioned.

As missionaries do the task in which they are called to do, the question “by what authority you do this?” will always be asked. To answer simplistically by quoting the Scripture would not work. This question could not be answered with the usual “in Jesus’ name” for it entails another question, “who is Jesus?” who obviously is not known outside Western Christendom.

Newbigin proposes several answers to this question. First, he answers it with a confession. “I believe. It is a personal commitment to faith that cannot be demonstrated on grounds establish from the point of view of another commitment. A Christian commitment is distinguished that it is a commitment to a belief about meaning of the whole experience in its entirety—namely the belief that this meaning is to be found in the person of Jesus Christ.” (15)

Second, this confession is that Jesus is the supreme authority—that Jesus is Lord. This implies public, universal claim that was bound eventually to clash with the cultus publicus of the empire. The confession “Jesus is Lord” implies a commitment to make good that confession in relation to the whole life of the world—its culture, and its politics no less than the personal lives of its people.” (17) The Christian mission is thus to act out the whole life of the whole world the confession that Jesus is Lord of all.

Third, Newbigin believes that God chooses whom he will and calls them to his service. The authority to preach the gospel actually lies on the doctrine of election. (A chapter of this book is dedicated to explain this view). It is God who chooses, calls and sends. If he was asked about his authority to preach, Newbigin would answer that he is only a simple servant of one whom God has chosen and for the sake of all—Jesus Christ.

So what is our authority to preach the gospel? The answer—the authority is the announcement of the gospel itself. I couldn't agree more. The gospel in itself is powerful and authoritative. We can not make it more or less authoritative. I feel terrible when somebody (usually a missionary) would belittle a proclamation of the gospel for not being done according to their learned effective method. As if their own way of presenting the gospel is what makes it authoritative. The gospel is God's Word, the gospel is Christ, proclaim through the power of the Holy Spirit. Then tell me, what is more authoritative than that? It is authoritative whether one recognized it or not.

Lesslie Newbigin: Missionary-Theologian par exellence

There are times when we could have read a certain book few years earlier, we think that perhaps our outlook might have changed and our life might have taken a different course. Lately, I had picked up Lesslie Newbigin’s book, The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission. I became familiar with Newbigin's excellent ideas because when reading books about theology and mission, his name usually would appear as an authoritative source.

In this book, I learn that Newbigin was an internationally esteemed British missionary, pastor, apologist, theologian and ecumenical statesman. He also served in India as missionary evangelizing in the villages. He was a minister in the United Reformed Church in United Kingdom and a bishop of the Church of South India. He served as the general secretary of the International Missionary Council and associate general secretary of the World Council of Churches. Upon learning that he was both a missionary and an illustrious theologian compels me to read his books.

Thus I would like to share some thoughts as an outcome of this reading (I intend to do it on all the books I will read). This will be done in series of short summary and I will try to include my personal comments based on my experience in the mission field and student of theology. I expect that this would be good learning experience.

In chapter 1, Newbigin laments the fact that missions had no place in the central teaching of theology. Mission, for a long time, in any seminary is studied as branch of practical theology. And this is true even in the Asian seminary that I had attended. Today, mission is very important to the life of the church because the radical secularization of the Western culture, its churches are no longer missionary. There is a renewed debate about missionary task in the older churches. More Christians in the “old churches recognize that a church that is not ‘the church in mission’ is not a church at all.” Newbigin states that the book hopes to place the debate about the church’s missionary tasks will be placed in a broad biblical perspective and in the hope that to do so will release new energies for the contemporary mission of the church, not only its global dimensions but also in its application to the tough new paganism of the contemporary Western world.” (2)

Social Action-Gospel Dichotomy in Mission

This question still lingers in my mind, why do NGOs that specializes in social actions could not work side by side with a local church? Yes, they have a relationship but the relationship seems to be concerned on the business side and is so fragile. I have high hopes that an NGO here could develop a partnership with a church for the sake of the gospel, but I know I was just dreaming. In reality, the NGO is more concern on the physical needs of the people. I admire their desire to provide for the spiritual needs of the people but how can they do it without the help of worshiping community. And how could a community extend its social ministry when it could not even sustain itself. Lesslie Newbigin rightly observes that:

The concern of those who see mission primarily in terms of action for God’s justice is embodied mainly in programs carried on at a supracongregational level by boards and committees, whether national or ecumenical. The concern of those who see mission primarily in terms of personal conversion is expressed mainly at the level of congregational life. The effect of this is that each is robbed of its character by its separation from the other. Christian programs for justice and compassion are severed from their proper roots in the liturgical and sacramental life of the congregation, and so lose their character as signs of the presence of Christ and risk becoming mere crusades fueled by a moralism that can become self-righteous. And the life of the worshipping congregation, severed from its proper expression in compassionate service to the secular community around it, becoming a self-centered existence serving only the needs of its members. Thus both sides of the dichotomy find good reasons for caricaturing each other, and mutual distrust deepens.

Lesslie Newbigin, The Open Secret: An Introductin to the Theology of Mission, p 10

Mission according to Owen Cole

I'm reading Owen Cole's Six World Faiths. The reason I'm reading this book is that this is the most useful book for me at the moment. I will post a short review of the book, when when I finish reading it. Meanwhile, I will just post some interesting paragraphs that caught my attention.

Now that the world is dominated by the major religions there is a little prospect of mass conversion taking place as they did in the past. England and Thailand will not become Muslim; Egypt and Pakistan will not become Christian. Missionary work will still continue but at the level of individual conversions, as in the early days of Christian expansion, and the work will increasingly be done by indigenous Christian, Muslim or Buddhist groups. The white European, or American, is too much associated with the days of the empire and colonization for him to establish Christianity in the Sudan, Burma or Pakistan; the citizens of those countries must do it, if anyone can.

In recent years, Christians have also recognized that what they often took from Europe to Africa or elsewhere was not so much Christianity as western culture. They built cathedral in Lahore, or Delhi, like those in Britain. They even encouraged the use of English or Latin as the language of worship and taught European hymns at hymn tunes. The younger churches of Asia and Africa are gradually developing patterns of worship and organization suited to their cultural circumstances, which seem much healthier than the European transplants of the yesteryear. Mission have given way to the rise of what are called indigenous churches. Christian leadership may eventually pass from Europe to these other Christian areas.

Cole makes the right observation here. However, I observe that not only missionaries from Europe and America are taking their cultures in Asia. Even Koreans missionaries are transporting the western culture to the mission field when they themselves are Asian. Old habits are hard to break. Missionaries should have a deeper understanding of the local culture and worldview. The difficulties lie not only in bringing western language, hymns and patterns of worship. The missionaries are also enforcing their worldview and pattern of thinking. It is apparent that the local people think differently from the European and American but it doesn't mean it is wrong. Cross-cultural workers think that they are doing the local people a favor by teaching them to think like them. Because when left on their own they will develop a theology that is radically different than the western theology... and that theology more often than not is considered to be a heresy.

Please take off your shoes

I am teaching Asian Religions at the Mission Training Center. This is the reason why I picked Six World Faiths edited by W. Owen Cole. At this point, I don't have any idea who Cole is, but I will find out soon. I haven't done any book review in this blog, but this time I hope I can find the time to review some of the books coming my way. In any case, for now, I just want to share a quote by Max Warren, a famous Secretary of the Church Missionary Society, which Cole cites in his introduction.

Our first task in approaching another people, another culture, another religion is to take off our shoes, for the place we are standing on is holy, else we may find we are treading on men's dream. More serious still, we may forget that God was here before our arrival.

Religious Pluralism and Problems of Mission in Asia

This is the fifth part of Augurlion article in Mission Dei, A Journal of Mission and Evangelism of Myanmar Institute of Theology.

The ecumenical movement and the formation of the WCC in the west certified that the existence of the church as a Christendom was no longer possible after the Reformation. The emergence of city-states and the national churches became the phenomenon to be tolerated. Though the idea of the extension of Christendom was no longer relevant to the West it was still practiced in the non-Western world by means of Christianization. However, the extension of Christendom was more problematic in Asia than it was in the Reformation world. Andrew Walls puts it:

The success of the Spanish project to incorporate its new world into Christendom was thus more apparent than real. More important for the future of Christendom, however, than the apparent success of the Spanish was the fact that the Portuguese found the task impossible... The Portuguese began its empire with joyful acceptance of the task of expanding Christendom. But its resources were slander, its hole often precarious, and even in the territories it occupied, resistant Islam, and resistant Hinduism, and resistant Buddhism refused to lie down.

Asia is a pluralistic continent populated with millions of people from different ethnic, social, cultural, and religious background. The world major religions such as Hinduism, Buddhist and Islam have become the national and cultural identity of the countries where they have dominated. For example, Hinduism is the national and cultural identity of the India; Buddhism is the national and cultural identity of Thailand, Myanmar and Sri Lanka; and Islam is the national and cultural identity of Pakistan, Indonesia, and many Arab nations. Thus the situation in Asia was and is totally different from the West. Reinsie Perera states:

It is true that in Europe, Christianity played the role of the dominant religion, and one might even say, the only religion for centuries. It is that influence that created the concept of Christendom. But this was and is not the case in Asia... In Asia many religions are competing with each other and the religious ethos has shaped the language, culture, and the psyche of the people. The religious impact on the life and destiny of people is so immense that one finds it difficult to make a clear separation between the sacred and the secular.

Christianization in Asia has always been a difficult task for the missionaries because conversion to other religions, for the Asian people, is a betrayal of their nations and their cultural identity. Loyalty to their nations, for them, is loyalty to the national religion of their countries. The missions in Asia have won converts most from the ethnic minority groups and the outcasts who have never attached to the religions of the majority in their countries. However, the number of converts from the major religions always be small. Therefore, Christians are only the minority Asia.

After having discovered that evangelism in India was difficult Robert di Nobili, a Jesuit missionary in India in the fifteenth century, tried to use the strategy of "contextualization." He dressed like a guru, studied Hindu Sanskrit and Brahmin Philosophy in order to indigenize the gospel. It is said that he won some convert among the Brahmans. Another early missionary who used this strategy was Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit missionary in China. He studied Confucian philosophy and tried to accommodate Christianity in the cultural context of China. It is stated: "Ricci accommodated Christianity to Chinese life by allowing for the customary veneration of Confucius and of the ancestors among Chinese.

The Protestant missionaries who became active in Asia in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries also came to learn that evangelism in Asia was not as easy as they expected. They also came to realize "the need to live on someone else's terms. The first missionary conference held in Edinburgh in 1910 dealt with the issues which the missionaries faced in the non-western world, especially in Asia. The cultural, ethnic and religious pluralism in Asia enlightened the mission groups to work together and consider their mission techniques that met the need of the non-Western people. For these reasons, mission schools and medical mission came to the fore as the channels for evangelism. In addition, the mission strategies such as indigenization, contextualization, and inculturation became popular both in academic discussion and practical fields. Despite the use of these methods conversion to Christianity in Asia was and is very limited. No matter whatever strategy is used it is not successful because its objective is to conquer and to win. Christian mission was regarded as a threat to national unity and identity. Thus, Christianity has faced with the accusation, critique and hostility of the non-Christians. Christianity was perceived as a heretical religion in Asia.

Apologetic Mission in Asian Context (2)

Apologetic Mission in the Patristic Period

In order to understand the Apologetic mission one must turn to the works of the apologists in the early centuries. The apologists had played a great role for the expansion of Christianity. To defend Christianity from the various attacks they developed the Christian thoughts and arguments that became influential and informative to the non-Christians. The apologetic mission can be understood as the defense of the Christian faith both from the internal and external threats. The internal threats had to do with ideological attacks and the external threats have to do mostly with persecution and moral accusation against Christianity. The most prominent of the apologists were Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Irenaeus of Lyons Clement of Alexandria and Origen.2 Their defense of the church convinced the pagans and the emperors that Christianity was not a threat to the empire, but a catalyst for the wellbeing of the empire because Christians were not like others but had virtuous lives. Some of them, like Origen, tried to express Christianity in pagan philosophical terms, making Christian thoughts comprehensible to the pagans, and leaving it open for the later theological
development. It is said:

Many of the later debates continued to follow lines of reasoning first articulated by Irenaeus, Justin, Clement, Origen and others. If Origen was correct, that the apostles did not say all that was to be said regarding Christian truth" in order to leave room for later generations to bring their own resources to the task, then the apologists were as much engaged in a missionary task as the original apostles.

The works of the apologists may be exclusive or inclusive, but they were contributing to the growth of the church. By the end of the apostolic age Christians were still the minority who were the objects of persecution. The rapid growth of the Christianity from an unrecognized stage to the stage of imperial religion, however, took place during the patristic period. The work of the apologists, therefore, was an effective mission model for the spread of Christianity.