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Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
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Transcript
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094
World Wide Web wwwivpresscom
Email emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983092 by Michael W Goheen
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement of
students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools of nursing in the United States
of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students For information about
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Rd PO Box 983095983096983097983093 Madison WI 983093983091983095983088983095-983095983096983097983093 or visit the IVCF website at wwwintervarsityorg
All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are from the THE HOLY BIBLE NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSIONreg NIVreg Copyrightcopy 983089983097983095983091 983089983097983095983096 983089983097983096983092 983090983088983089983089 by Biblica IncM Used by permission All rights reserved
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ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983092983095-983090 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983093983092983091-983092 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environmentand to the responsible use of natural resources o learn more visit greenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Goheen Michael W 983089983097983093983093-
Introducing Christian mission today scripture history and issues
Michael W Goheen
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983092983095-983090 (hardcover alk paper)
983089 Mission of the church 983090 MissionsmdashTeory I itle
Introduction A Paradigm Shift in Mission Studies oday 983089983093
Changing World Church 983089983095
Changing Global Realities 983090983088
A New Understanding of Mission 983090983093
he Landscape of Mission Studies oday 983090983095
PART ONE B983145983138983148983145983139983137983148 983137983150983140 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983142983148983141983139983156983145983151983150 983151983150 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
PART TWO H983145983155983156983151983154983145983139983137983148 983137983150983140 C983151983150983156983141983149983152983151983154983137983154983161
983093 A S983157983154983158983141983161 983151983142 983156983144983141 G983148983151983138983137983148 C983144983157983154983139983144 983089983096983095 Mission and Global Christianity 983089983096983095
Some Initial Statistics 983089983096983096
he Global Shift to the South 983089983096983097
Sub-Saharan Africa 983089983097983089
Asia 983089983097983095
Latin America 983089983097983097
he Middle East and North Africa 983090983088983094
he Pacific 983090983088983097Eastern Europe 983090983089983090
he West 983090983089983095
Conclusion 983090983090983091
PART THREE C983157983154983154983141983150983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 983145983150 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983151983140983137983161
T983144983145983155 983138983151983151983147 983137983154983145983155983141983155 983151983157983156 983151983142 983137 983139983151983157983154983155983141 that I have taught for twenty-five
years in a number of undergraduate and graduate institutions When I first
taught an introduction to mission course in 1048625104863310486321048632 I struggled to structure
the course in keeping with the momentous changes taking place in the
world church and mission during the twentieth century I was acutely aware
of the inadequacy of the colonialist paradigm which had given rise to a
certain way of teaching missiology But I did not know a better way toproceed Aer teaching the course a few times I happened upon David
Boschrsquos ransforming Mission days aer it was released I devoured that book
I saw a new path for mission studies and a new way to structure an intro-
ductory course Of course today over two decades aer the release of that
book we know its importance It has served to help many reconfigure and
restructure their way of teaching missiology in a new setting where the
church is now in every part of the world
I have used Boschrsquos book many times in courses but have found that its
length and density are sometimes prohibitive for students I hoped that
someone would offer a more popular version that employed Boschrsquos basic
structure that I could use as a textbook Although many good books on
mission have emerged since that time none has tried to cover the water-
front of mission studies as his does yet in a more popular way And as I
faced the diffi culty in almost every chapter of this book of trying to sum-
marize enormous amounts of material in brief chapters I understand why
Nevertheless I have persevered and I offer this as a more popular intro-
duction to mission studies It is intended as an introductory book for stu-
dents and pastors
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
I start with the missio Dei as narrated in the biblical story and place the
mission of the church in that narrative context Mission is participation in
the story of Godrsquos mission Te role that the people of God are to play in thatstory gives them their missional identity Tus the church is missional by
its very nature and the whole of its mission springs from this identity So
this book roots mission in ecclesiology it is thus a missiology that takes the
church with utmost importancemdashsomething that is surprisingly rare It is
also a missiology that takes history seriously attempting to understand and
learn from the church as it has carried out its mission in various historical
and cultural contexts It is moreover a missiology that takes the globalcontext seriously formulating a missiology that understands mission to be
in from and to all parts of the world It is finally a missiology that takes
the contemporary context seriously Te various tasks facing the global
church today in its different settings set the agenda for mission
No one is neutral of course And so my confessional and geographical
location has greatly shaped this book Considered from a global perspective
I stand in the Evangelical tradition More specifically the authors who have
shaped me most are J H Bavinck Harvie Conn Lesslie Newbigin and
David Bosch And so it is from within the Reformed tradition that this in-
troductory book arises Bavinck and Conn set the structural girders for my
thinking early and that early foundational formation remains to the present
And so my approach to missiology stands more narrowly within the Dutch
Neocalvinist tradition although I hope that my appreciation for many other
traditions is evident My indebtedness to Newbigin and Bosch at many
points will be obvious I believe them to be the leading mission thinkers in
the latter part of the twentieth century and therefore I have attempted to
read all of their writings I have also benefited tremendously from many
others I think specifically of Hendrik Kraemer Wilbert Shenk Gerald An-
derson Darrell Guder Chris Wright Andrew Walls George Vandervelde
and Jan Jongeneel
I am also a Canadian and no doubt this will be evident as well It is the
Western context that informs my scholarship but I have attempted to listento brothers and sisters from outside the West I have had many opportunities
for interaction with brothers and sisters from other parts of the world I have
also taught a course in contextual theology for a number of years most re-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
Te word ldquomissionrdquo derives from the Latin word mittere ldquoto sendrdquo and
thus assumes a sender someone sent a place or persons to whom the mes-
senger is sent and a task to fulfill Te Jesuits were first to use this wordwhen in their fourth vow they promised obedience to the pope in regard to
mission outside the churchrsquos fellowshipmdashincluding Protestantsmdashto gather
them in to mother church Given this origin it is surprising to see how
quickly Protestants employed the word to describe their task of propagating
the gospel among those who had never heard Indeed mission had become
a new orthodoxy by the end of the nineteenth century and today for the
most part at least in the Evangelical tradition the word continues to carrypositive connotations
At the beginning of the eighteenth century over 10486331048624 percent of Christians in
the world were found in the West Tus an important motivation for the mis-
sionary expansion that took place over the next two hundred years was the
biblical motive to take the good news of Jesus Christ to people and places
where there was no witness But at the same time this missionary activity
coincided with Western colonialism Tus the course and the practice of
Western Christianityrsquos geographical expansion were deeply shaped by colo-
nialist patterns
ldquoColonialism and mission as a matter of course were interdependent the
right to have colonies carried with it the duty to Christianize the colonizedrdquo
David J Bosch Transforming Mission p 227
Over the course of the last half-century many factors combined to make
a traditional understanding of mission unsuitable for today Tis is not to
say that the missionary enterprise of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
was a mistake Indeed a scriptural impetus drove much of the motivation
and practice of mission Nor do I want to eclipse cross-cultural missions
Te concern to take good news to places where there is no witness remainsa continuing aspect of the churchrsquos mission It is rather to say that dramatic
changes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have made a traditional
paradigm of mission inadequate for our time
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
worship and prayer and in doctrinal and moral faithfulness Moreover the
churches in the South and the East have now begun to take responsibility
for the lionrsquos share of cross-cultural missionsTe dramatic growth of the church in the South and the East has coin-
cided with steep decline in the older churches of the West oday Christians
in Europe and European-derived
cultures only make up about 10486251048629
percent of the total Christian
population David Barrett esti-
mated almost three decades agothat the Western church was
losing about 1048631104863010486241048624 professing
members every day1048626 Lamin Sannehrsquos estimate a decade ago 1048628104862710486241048624 people
per day1048627 was lower nevertheless it is clear that the church in the West is
dwindling Moreover the numerical decline is accompanied by deep com-
promise to the secular humanist worldview of Western culture And
alongside of the growing participation in cross-cultural missions of
churches in the majority world the church in the West has seen a corre-
sponding decline
Tis brief sketch is not intended to simply paint a romantic and rosy
picture of the church in the South and the East nor a dark and gloomy
picture of the church in the West Indeed there is much to be concerned
about in African Asian and Latin American Christianity and much to be
heartened by in Western Christianity Tis characterization is rather to in-
dicate a significant shi in global Christianity that makes a traditional view
of mission inadequate for today In light of these statistics it would seem
absurd to divide the world into a Christian home base and a non-Christian
mission field and to classify the growing churches of the South and the East
as a mission field and the declining churches of the West as the home base
for Christian mission
Beyond the growing Southern church and the declining Western church
2David B Barrett ed World Christian Encyclopedia A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World AD 1048625104863310486241048624-1048626104862410486241048624 (Oxford Oxford University Press 1048625983097983096983090) p 9830953Lamin Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity Te Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids Eerd-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094
World Wide Web wwwivpresscom
Email emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983092 by Michael W Goheen
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement of
students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools of nursing in the United States
of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students For information about
local and regional activities write Public Relations Dept InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSA 983094983092983088983088 Schroeder
Rd PO Box 983095983096983097983093 Madison WI 983093983091983095983088983095-983095983096983097983093 or visit the IVCF website at wwwintervarsityorg
All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are from the THE HOLY BIBLE NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSIONreg NIVreg Copyrightcopy 983089983097983095983091 983089983097983095983096 983089983097983096983092 983090983088983089983089 by Biblica IncM Used by permission All rights reserved
worldwide
While all stories in this book are true some names and identifying information in this book have been changed to
protect the privacy of the individuals involved
Cover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth Hagenberg
Images Huang XinGetty Images
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983092983095-983090 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983093983092983091-983092 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environmentand to the responsible use of natural resources o learn more visit greenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Goheen Michael W 983089983097983093983093-
Introducing Christian mission today scripture history and issues
Michael W Goheen
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983092983095-983090 (hardcover alk paper)
983089 Mission of the church 983090 MissionsmdashTeory I itle
Introduction A Paradigm Shift in Mission Studies oday 983089983093
Changing World Church 983089983095
Changing Global Realities 983090983088
A New Understanding of Mission 983090983093
he Landscape of Mission Studies oday 983090983095
PART ONE B983145983138983148983145983139983137983148 983137983150983140 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983142983148983141983139983156983145983151983150 983151983150 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
PART TWO H983145983155983156983151983154983145983139983137983148 983137983150983140 C983151983150983156983141983149983152983151983154983137983154983161
983093 A S983157983154983158983141983161 983151983142 983156983144983141 G983148983151983138983137983148 C983144983157983154983139983144 983089983096983095 Mission and Global Christianity 983089983096983095
Some Initial Statistics 983089983096983096
he Global Shift to the South 983089983096983097
Sub-Saharan Africa 983089983097983089
Asia 983089983097983095
Latin America 983089983097983097
he Middle East and North Africa 983090983088983094
he Pacific 983090983088983097Eastern Europe 983090983089983090
he West 983090983089983095
Conclusion 983090983090983091
PART THREE C983157983154983154983141983150983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 983145983150 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983151983140983137983161
T983144983145983155 983138983151983151983147 983137983154983145983155983141983155 983151983157983156 983151983142 983137 983139983151983157983154983155983141 that I have taught for twenty-five
years in a number of undergraduate and graduate institutions When I first
taught an introduction to mission course in 1048625104863310486321048632 I struggled to structure
the course in keeping with the momentous changes taking place in the
world church and mission during the twentieth century I was acutely aware
of the inadequacy of the colonialist paradigm which had given rise to a
certain way of teaching missiology But I did not know a better way toproceed Aer teaching the course a few times I happened upon David
Boschrsquos ransforming Mission days aer it was released I devoured that book
I saw a new path for mission studies and a new way to structure an intro-
ductory course Of course today over two decades aer the release of that
book we know its importance It has served to help many reconfigure and
restructure their way of teaching missiology in a new setting where the
church is now in every part of the world
I have used Boschrsquos book many times in courses but have found that its
length and density are sometimes prohibitive for students I hoped that
someone would offer a more popular version that employed Boschrsquos basic
structure that I could use as a textbook Although many good books on
mission have emerged since that time none has tried to cover the water-
front of mission studies as his does yet in a more popular way And as I
faced the diffi culty in almost every chapter of this book of trying to sum-
marize enormous amounts of material in brief chapters I understand why
Nevertheless I have persevered and I offer this as a more popular intro-
duction to mission studies It is intended as an introductory book for stu-
dents and pastors
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
I start with the missio Dei as narrated in the biblical story and place the
mission of the church in that narrative context Mission is participation in
the story of Godrsquos mission Te role that the people of God are to play in thatstory gives them their missional identity Tus the church is missional by
its very nature and the whole of its mission springs from this identity So
this book roots mission in ecclesiology it is thus a missiology that takes the
church with utmost importancemdashsomething that is surprisingly rare It is
also a missiology that takes history seriously attempting to understand and
learn from the church as it has carried out its mission in various historical
and cultural contexts It is moreover a missiology that takes the globalcontext seriously formulating a missiology that understands mission to be
in from and to all parts of the world It is finally a missiology that takes
the contemporary context seriously Te various tasks facing the global
church today in its different settings set the agenda for mission
No one is neutral of course And so my confessional and geographical
location has greatly shaped this book Considered from a global perspective
I stand in the Evangelical tradition More specifically the authors who have
shaped me most are J H Bavinck Harvie Conn Lesslie Newbigin and
David Bosch And so it is from within the Reformed tradition that this in-
troductory book arises Bavinck and Conn set the structural girders for my
thinking early and that early foundational formation remains to the present
And so my approach to missiology stands more narrowly within the Dutch
Neocalvinist tradition although I hope that my appreciation for many other
traditions is evident My indebtedness to Newbigin and Bosch at many
points will be obvious I believe them to be the leading mission thinkers in
the latter part of the twentieth century and therefore I have attempted to
read all of their writings I have also benefited tremendously from many
others I think specifically of Hendrik Kraemer Wilbert Shenk Gerald An-
derson Darrell Guder Chris Wright Andrew Walls George Vandervelde
and Jan Jongeneel
I am also a Canadian and no doubt this will be evident as well It is the
Western context that informs my scholarship but I have attempted to listento brothers and sisters from outside the West I have had many opportunities
for interaction with brothers and sisters from other parts of the world I have
also taught a course in contextual theology for a number of years most re-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
Te word ldquomissionrdquo derives from the Latin word mittere ldquoto sendrdquo and
thus assumes a sender someone sent a place or persons to whom the mes-
senger is sent and a task to fulfill Te Jesuits were first to use this wordwhen in their fourth vow they promised obedience to the pope in regard to
mission outside the churchrsquos fellowshipmdashincluding Protestantsmdashto gather
them in to mother church Given this origin it is surprising to see how
quickly Protestants employed the word to describe their task of propagating
the gospel among those who had never heard Indeed mission had become
a new orthodoxy by the end of the nineteenth century and today for the
most part at least in the Evangelical tradition the word continues to carrypositive connotations
At the beginning of the eighteenth century over 10486331048624 percent of Christians in
the world were found in the West Tus an important motivation for the mis-
sionary expansion that took place over the next two hundred years was the
biblical motive to take the good news of Jesus Christ to people and places
where there was no witness But at the same time this missionary activity
coincided with Western colonialism Tus the course and the practice of
Western Christianityrsquos geographical expansion were deeply shaped by colo-
nialist patterns
ldquoColonialism and mission as a matter of course were interdependent the
right to have colonies carried with it the duty to Christianize the colonizedrdquo
David J Bosch Transforming Mission p 227
Over the course of the last half-century many factors combined to make
a traditional understanding of mission unsuitable for today Tis is not to
say that the missionary enterprise of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
was a mistake Indeed a scriptural impetus drove much of the motivation
and practice of mission Nor do I want to eclipse cross-cultural missions
Te concern to take good news to places where there is no witness remainsa continuing aspect of the churchrsquos mission It is rather to say that dramatic
changes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have made a traditional
paradigm of mission inadequate for our time
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
worship and prayer and in doctrinal and moral faithfulness Moreover the
churches in the South and the East have now begun to take responsibility
for the lionrsquos share of cross-cultural missionsTe dramatic growth of the church in the South and the East has coin-
cided with steep decline in the older churches of the West oday Christians
in Europe and European-derived
cultures only make up about 10486251048629
percent of the total Christian
population David Barrett esti-
mated almost three decades agothat the Western church was
losing about 1048631104863010486241048624 professing
members every day1048626 Lamin Sannehrsquos estimate a decade ago 1048628104862710486241048624 people
per day1048627 was lower nevertheless it is clear that the church in the West is
dwindling Moreover the numerical decline is accompanied by deep com-
promise to the secular humanist worldview of Western culture And
alongside of the growing participation in cross-cultural missions of
churches in the majority world the church in the West has seen a corre-
sponding decline
Tis brief sketch is not intended to simply paint a romantic and rosy
picture of the church in the South and the East nor a dark and gloomy
picture of the church in the West Indeed there is much to be concerned
about in African Asian and Latin American Christianity and much to be
heartened by in Western Christianity Tis characterization is rather to in-
dicate a significant shi in global Christianity that makes a traditional view
of mission inadequate for today In light of these statistics it would seem
absurd to divide the world into a Christian home base and a non-Christian
mission field and to classify the growing churches of the South and the East
as a mission field and the declining churches of the West as the home base
for Christian mission
Beyond the growing Southern church and the declining Western church
2David B Barrett ed World Christian Encyclopedia A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World AD 1048625104863310486241048624-1048626104862410486241048624 (Oxford Oxford University Press 1048625983097983096983090) p 9830953Lamin Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity Te Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids Eerd-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094
World Wide Web wwwivpresscom
Email emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983092 by Michael W Goheen
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement of
students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools of nursing in the United States
of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students For information about
local and regional activities write Public Relations Dept InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSA 983094983092983088983088 Schroeder
Rd PO Box 983095983096983097983093 Madison WI 983093983091983095983088983095-983095983096983097983093 or visit the IVCF website at wwwintervarsityorg
All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are from the THE HOLY BIBLE NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSIONreg NIVreg Copyrightcopy 983089983097983095983091 983089983097983095983096 983089983097983096983092 983090983088983089983089 by Biblica IncM Used by permission All rights reserved
worldwide
While all stories in this book are true some names and identifying information in this book have been changed to
protect the privacy of the individuals involved
Cover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth Hagenberg
Images Huang XinGetty Images
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983092983095-983090 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983093983092983091-983092 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environmentand to the responsible use of natural resources o learn more visit greenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Goheen Michael W 983089983097983093983093-
Introducing Christian mission today scripture history and issues
Michael W Goheen
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983092983095-983090 (hardcover alk paper)
983089 Mission of the church 983090 MissionsmdashTeory I itle
Introduction A Paradigm Shift in Mission Studies oday 983089983093
Changing World Church 983089983095
Changing Global Realities 983090983088
A New Understanding of Mission 983090983093
he Landscape of Mission Studies oday 983090983095
PART ONE B983145983138983148983145983139983137983148 983137983150983140 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983142983148983141983139983156983145983151983150 983151983150 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
PART TWO H983145983155983156983151983154983145983139983137983148 983137983150983140 C983151983150983156983141983149983152983151983154983137983154983161
983093 A S983157983154983158983141983161 983151983142 983156983144983141 G983148983151983138983137983148 C983144983157983154983139983144 983089983096983095 Mission and Global Christianity 983089983096983095
Some Initial Statistics 983089983096983096
he Global Shift to the South 983089983096983097
Sub-Saharan Africa 983089983097983089
Asia 983089983097983095
Latin America 983089983097983097
he Middle East and North Africa 983090983088983094
he Pacific 983090983088983097Eastern Europe 983090983089983090
he West 983090983089983095
Conclusion 983090983090983091
PART THREE C983157983154983154983141983150983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 983145983150 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983151983140983137983161
T983144983145983155 983138983151983151983147 983137983154983145983155983141983155 983151983157983156 983151983142 983137 983139983151983157983154983155983141 that I have taught for twenty-five
years in a number of undergraduate and graduate institutions When I first
taught an introduction to mission course in 1048625104863310486321048632 I struggled to structure
the course in keeping with the momentous changes taking place in the
world church and mission during the twentieth century I was acutely aware
of the inadequacy of the colonialist paradigm which had given rise to a
certain way of teaching missiology But I did not know a better way toproceed Aer teaching the course a few times I happened upon David
Boschrsquos ransforming Mission days aer it was released I devoured that book
I saw a new path for mission studies and a new way to structure an intro-
ductory course Of course today over two decades aer the release of that
book we know its importance It has served to help many reconfigure and
restructure their way of teaching missiology in a new setting where the
church is now in every part of the world
I have used Boschrsquos book many times in courses but have found that its
length and density are sometimes prohibitive for students I hoped that
someone would offer a more popular version that employed Boschrsquos basic
structure that I could use as a textbook Although many good books on
mission have emerged since that time none has tried to cover the water-
front of mission studies as his does yet in a more popular way And as I
faced the diffi culty in almost every chapter of this book of trying to sum-
marize enormous amounts of material in brief chapters I understand why
Nevertheless I have persevered and I offer this as a more popular intro-
duction to mission studies It is intended as an introductory book for stu-
dents and pastors
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
I start with the missio Dei as narrated in the biblical story and place the
mission of the church in that narrative context Mission is participation in
the story of Godrsquos mission Te role that the people of God are to play in thatstory gives them their missional identity Tus the church is missional by
its very nature and the whole of its mission springs from this identity So
this book roots mission in ecclesiology it is thus a missiology that takes the
church with utmost importancemdashsomething that is surprisingly rare It is
also a missiology that takes history seriously attempting to understand and
learn from the church as it has carried out its mission in various historical
and cultural contexts It is moreover a missiology that takes the globalcontext seriously formulating a missiology that understands mission to be
in from and to all parts of the world It is finally a missiology that takes
the contemporary context seriously Te various tasks facing the global
church today in its different settings set the agenda for mission
No one is neutral of course And so my confessional and geographical
location has greatly shaped this book Considered from a global perspective
I stand in the Evangelical tradition More specifically the authors who have
shaped me most are J H Bavinck Harvie Conn Lesslie Newbigin and
David Bosch And so it is from within the Reformed tradition that this in-
troductory book arises Bavinck and Conn set the structural girders for my
thinking early and that early foundational formation remains to the present
And so my approach to missiology stands more narrowly within the Dutch
Neocalvinist tradition although I hope that my appreciation for many other
traditions is evident My indebtedness to Newbigin and Bosch at many
points will be obvious I believe them to be the leading mission thinkers in
the latter part of the twentieth century and therefore I have attempted to
read all of their writings I have also benefited tremendously from many
others I think specifically of Hendrik Kraemer Wilbert Shenk Gerald An-
derson Darrell Guder Chris Wright Andrew Walls George Vandervelde
and Jan Jongeneel
I am also a Canadian and no doubt this will be evident as well It is the
Western context that informs my scholarship but I have attempted to listento brothers and sisters from outside the West I have had many opportunities
for interaction with brothers and sisters from other parts of the world I have
also taught a course in contextual theology for a number of years most re-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
Te word ldquomissionrdquo derives from the Latin word mittere ldquoto sendrdquo and
thus assumes a sender someone sent a place or persons to whom the mes-
senger is sent and a task to fulfill Te Jesuits were first to use this wordwhen in their fourth vow they promised obedience to the pope in regard to
mission outside the churchrsquos fellowshipmdashincluding Protestantsmdashto gather
them in to mother church Given this origin it is surprising to see how
quickly Protestants employed the word to describe their task of propagating
the gospel among those who had never heard Indeed mission had become
a new orthodoxy by the end of the nineteenth century and today for the
most part at least in the Evangelical tradition the word continues to carrypositive connotations
At the beginning of the eighteenth century over 10486331048624 percent of Christians in
the world were found in the West Tus an important motivation for the mis-
sionary expansion that took place over the next two hundred years was the
biblical motive to take the good news of Jesus Christ to people and places
where there was no witness But at the same time this missionary activity
coincided with Western colonialism Tus the course and the practice of
Western Christianityrsquos geographical expansion were deeply shaped by colo-
nialist patterns
ldquoColonialism and mission as a matter of course were interdependent the
right to have colonies carried with it the duty to Christianize the colonizedrdquo
David J Bosch Transforming Mission p 227
Over the course of the last half-century many factors combined to make
a traditional understanding of mission unsuitable for today Tis is not to
say that the missionary enterprise of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
was a mistake Indeed a scriptural impetus drove much of the motivation
and practice of mission Nor do I want to eclipse cross-cultural missions
Te concern to take good news to places where there is no witness remainsa continuing aspect of the churchrsquos mission It is rather to say that dramatic
changes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have made a traditional
paradigm of mission inadequate for our time
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
worship and prayer and in doctrinal and moral faithfulness Moreover the
churches in the South and the East have now begun to take responsibility
for the lionrsquos share of cross-cultural missionsTe dramatic growth of the church in the South and the East has coin-
cided with steep decline in the older churches of the West oday Christians
in Europe and European-derived
cultures only make up about 10486251048629
percent of the total Christian
population David Barrett esti-
mated almost three decades agothat the Western church was
losing about 1048631104863010486241048624 professing
members every day1048626 Lamin Sannehrsquos estimate a decade ago 1048628104862710486241048624 people
per day1048627 was lower nevertheless it is clear that the church in the West is
dwindling Moreover the numerical decline is accompanied by deep com-
promise to the secular humanist worldview of Western culture And
alongside of the growing participation in cross-cultural missions of
churches in the majority world the church in the West has seen a corre-
sponding decline
Tis brief sketch is not intended to simply paint a romantic and rosy
picture of the church in the South and the East nor a dark and gloomy
picture of the church in the West Indeed there is much to be concerned
about in African Asian and Latin American Christianity and much to be
heartened by in Western Christianity Tis characterization is rather to in-
dicate a significant shi in global Christianity that makes a traditional view
of mission inadequate for today In light of these statistics it would seem
absurd to divide the world into a Christian home base and a non-Christian
mission field and to classify the growing churches of the South and the East
as a mission field and the declining churches of the West as the home base
for Christian mission
Beyond the growing Southern church and the declining Western church
2David B Barrett ed World Christian Encyclopedia A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World AD 1048625104863310486241048624-1048626104862410486241048624 (Oxford Oxford University Press 1048625983097983096983090) p 9830953Lamin Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity Te Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids Eerd-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094
World Wide Web wwwivpresscom
Email emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983092 by Michael W Goheen
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement of
students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools of nursing in the United States
of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students For information about
local and regional activities write Public Relations Dept InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSA 983094983092983088983088 Schroeder
Rd PO Box 983095983096983097983093 Madison WI 983093983091983095983088983095-983095983096983097983093 or visit the IVCF website at wwwintervarsityorg
All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are from the THE HOLY BIBLE NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSIONreg NIVreg Copyrightcopy 983089983097983095983091 983089983097983095983096 983089983097983096983092 983090983088983089983089 by Biblica IncM Used by permission All rights reserved
worldwide
While all stories in this book are true some names and identifying information in this book have been changed to
protect the privacy of the individuals involved
Cover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth Hagenberg
Images Huang XinGetty Images
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983092983095-983090 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983093983092983091-983092 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environmentand to the responsible use of natural resources o learn more visit greenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Goheen Michael W 983089983097983093983093-
Introducing Christian mission today scripture history and issues
Michael W Goheen
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983092983095-983090 (hardcover alk paper)
983089 Mission of the church 983090 MissionsmdashTeory I itle
Introduction A Paradigm Shift in Mission Studies oday 983089983093
Changing World Church 983089983095
Changing Global Realities 983090983088
A New Understanding of Mission 983090983093
he Landscape of Mission Studies oday 983090983095
PART ONE B983145983138983148983145983139983137983148 983137983150983140 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983142983148983141983139983156983145983151983150 983151983150 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
PART TWO H983145983155983156983151983154983145983139983137983148 983137983150983140 C983151983150983156983141983149983152983151983154983137983154983161
983093 A S983157983154983158983141983161 983151983142 983156983144983141 G983148983151983138983137983148 C983144983157983154983139983144 983089983096983095 Mission and Global Christianity 983089983096983095
Some Initial Statistics 983089983096983096
he Global Shift to the South 983089983096983097
Sub-Saharan Africa 983089983097983089
Asia 983089983097983095
Latin America 983089983097983097
he Middle East and North Africa 983090983088983094
he Pacific 983090983088983097Eastern Europe 983090983089983090
he West 983090983089983095
Conclusion 983090983090983091
PART THREE C983157983154983154983141983150983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 983145983150 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983151983140983137983161
T983144983145983155 983138983151983151983147 983137983154983145983155983141983155 983151983157983156 983151983142 983137 983139983151983157983154983155983141 that I have taught for twenty-five
years in a number of undergraduate and graduate institutions When I first
taught an introduction to mission course in 1048625104863310486321048632 I struggled to structure
the course in keeping with the momentous changes taking place in the
world church and mission during the twentieth century I was acutely aware
of the inadequacy of the colonialist paradigm which had given rise to a
certain way of teaching missiology But I did not know a better way toproceed Aer teaching the course a few times I happened upon David
Boschrsquos ransforming Mission days aer it was released I devoured that book
I saw a new path for mission studies and a new way to structure an intro-
ductory course Of course today over two decades aer the release of that
book we know its importance It has served to help many reconfigure and
restructure their way of teaching missiology in a new setting where the
church is now in every part of the world
I have used Boschrsquos book many times in courses but have found that its
length and density are sometimes prohibitive for students I hoped that
someone would offer a more popular version that employed Boschrsquos basic
structure that I could use as a textbook Although many good books on
mission have emerged since that time none has tried to cover the water-
front of mission studies as his does yet in a more popular way And as I
faced the diffi culty in almost every chapter of this book of trying to sum-
marize enormous amounts of material in brief chapters I understand why
Nevertheless I have persevered and I offer this as a more popular intro-
duction to mission studies It is intended as an introductory book for stu-
dents and pastors
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
I start with the missio Dei as narrated in the biblical story and place the
mission of the church in that narrative context Mission is participation in
the story of Godrsquos mission Te role that the people of God are to play in thatstory gives them their missional identity Tus the church is missional by
its very nature and the whole of its mission springs from this identity So
this book roots mission in ecclesiology it is thus a missiology that takes the
church with utmost importancemdashsomething that is surprisingly rare It is
also a missiology that takes history seriously attempting to understand and
learn from the church as it has carried out its mission in various historical
and cultural contexts It is moreover a missiology that takes the globalcontext seriously formulating a missiology that understands mission to be
in from and to all parts of the world It is finally a missiology that takes
the contemporary context seriously Te various tasks facing the global
church today in its different settings set the agenda for mission
No one is neutral of course And so my confessional and geographical
location has greatly shaped this book Considered from a global perspective
I stand in the Evangelical tradition More specifically the authors who have
shaped me most are J H Bavinck Harvie Conn Lesslie Newbigin and
David Bosch And so it is from within the Reformed tradition that this in-
troductory book arises Bavinck and Conn set the structural girders for my
thinking early and that early foundational formation remains to the present
And so my approach to missiology stands more narrowly within the Dutch
Neocalvinist tradition although I hope that my appreciation for many other
traditions is evident My indebtedness to Newbigin and Bosch at many
points will be obvious I believe them to be the leading mission thinkers in
the latter part of the twentieth century and therefore I have attempted to
read all of their writings I have also benefited tremendously from many
others I think specifically of Hendrik Kraemer Wilbert Shenk Gerald An-
derson Darrell Guder Chris Wright Andrew Walls George Vandervelde
and Jan Jongeneel
I am also a Canadian and no doubt this will be evident as well It is the
Western context that informs my scholarship but I have attempted to listento brothers and sisters from outside the West I have had many opportunities
for interaction with brothers and sisters from other parts of the world I have
also taught a course in contextual theology for a number of years most re-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
Te word ldquomissionrdquo derives from the Latin word mittere ldquoto sendrdquo and
thus assumes a sender someone sent a place or persons to whom the mes-
senger is sent and a task to fulfill Te Jesuits were first to use this wordwhen in their fourth vow they promised obedience to the pope in regard to
mission outside the churchrsquos fellowshipmdashincluding Protestantsmdashto gather
them in to mother church Given this origin it is surprising to see how
quickly Protestants employed the word to describe their task of propagating
the gospel among those who had never heard Indeed mission had become
a new orthodoxy by the end of the nineteenth century and today for the
most part at least in the Evangelical tradition the word continues to carrypositive connotations
At the beginning of the eighteenth century over 10486331048624 percent of Christians in
the world were found in the West Tus an important motivation for the mis-
sionary expansion that took place over the next two hundred years was the
biblical motive to take the good news of Jesus Christ to people and places
where there was no witness But at the same time this missionary activity
coincided with Western colonialism Tus the course and the practice of
Western Christianityrsquos geographical expansion were deeply shaped by colo-
nialist patterns
ldquoColonialism and mission as a matter of course were interdependent the
right to have colonies carried with it the duty to Christianize the colonizedrdquo
David J Bosch Transforming Mission p 227
Over the course of the last half-century many factors combined to make
a traditional understanding of mission unsuitable for today Tis is not to
say that the missionary enterprise of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
was a mistake Indeed a scriptural impetus drove much of the motivation
and practice of mission Nor do I want to eclipse cross-cultural missions
Te concern to take good news to places where there is no witness remainsa continuing aspect of the churchrsquos mission It is rather to say that dramatic
changes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have made a traditional
paradigm of mission inadequate for our time
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
worship and prayer and in doctrinal and moral faithfulness Moreover the
churches in the South and the East have now begun to take responsibility
for the lionrsquos share of cross-cultural missionsTe dramatic growth of the church in the South and the East has coin-
cided with steep decline in the older churches of the West oday Christians
in Europe and European-derived
cultures only make up about 10486251048629
percent of the total Christian
population David Barrett esti-
mated almost three decades agothat the Western church was
losing about 1048631104863010486241048624 professing
members every day1048626 Lamin Sannehrsquos estimate a decade ago 1048628104862710486241048624 people
per day1048627 was lower nevertheless it is clear that the church in the West is
dwindling Moreover the numerical decline is accompanied by deep com-
promise to the secular humanist worldview of Western culture And
alongside of the growing participation in cross-cultural missions of
churches in the majority world the church in the West has seen a corre-
sponding decline
Tis brief sketch is not intended to simply paint a romantic and rosy
picture of the church in the South and the East nor a dark and gloomy
picture of the church in the West Indeed there is much to be concerned
about in African Asian and Latin American Christianity and much to be
heartened by in Western Christianity Tis characterization is rather to in-
dicate a significant shi in global Christianity that makes a traditional view
of mission inadequate for today In light of these statistics it would seem
absurd to divide the world into a Christian home base and a non-Christian
mission field and to classify the growing churches of the South and the East
as a mission field and the declining churches of the West as the home base
for Christian mission
Beyond the growing Southern church and the declining Western church
2David B Barrett ed World Christian Encyclopedia A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World AD 1048625104863310486241048624-1048626104862410486241048624 (Oxford Oxford University Press 1048625983097983096983090) p 9830953Lamin Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity Te Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids Eerd-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
Introduction A Paradigm Shift in Mission Studies oday 983089983093
Changing World Church 983089983095
Changing Global Realities 983090983088
A New Understanding of Mission 983090983093
he Landscape of Mission Studies oday 983090983095
PART ONE B983145983138983148983145983139983137983148 983137983150983140 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983142983148983141983139983156983145983151983150 983151983150 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
PART TWO H983145983155983156983151983154983145983139983137983148 983137983150983140 C983151983150983156983141983149983152983151983154983137983154983161
983093 A S983157983154983158983141983161 983151983142 983156983144983141 G983148983151983138983137983148 C983144983157983154983139983144 983089983096983095 Mission and Global Christianity 983089983096983095
Some Initial Statistics 983089983096983096
he Global Shift to the South 983089983096983097
Sub-Saharan Africa 983089983097983089
Asia 983089983097983095
Latin America 983089983097983097
he Middle East and North Africa 983090983088983094
he Pacific 983090983088983097Eastern Europe 983090983089983090
he West 983090983089983095
Conclusion 983090983090983091
PART THREE C983157983154983154983141983150983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 983145983150 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983151983140983137983161
T983144983145983155 983138983151983151983147 983137983154983145983155983141983155 983151983157983156 983151983142 983137 983139983151983157983154983155983141 that I have taught for twenty-five
years in a number of undergraduate and graduate institutions When I first
taught an introduction to mission course in 1048625104863310486321048632 I struggled to structure
the course in keeping with the momentous changes taking place in the
world church and mission during the twentieth century I was acutely aware
of the inadequacy of the colonialist paradigm which had given rise to a
certain way of teaching missiology But I did not know a better way toproceed Aer teaching the course a few times I happened upon David
Boschrsquos ransforming Mission days aer it was released I devoured that book
I saw a new path for mission studies and a new way to structure an intro-
ductory course Of course today over two decades aer the release of that
book we know its importance It has served to help many reconfigure and
restructure their way of teaching missiology in a new setting where the
church is now in every part of the world
I have used Boschrsquos book many times in courses but have found that its
length and density are sometimes prohibitive for students I hoped that
someone would offer a more popular version that employed Boschrsquos basic
structure that I could use as a textbook Although many good books on
mission have emerged since that time none has tried to cover the water-
front of mission studies as his does yet in a more popular way And as I
faced the diffi culty in almost every chapter of this book of trying to sum-
marize enormous amounts of material in brief chapters I understand why
Nevertheless I have persevered and I offer this as a more popular intro-
duction to mission studies It is intended as an introductory book for stu-
dents and pastors
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
I start with the missio Dei as narrated in the biblical story and place the
mission of the church in that narrative context Mission is participation in
the story of Godrsquos mission Te role that the people of God are to play in thatstory gives them their missional identity Tus the church is missional by
its very nature and the whole of its mission springs from this identity So
this book roots mission in ecclesiology it is thus a missiology that takes the
church with utmost importancemdashsomething that is surprisingly rare It is
also a missiology that takes history seriously attempting to understand and
learn from the church as it has carried out its mission in various historical
and cultural contexts It is moreover a missiology that takes the globalcontext seriously formulating a missiology that understands mission to be
in from and to all parts of the world It is finally a missiology that takes
the contemporary context seriously Te various tasks facing the global
church today in its different settings set the agenda for mission
No one is neutral of course And so my confessional and geographical
location has greatly shaped this book Considered from a global perspective
I stand in the Evangelical tradition More specifically the authors who have
shaped me most are J H Bavinck Harvie Conn Lesslie Newbigin and
David Bosch And so it is from within the Reformed tradition that this in-
troductory book arises Bavinck and Conn set the structural girders for my
thinking early and that early foundational formation remains to the present
And so my approach to missiology stands more narrowly within the Dutch
Neocalvinist tradition although I hope that my appreciation for many other
traditions is evident My indebtedness to Newbigin and Bosch at many
points will be obvious I believe them to be the leading mission thinkers in
the latter part of the twentieth century and therefore I have attempted to
read all of their writings I have also benefited tremendously from many
others I think specifically of Hendrik Kraemer Wilbert Shenk Gerald An-
derson Darrell Guder Chris Wright Andrew Walls George Vandervelde
and Jan Jongeneel
I am also a Canadian and no doubt this will be evident as well It is the
Western context that informs my scholarship but I have attempted to listento brothers and sisters from outside the West I have had many opportunities
for interaction with brothers and sisters from other parts of the world I have
also taught a course in contextual theology for a number of years most re-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
Te word ldquomissionrdquo derives from the Latin word mittere ldquoto sendrdquo and
thus assumes a sender someone sent a place or persons to whom the mes-
senger is sent and a task to fulfill Te Jesuits were first to use this wordwhen in their fourth vow they promised obedience to the pope in regard to
mission outside the churchrsquos fellowshipmdashincluding Protestantsmdashto gather
them in to mother church Given this origin it is surprising to see how
quickly Protestants employed the word to describe their task of propagating
the gospel among those who had never heard Indeed mission had become
a new orthodoxy by the end of the nineteenth century and today for the
most part at least in the Evangelical tradition the word continues to carrypositive connotations
At the beginning of the eighteenth century over 10486331048624 percent of Christians in
the world were found in the West Tus an important motivation for the mis-
sionary expansion that took place over the next two hundred years was the
biblical motive to take the good news of Jesus Christ to people and places
where there was no witness But at the same time this missionary activity
coincided with Western colonialism Tus the course and the practice of
Western Christianityrsquos geographical expansion were deeply shaped by colo-
nialist patterns
ldquoColonialism and mission as a matter of course were interdependent the
right to have colonies carried with it the duty to Christianize the colonizedrdquo
David J Bosch Transforming Mission p 227
Over the course of the last half-century many factors combined to make
a traditional understanding of mission unsuitable for today Tis is not to
say that the missionary enterprise of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
was a mistake Indeed a scriptural impetus drove much of the motivation
and practice of mission Nor do I want to eclipse cross-cultural missions
Te concern to take good news to places where there is no witness remainsa continuing aspect of the churchrsquos mission It is rather to say that dramatic
changes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have made a traditional
paradigm of mission inadequate for our time
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
worship and prayer and in doctrinal and moral faithfulness Moreover the
churches in the South and the East have now begun to take responsibility
for the lionrsquos share of cross-cultural missionsTe dramatic growth of the church in the South and the East has coin-
cided with steep decline in the older churches of the West oday Christians
in Europe and European-derived
cultures only make up about 10486251048629
percent of the total Christian
population David Barrett esti-
mated almost three decades agothat the Western church was
losing about 1048631104863010486241048624 professing
members every day1048626 Lamin Sannehrsquos estimate a decade ago 1048628104862710486241048624 people
per day1048627 was lower nevertheless it is clear that the church in the West is
dwindling Moreover the numerical decline is accompanied by deep com-
promise to the secular humanist worldview of Western culture And
alongside of the growing participation in cross-cultural missions of
churches in the majority world the church in the West has seen a corre-
sponding decline
Tis brief sketch is not intended to simply paint a romantic and rosy
picture of the church in the South and the East nor a dark and gloomy
picture of the church in the West Indeed there is much to be concerned
about in African Asian and Latin American Christianity and much to be
heartened by in Western Christianity Tis characterization is rather to in-
dicate a significant shi in global Christianity that makes a traditional view
of mission inadequate for today In light of these statistics it would seem
absurd to divide the world into a Christian home base and a non-Christian
mission field and to classify the growing churches of the South and the East
as a mission field and the declining churches of the West as the home base
for Christian mission
Beyond the growing Southern church and the declining Western church
2David B Barrett ed World Christian Encyclopedia A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World AD 1048625104863310486241048624-1048626104862410486241048624 (Oxford Oxford University Press 1048625983097983096983090) p 9830953Lamin Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity Te Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids Eerd-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
983093 A S983157983154983158983141983161 983151983142 983156983144983141 G983148983151983138983137983148 C983144983157983154983139983144 983089983096983095 Mission and Global Christianity 983089983096983095
Some Initial Statistics 983089983096983096
he Global Shift to the South 983089983096983097
Sub-Saharan Africa 983089983097983089
Asia 983089983097983095
Latin America 983089983097983097
he Middle East and North Africa 983090983088983094
he Pacific 983090983088983097Eastern Europe 983090983089983090
he West 983090983089983095
Conclusion 983090983090983091
PART THREE C983157983154983154983141983150983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 983145983150 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983151983140983137983161
T983144983145983155 983138983151983151983147 983137983154983145983155983141983155 983151983157983156 983151983142 983137 983139983151983157983154983155983141 that I have taught for twenty-five
years in a number of undergraduate and graduate institutions When I first
taught an introduction to mission course in 1048625104863310486321048632 I struggled to structure
the course in keeping with the momentous changes taking place in the
world church and mission during the twentieth century I was acutely aware
of the inadequacy of the colonialist paradigm which had given rise to a
certain way of teaching missiology But I did not know a better way toproceed Aer teaching the course a few times I happened upon David
Boschrsquos ransforming Mission days aer it was released I devoured that book
I saw a new path for mission studies and a new way to structure an intro-
ductory course Of course today over two decades aer the release of that
book we know its importance It has served to help many reconfigure and
restructure their way of teaching missiology in a new setting where the
church is now in every part of the world
I have used Boschrsquos book many times in courses but have found that its
length and density are sometimes prohibitive for students I hoped that
someone would offer a more popular version that employed Boschrsquos basic
structure that I could use as a textbook Although many good books on
mission have emerged since that time none has tried to cover the water-
front of mission studies as his does yet in a more popular way And as I
faced the diffi culty in almost every chapter of this book of trying to sum-
marize enormous amounts of material in brief chapters I understand why
Nevertheless I have persevered and I offer this as a more popular intro-
duction to mission studies It is intended as an introductory book for stu-
dents and pastors
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
I start with the missio Dei as narrated in the biblical story and place the
mission of the church in that narrative context Mission is participation in
the story of Godrsquos mission Te role that the people of God are to play in thatstory gives them their missional identity Tus the church is missional by
its very nature and the whole of its mission springs from this identity So
this book roots mission in ecclesiology it is thus a missiology that takes the
church with utmost importancemdashsomething that is surprisingly rare It is
also a missiology that takes history seriously attempting to understand and
learn from the church as it has carried out its mission in various historical
and cultural contexts It is moreover a missiology that takes the globalcontext seriously formulating a missiology that understands mission to be
in from and to all parts of the world It is finally a missiology that takes
the contemporary context seriously Te various tasks facing the global
church today in its different settings set the agenda for mission
No one is neutral of course And so my confessional and geographical
location has greatly shaped this book Considered from a global perspective
I stand in the Evangelical tradition More specifically the authors who have
shaped me most are J H Bavinck Harvie Conn Lesslie Newbigin and
David Bosch And so it is from within the Reformed tradition that this in-
troductory book arises Bavinck and Conn set the structural girders for my
thinking early and that early foundational formation remains to the present
And so my approach to missiology stands more narrowly within the Dutch
Neocalvinist tradition although I hope that my appreciation for many other
traditions is evident My indebtedness to Newbigin and Bosch at many
points will be obvious I believe them to be the leading mission thinkers in
the latter part of the twentieth century and therefore I have attempted to
read all of their writings I have also benefited tremendously from many
others I think specifically of Hendrik Kraemer Wilbert Shenk Gerald An-
derson Darrell Guder Chris Wright Andrew Walls George Vandervelde
and Jan Jongeneel
I am also a Canadian and no doubt this will be evident as well It is the
Western context that informs my scholarship but I have attempted to listento brothers and sisters from outside the West I have had many opportunities
for interaction with brothers and sisters from other parts of the world I have
also taught a course in contextual theology for a number of years most re-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
Te word ldquomissionrdquo derives from the Latin word mittere ldquoto sendrdquo and
thus assumes a sender someone sent a place or persons to whom the mes-
senger is sent and a task to fulfill Te Jesuits were first to use this wordwhen in their fourth vow they promised obedience to the pope in regard to
mission outside the churchrsquos fellowshipmdashincluding Protestantsmdashto gather
them in to mother church Given this origin it is surprising to see how
quickly Protestants employed the word to describe their task of propagating
the gospel among those who had never heard Indeed mission had become
a new orthodoxy by the end of the nineteenth century and today for the
most part at least in the Evangelical tradition the word continues to carrypositive connotations
At the beginning of the eighteenth century over 10486331048624 percent of Christians in
the world were found in the West Tus an important motivation for the mis-
sionary expansion that took place over the next two hundred years was the
biblical motive to take the good news of Jesus Christ to people and places
where there was no witness But at the same time this missionary activity
coincided with Western colonialism Tus the course and the practice of
Western Christianityrsquos geographical expansion were deeply shaped by colo-
nialist patterns
ldquoColonialism and mission as a matter of course were interdependent the
right to have colonies carried with it the duty to Christianize the colonizedrdquo
David J Bosch Transforming Mission p 227
Over the course of the last half-century many factors combined to make
a traditional understanding of mission unsuitable for today Tis is not to
say that the missionary enterprise of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
was a mistake Indeed a scriptural impetus drove much of the motivation
and practice of mission Nor do I want to eclipse cross-cultural missions
Te concern to take good news to places where there is no witness remainsa continuing aspect of the churchrsquos mission It is rather to say that dramatic
changes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have made a traditional
paradigm of mission inadequate for our time
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
worship and prayer and in doctrinal and moral faithfulness Moreover the
churches in the South and the East have now begun to take responsibility
for the lionrsquos share of cross-cultural missionsTe dramatic growth of the church in the South and the East has coin-
cided with steep decline in the older churches of the West oday Christians
in Europe and European-derived
cultures only make up about 10486251048629
percent of the total Christian
population David Barrett esti-
mated almost three decades agothat the Western church was
losing about 1048631104863010486241048624 professing
members every day1048626 Lamin Sannehrsquos estimate a decade ago 1048628104862710486241048624 people
per day1048627 was lower nevertheless it is clear that the church in the West is
dwindling Moreover the numerical decline is accompanied by deep com-
promise to the secular humanist worldview of Western culture And
alongside of the growing participation in cross-cultural missions of
churches in the majority world the church in the West has seen a corre-
sponding decline
Tis brief sketch is not intended to simply paint a romantic and rosy
picture of the church in the South and the East nor a dark and gloomy
picture of the church in the West Indeed there is much to be concerned
about in African Asian and Latin American Christianity and much to be
heartened by in Western Christianity Tis characterization is rather to in-
dicate a significant shi in global Christianity that makes a traditional view
of mission inadequate for today In light of these statistics it would seem
absurd to divide the world into a Christian home base and a non-Christian
mission field and to classify the growing churches of the South and the East
as a mission field and the declining churches of the West as the home base
for Christian mission
Beyond the growing Southern church and the declining Western church
2David B Barrett ed World Christian Encyclopedia A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World AD 1048625104863310486241048624-1048626104862410486241048624 (Oxford Oxford University Press 1048625983097983096983090) p 9830953Lamin Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity Te Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids Eerd-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
T983144983145983155 983138983151983151983147 983137983154983145983155983141983155 983151983157983156 983151983142 983137 983139983151983157983154983155983141 that I have taught for twenty-five
years in a number of undergraduate and graduate institutions When I first
taught an introduction to mission course in 1048625104863310486321048632 I struggled to structure
the course in keeping with the momentous changes taking place in the
world church and mission during the twentieth century I was acutely aware
of the inadequacy of the colonialist paradigm which had given rise to a
certain way of teaching missiology But I did not know a better way toproceed Aer teaching the course a few times I happened upon David
Boschrsquos ransforming Mission days aer it was released I devoured that book
I saw a new path for mission studies and a new way to structure an intro-
ductory course Of course today over two decades aer the release of that
book we know its importance It has served to help many reconfigure and
restructure their way of teaching missiology in a new setting where the
church is now in every part of the world
I have used Boschrsquos book many times in courses but have found that its
length and density are sometimes prohibitive for students I hoped that
someone would offer a more popular version that employed Boschrsquos basic
structure that I could use as a textbook Although many good books on
mission have emerged since that time none has tried to cover the water-
front of mission studies as his does yet in a more popular way And as I
faced the diffi culty in almost every chapter of this book of trying to sum-
marize enormous amounts of material in brief chapters I understand why
Nevertheless I have persevered and I offer this as a more popular intro-
duction to mission studies It is intended as an introductory book for stu-
dents and pastors
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
I start with the missio Dei as narrated in the biblical story and place the
mission of the church in that narrative context Mission is participation in
the story of Godrsquos mission Te role that the people of God are to play in thatstory gives them their missional identity Tus the church is missional by
its very nature and the whole of its mission springs from this identity So
this book roots mission in ecclesiology it is thus a missiology that takes the
church with utmost importancemdashsomething that is surprisingly rare It is
also a missiology that takes history seriously attempting to understand and
learn from the church as it has carried out its mission in various historical
and cultural contexts It is moreover a missiology that takes the globalcontext seriously formulating a missiology that understands mission to be
in from and to all parts of the world It is finally a missiology that takes
the contemporary context seriously Te various tasks facing the global
church today in its different settings set the agenda for mission
No one is neutral of course And so my confessional and geographical
location has greatly shaped this book Considered from a global perspective
I stand in the Evangelical tradition More specifically the authors who have
shaped me most are J H Bavinck Harvie Conn Lesslie Newbigin and
David Bosch And so it is from within the Reformed tradition that this in-
troductory book arises Bavinck and Conn set the structural girders for my
thinking early and that early foundational formation remains to the present
And so my approach to missiology stands more narrowly within the Dutch
Neocalvinist tradition although I hope that my appreciation for many other
traditions is evident My indebtedness to Newbigin and Bosch at many
points will be obvious I believe them to be the leading mission thinkers in
the latter part of the twentieth century and therefore I have attempted to
read all of their writings I have also benefited tremendously from many
others I think specifically of Hendrik Kraemer Wilbert Shenk Gerald An-
derson Darrell Guder Chris Wright Andrew Walls George Vandervelde
and Jan Jongeneel
I am also a Canadian and no doubt this will be evident as well It is the
Western context that informs my scholarship but I have attempted to listento brothers and sisters from outside the West I have had many opportunities
for interaction with brothers and sisters from other parts of the world I have
also taught a course in contextual theology for a number of years most re-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
Te word ldquomissionrdquo derives from the Latin word mittere ldquoto sendrdquo and
thus assumes a sender someone sent a place or persons to whom the mes-
senger is sent and a task to fulfill Te Jesuits were first to use this wordwhen in their fourth vow they promised obedience to the pope in regard to
mission outside the churchrsquos fellowshipmdashincluding Protestantsmdashto gather
them in to mother church Given this origin it is surprising to see how
quickly Protestants employed the word to describe their task of propagating
the gospel among those who had never heard Indeed mission had become
a new orthodoxy by the end of the nineteenth century and today for the
most part at least in the Evangelical tradition the word continues to carrypositive connotations
At the beginning of the eighteenth century over 10486331048624 percent of Christians in
the world were found in the West Tus an important motivation for the mis-
sionary expansion that took place over the next two hundred years was the
biblical motive to take the good news of Jesus Christ to people and places
where there was no witness But at the same time this missionary activity
coincided with Western colonialism Tus the course and the practice of
Western Christianityrsquos geographical expansion were deeply shaped by colo-
nialist patterns
ldquoColonialism and mission as a matter of course were interdependent the
right to have colonies carried with it the duty to Christianize the colonizedrdquo
David J Bosch Transforming Mission p 227
Over the course of the last half-century many factors combined to make
a traditional understanding of mission unsuitable for today Tis is not to
say that the missionary enterprise of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
was a mistake Indeed a scriptural impetus drove much of the motivation
and practice of mission Nor do I want to eclipse cross-cultural missions
Te concern to take good news to places where there is no witness remainsa continuing aspect of the churchrsquos mission It is rather to say that dramatic
changes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have made a traditional
paradigm of mission inadequate for our time
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
worship and prayer and in doctrinal and moral faithfulness Moreover the
churches in the South and the East have now begun to take responsibility
for the lionrsquos share of cross-cultural missionsTe dramatic growth of the church in the South and the East has coin-
cided with steep decline in the older churches of the West oday Christians
in Europe and European-derived
cultures only make up about 10486251048629
percent of the total Christian
population David Barrett esti-
mated almost three decades agothat the Western church was
losing about 1048631104863010486241048624 professing
members every day1048626 Lamin Sannehrsquos estimate a decade ago 1048628104862710486241048624 people
per day1048627 was lower nevertheless it is clear that the church in the West is
dwindling Moreover the numerical decline is accompanied by deep com-
promise to the secular humanist worldview of Western culture And
alongside of the growing participation in cross-cultural missions of
churches in the majority world the church in the West has seen a corre-
sponding decline
Tis brief sketch is not intended to simply paint a romantic and rosy
picture of the church in the South and the East nor a dark and gloomy
picture of the church in the West Indeed there is much to be concerned
about in African Asian and Latin American Christianity and much to be
heartened by in Western Christianity Tis characterization is rather to in-
dicate a significant shi in global Christianity that makes a traditional view
of mission inadequate for today In light of these statistics it would seem
absurd to divide the world into a Christian home base and a non-Christian
mission field and to classify the growing churches of the South and the East
as a mission field and the declining churches of the West as the home base
for Christian mission
Beyond the growing Southern church and the declining Western church
2David B Barrett ed World Christian Encyclopedia A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World AD 1048625104863310486241048624-1048626104862410486241048624 (Oxford Oxford University Press 1048625983097983096983090) p 9830953Lamin Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity Te Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids Eerd-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
T983144983145983155 983138983151983151983147 983137983154983145983155983141983155 983151983157983156 983151983142 983137 983139983151983157983154983155983141 that I have taught for twenty-five
years in a number of undergraduate and graduate institutions When I first
taught an introduction to mission course in 1048625104863310486321048632 I struggled to structure
the course in keeping with the momentous changes taking place in the
world church and mission during the twentieth century I was acutely aware
of the inadequacy of the colonialist paradigm which had given rise to a
certain way of teaching missiology But I did not know a better way toproceed Aer teaching the course a few times I happened upon David
Boschrsquos ransforming Mission days aer it was released I devoured that book
I saw a new path for mission studies and a new way to structure an intro-
ductory course Of course today over two decades aer the release of that
book we know its importance It has served to help many reconfigure and
restructure their way of teaching missiology in a new setting where the
church is now in every part of the world
I have used Boschrsquos book many times in courses but have found that its
length and density are sometimes prohibitive for students I hoped that
someone would offer a more popular version that employed Boschrsquos basic
structure that I could use as a textbook Although many good books on
mission have emerged since that time none has tried to cover the water-
front of mission studies as his does yet in a more popular way And as I
faced the diffi culty in almost every chapter of this book of trying to sum-
marize enormous amounts of material in brief chapters I understand why
Nevertheless I have persevered and I offer this as a more popular intro-
duction to mission studies It is intended as an introductory book for stu-
dents and pastors
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
I start with the missio Dei as narrated in the biblical story and place the
mission of the church in that narrative context Mission is participation in
the story of Godrsquos mission Te role that the people of God are to play in thatstory gives them their missional identity Tus the church is missional by
its very nature and the whole of its mission springs from this identity So
this book roots mission in ecclesiology it is thus a missiology that takes the
church with utmost importancemdashsomething that is surprisingly rare It is
also a missiology that takes history seriously attempting to understand and
learn from the church as it has carried out its mission in various historical
and cultural contexts It is moreover a missiology that takes the globalcontext seriously formulating a missiology that understands mission to be
in from and to all parts of the world It is finally a missiology that takes
the contemporary context seriously Te various tasks facing the global
church today in its different settings set the agenda for mission
No one is neutral of course And so my confessional and geographical
location has greatly shaped this book Considered from a global perspective
I stand in the Evangelical tradition More specifically the authors who have
shaped me most are J H Bavinck Harvie Conn Lesslie Newbigin and
David Bosch And so it is from within the Reformed tradition that this in-
troductory book arises Bavinck and Conn set the structural girders for my
thinking early and that early foundational formation remains to the present
And so my approach to missiology stands more narrowly within the Dutch
Neocalvinist tradition although I hope that my appreciation for many other
traditions is evident My indebtedness to Newbigin and Bosch at many
points will be obvious I believe them to be the leading mission thinkers in
the latter part of the twentieth century and therefore I have attempted to
read all of their writings I have also benefited tremendously from many
others I think specifically of Hendrik Kraemer Wilbert Shenk Gerald An-
derson Darrell Guder Chris Wright Andrew Walls George Vandervelde
and Jan Jongeneel
I am also a Canadian and no doubt this will be evident as well It is the
Western context that informs my scholarship but I have attempted to listento brothers and sisters from outside the West I have had many opportunities
for interaction with brothers and sisters from other parts of the world I have
also taught a course in contextual theology for a number of years most re-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
Te word ldquomissionrdquo derives from the Latin word mittere ldquoto sendrdquo and
thus assumes a sender someone sent a place or persons to whom the mes-
senger is sent and a task to fulfill Te Jesuits were first to use this wordwhen in their fourth vow they promised obedience to the pope in regard to
mission outside the churchrsquos fellowshipmdashincluding Protestantsmdashto gather
them in to mother church Given this origin it is surprising to see how
quickly Protestants employed the word to describe their task of propagating
the gospel among those who had never heard Indeed mission had become
a new orthodoxy by the end of the nineteenth century and today for the
most part at least in the Evangelical tradition the word continues to carrypositive connotations
At the beginning of the eighteenth century over 10486331048624 percent of Christians in
the world were found in the West Tus an important motivation for the mis-
sionary expansion that took place over the next two hundred years was the
biblical motive to take the good news of Jesus Christ to people and places
where there was no witness But at the same time this missionary activity
coincided with Western colonialism Tus the course and the practice of
Western Christianityrsquos geographical expansion were deeply shaped by colo-
nialist patterns
ldquoColonialism and mission as a matter of course were interdependent the
right to have colonies carried with it the duty to Christianize the colonizedrdquo
David J Bosch Transforming Mission p 227
Over the course of the last half-century many factors combined to make
a traditional understanding of mission unsuitable for today Tis is not to
say that the missionary enterprise of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
was a mistake Indeed a scriptural impetus drove much of the motivation
and practice of mission Nor do I want to eclipse cross-cultural missions
Te concern to take good news to places where there is no witness remainsa continuing aspect of the churchrsquos mission It is rather to say that dramatic
changes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have made a traditional
paradigm of mission inadequate for our time
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
worship and prayer and in doctrinal and moral faithfulness Moreover the
churches in the South and the East have now begun to take responsibility
for the lionrsquos share of cross-cultural missionsTe dramatic growth of the church in the South and the East has coin-
cided with steep decline in the older churches of the West oday Christians
in Europe and European-derived
cultures only make up about 10486251048629
percent of the total Christian
population David Barrett esti-
mated almost three decades agothat the Western church was
losing about 1048631104863010486241048624 professing
members every day1048626 Lamin Sannehrsquos estimate a decade ago 1048628104862710486241048624 people
per day1048627 was lower nevertheless it is clear that the church in the West is
dwindling Moreover the numerical decline is accompanied by deep com-
promise to the secular humanist worldview of Western culture And
alongside of the growing participation in cross-cultural missions of
churches in the majority world the church in the West has seen a corre-
sponding decline
Tis brief sketch is not intended to simply paint a romantic and rosy
picture of the church in the South and the East nor a dark and gloomy
picture of the church in the West Indeed there is much to be concerned
about in African Asian and Latin American Christianity and much to be
heartened by in Western Christianity Tis characterization is rather to in-
dicate a significant shi in global Christianity that makes a traditional view
of mission inadequate for today In light of these statistics it would seem
absurd to divide the world into a Christian home base and a non-Christian
mission field and to classify the growing churches of the South and the East
as a mission field and the declining churches of the West as the home base
for Christian mission
Beyond the growing Southern church and the declining Western church
2David B Barrett ed World Christian Encyclopedia A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World AD 1048625104863310486241048624-1048626104862410486241048624 (Oxford Oxford University Press 1048625983097983096983090) p 9830953Lamin Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity Te Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids Eerd-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
I start with the missio Dei as narrated in the biblical story and place the
mission of the church in that narrative context Mission is participation in
the story of Godrsquos mission Te role that the people of God are to play in thatstory gives them their missional identity Tus the church is missional by
its very nature and the whole of its mission springs from this identity So
this book roots mission in ecclesiology it is thus a missiology that takes the
church with utmost importancemdashsomething that is surprisingly rare It is
also a missiology that takes history seriously attempting to understand and
learn from the church as it has carried out its mission in various historical
and cultural contexts It is moreover a missiology that takes the globalcontext seriously formulating a missiology that understands mission to be
in from and to all parts of the world It is finally a missiology that takes
the contemporary context seriously Te various tasks facing the global
church today in its different settings set the agenda for mission
No one is neutral of course And so my confessional and geographical
location has greatly shaped this book Considered from a global perspective
I stand in the Evangelical tradition More specifically the authors who have
shaped me most are J H Bavinck Harvie Conn Lesslie Newbigin and
David Bosch And so it is from within the Reformed tradition that this in-
troductory book arises Bavinck and Conn set the structural girders for my
thinking early and that early foundational formation remains to the present
And so my approach to missiology stands more narrowly within the Dutch
Neocalvinist tradition although I hope that my appreciation for many other
traditions is evident My indebtedness to Newbigin and Bosch at many
points will be obvious I believe them to be the leading mission thinkers in
the latter part of the twentieth century and therefore I have attempted to
read all of their writings I have also benefited tremendously from many
others I think specifically of Hendrik Kraemer Wilbert Shenk Gerald An-
derson Darrell Guder Chris Wright Andrew Walls George Vandervelde
and Jan Jongeneel
I am also a Canadian and no doubt this will be evident as well It is the
Western context that informs my scholarship but I have attempted to listento brothers and sisters from outside the West I have had many opportunities
for interaction with brothers and sisters from other parts of the world I have
also taught a course in contextual theology for a number of years most re-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
Te word ldquomissionrdquo derives from the Latin word mittere ldquoto sendrdquo and
thus assumes a sender someone sent a place or persons to whom the mes-
senger is sent and a task to fulfill Te Jesuits were first to use this wordwhen in their fourth vow they promised obedience to the pope in regard to
mission outside the churchrsquos fellowshipmdashincluding Protestantsmdashto gather
them in to mother church Given this origin it is surprising to see how
quickly Protestants employed the word to describe their task of propagating
the gospel among those who had never heard Indeed mission had become
a new orthodoxy by the end of the nineteenth century and today for the
most part at least in the Evangelical tradition the word continues to carrypositive connotations
At the beginning of the eighteenth century over 10486331048624 percent of Christians in
the world were found in the West Tus an important motivation for the mis-
sionary expansion that took place over the next two hundred years was the
biblical motive to take the good news of Jesus Christ to people and places
where there was no witness But at the same time this missionary activity
coincided with Western colonialism Tus the course and the practice of
Western Christianityrsquos geographical expansion were deeply shaped by colo-
nialist patterns
ldquoColonialism and mission as a matter of course were interdependent the
right to have colonies carried with it the duty to Christianize the colonizedrdquo
David J Bosch Transforming Mission p 227
Over the course of the last half-century many factors combined to make
a traditional understanding of mission unsuitable for today Tis is not to
say that the missionary enterprise of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
was a mistake Indeed a scriptural impetus drove much of the motivation
and practice of mission Nor do I want to eclipse cross-cultural missions
Te concern to take good news to places where there is no witness remainsa continuing aspect of the churchrsquos mission It is rather to say that dramatic
changes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have made a traditional
paradigm of mission inadequate for our time
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
worship and prayer and in doctrinal and moral faithfulness Moreover the
churches in the South and the East have now begun to take responsibility
for the lionrsquos share of cross-cultural missionsTe dramatic growth of the church in the South and the East has coin-
cided with steep decline in the older churches of the West oday Christians
in Europe and European-derived
cultures only make up about 10486251048629
percent of the total Christian
population David Barrett esti-
mated almost three decades agothat the Western church was
losing about 1048631104863010486241048624 professing
members every day1048626 Lamin Sannehrsquos estimate a decade ago 1048628104862710486241048624 people
per day1048627 was lower nevertheless it is clear that the church in the West is
dwindling Moreover the numerical decline is accompanied by deep com-
promise to the secular humanist worldview of Western culture And
alongside of the growing participation in cross-cultural missions of
churches in the majority world the church in the West has seen a corre-
sponding decline
Tis brief sketch is not intended to simply paint a romantic and rosy
picture of the church in the South and the East nor a dark and gloomy
picture of the church in the West Indeed there is much to be concerned
about in African Asian and Latin American Christianity and much to be
heartened by in Western Christianity Tis characterization is rather to in-
dicate a significant shi in global Christianity that makes a traditional view
of mission inadequate for today In light of these statistics it would seem
absurd to divide the world into a Christian home base and a non-Christian
mission field and to classify the growing churches of the South and the East
as a mission field and the declining churches of the West as the home base
for Christian mission
Beyond the growing Southern church and the declining Western church
2David B Barrett ed World Christian Encyclopedia A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World AD 1048625104863310486241048624-1048626104862410486241048624 (Oxford Oxford University Press 1048625983097983096983090) p 9830953Lamin Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity Te Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids Eerd-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
Te word ldquomissionrdquo derives from the Latin word mittere ldquoto sendrdquo and
thus assumes a sender someone sent a place or persons to whom the mes-
senger is sent and a task to fulfill Te Jesuits were first to use this wordwhen in their fourth vow they promised obedience to the pope in regard to
mission outside the churchrsquos fellowshipmdashincluding Protestantsmdashto gather
them in to mother church Given this origin it is surprising to see how
quickly Protestants employed the word to describe their task of propagating
the gospel among those who had never heard Indeed mission had become
a new orthodoxy by the end of the nineteenth century and today for the
most part at least in the Evangelical tradition the word continues to carrypositive connotations
At the beginning of the eighteenth century over 10486331048624 percent of Christians in
the world were found in the West Tus an important motivation for the mis-
sionary expansion that took place over the next two hundred years was the
biblical motive to take the good news of Jesus Christ to people and places
where there was no witness But at the same time this missionary activity
coincided with Western colonialism Tus the course and the practice of
Western Christianityrsquos geographical expansion were deeply shaped by colo-
nialist patterns
ldquoColonialism and mission as a matter of course were interdependent the
right to have colonies carried with it the duty to Christianize the colonizedrdquo
David J Bosch Transforming Mission p 227
Over the course of the last half-century many factors combined to make
a traditional understanding of mission unsuitable for today Tis is not to
say that the missionary enterprise of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
was a mistake Indeed a scriptural impetus drove much of the motivation
and practice of mission Nor do I want to eclipse cross-cultural missions
Te concern to take good news to places where there is no witness remainsa continuing aspect of the churchrsquos mission It is rather to say that dramatic
changes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have made a traditional
paradigm of mission inadequate for our time
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
worship and prayer and in doctrinal and moral faithfulness Moreover the
churches in the South and the East have now begun to take responsibility
for the lionrsquos share of cross-cultural missionsTe dramatic growth of the church in the South and the East has coin-
cided with steep decline in the older churches of the West oday Christians
in Europe and European-derived
cultures only make up about 10486251048629
percent of the total Christian
population David Barrett esti-
mated almost three decades agothat the Western church was
losing about 1048631104863010486241048624 professing
members every day1048626 Lamin Sannehrsquos estimate a decade ago 1048628104862710486241048624 people
per day1048627 was lower nevertheless it is clear that the church in the West is
dwindling Moreover the numerical decline is accompanied by deep com-
promise to the secular humanist worldview of Western culture And
alongside of the growing participation in cross-cultural missions of
churches in the majority world the church in the West has seen a corre-
sponding decline
Tis brief sketch is not intended to simply paint a romantic and rosy
picture of the church in the South and the East nor a dark and gloomy
picture of the church in the West Indeed there is much to be concerned
about in African Asian and Latin American Christianity and much to be
heartened by in Western Christianity Tis characterization is rather to in-
dicate a significant shi in global Christianity that makes a traditional view
of mission inadequate for today In light of these statistics it would seem
absurd to divide the world into a Christian home base and a non-Christian
mission field and to classify the growing churches of the South and the East
as a mission field and the declining churches of the West as the home base
for Christian mission
Beyond the growing Southern church and the declining Western church
2David B Barrett ed World Christian Encyclopedia A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World AD 1048625104863310486241048624-1048626104862410486241048624 (Oxford Oxford University Press 1048625983097983096983090) p 9830953Lamin Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity Te Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids Eerd-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
Te word ldquomissionrdquo derives from the Latin word mittere ldquoto sendrdquo and
thus assumes a sender someone sent a place or persons to whom the mes-
senger is sent and a task to fulfill Te Jesuits were first to use this wordwhen in their fourth vow they promised obedience to the pope in regard to
mission outside the churchrsquos fellowshipmdashincluding Protestantsmdashto gather
them in to mother church Given this origin it is surprising to see how
quickly Protestants employed the word to describe their task of propagating
the gospel among those who had never heard Indeed mission had become
a new orthodoxy by the end of the nineteenth century and today for the
most part at least in the Evangelical tradition the word continues to carrypositive connotations
At the beginning of the eighteenth century over 10486331048624 percent of Christians in
the world were found in the West Tus an important motivation for the mis-
sionary expansion that took place over the next two hundred years was the
biblical motive to take the good news of Jesus Christ to people and places
where there was no witness But at the same time this missionary activity
coincided with Western colonialism Tus the course and the practice of
Western Christianityrsquos geographical expansion were deeply shaped by colo-
nialist patterns
ldquoColonialism and mission as a matter of course were interdependent the
right to have colonies carried with it the duty to Christianize the colonizedrdquo
David J Bosch Transforming Mission p 227
Over the course of the last half-century many factors combined to make
a traditional understanding of mission unsuitable for today Tis is not to
say that the missionary enterprise of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
was a mistake Indeed a scriptural impetus drove much of the motivation
and practice of mission Nor do I want to eclipse cross-cultural missions
Te concern to take good news to places where there is no witness remainsa continuing aspect of the churchrsquos mission It is rather to say that dramatic
changes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have made a traditional
paradigm of mission inadequate for our time
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
worship and prayer and in doctrinal and moral faithfulness Moreover the
churches in the South and the East have now begun to take responsibility
for the lionrsquos share of cross-cultural missionsTe dramatic growth of the church in the South and the East has coin-
cided with steep decline in the older churches of the West oday Christians
in Europe and European-derived
cultures only make up about 10486251048629
percent of the total Christian
population David Barrett esti-
mated almost three decades agothat the Western church was
losing about 1048631104863010486241048624 professing
members every day1048626 Lamin Sannehrsquos estimate a decade ago 1048628104862710486241048624 people
per day1048627 was lower nevertheless it is clear that the church in the West is
dwindling Moreover the numerical decline is accompanied by deep com-
promise to the secular humanist worldview of Western culture And
alongside of the growing participation in cross-cultural missions of
churches in the majority world the church in the West has seen a corre-
sponding decline
Tis brief sketch is not intended to simply paint a romantic and rosy
picture of the church in the South and the East nor a dark and gloomy
picture of the church in the West Indeed there is much to be concerned
about in African Asian and Latin American Christianity and much to be
heartened by in Western Christianity Tis characterization is rather to in-
dicate a significant shi in global Christianity that makes a traditional view
of mission inadequate for today In light of these statistics it would seem
absurd to divide the world into a Christian home base and a non-Christian
mission field and to classify the growing churches of the South and the East
as a mission field and the declining churches of the West as the home base
for Christian mission
Beyond the growing Southern church and the declining Western church
2David B Barrett ed World Christian Encyclopedia A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World AD 1048625104863310486241048624-1048626104862410486241048624 (Oxford Oxford University Press 1048625983097983096983090) p 9830953Lamin Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity Te Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids Eerd-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
Te word ldquomissionrdquo derives from the Latin word mittere ldquoto sendrdquo and
thus assumes a sender someone sent a place or persons to whom the mes-
senger is sent and a task to fulfill Te Jesuits were first to use this wordwhen in their fourth vow they promised obedience to the pope in regard to
mission outside the churchrsquos fellowshipmdashincluding Protestantsmdashto gather
them in to mother church Given this origin it is surprising to see how
quickly Protestants employed the word to describe their task of propagating
the gospel among those who had never heard Indeed mission had become
a new orthodoxy by the end of the nineteenth century and today for the
most part at least in the Evangelical tradition the word continues to carrypositive connotations
At the beginning of the eighteenth century over 10486331048624 percent of Christians in
the world were found in the West Tus an important motivation for the mis-
sionary expansion that took place over the next two hundred years was the
biblical motive to take the good news of Jesus Christ to people and places
where there was no witness But at the same time this missionary activity
coincided with Western colonialism Tus the course and the practice of
Western Christianityrsquos geographical expansion were deeply shaped by colo-
nialist patterns
ldquoColonialism and mission as a matter of course were interdependent the
right to have colonies carried with it the duty to Christianize the colonizedrdquo
David J Bosch Transforming Mission p 227
Over the course of the last half-century many factors combined to make
a traditional understanding of mission unsuitable for today Tis is not to
say that the missionary enterprise of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
was a mistake Indeed a scriptural impetus drove much of the motivation
and practice of mission Nor do I want to eclipse cross-cultural missions
Te concern to take good news to places where there is no witness remainsa continuing aspect of the churchrsquos mission It is rather to say that dramatic
changes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have made a traditional
paradigm of mission inadequate for our time
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
worship and prayer and in doctrinal and moral faithfulness Moreover the
churches in the South and the East have now begun to take responsibility
for the lionrsquos share of cross-cultural missionsTe dramatic growth of the church in the South and the East has coin-
cided with steep decline in the older churches of the West oday Christians
in Europe and European-derived
cultures only make up about 10486251048629
percent of the total Christian
population David Barrett esti-
mated almost three decades agothat the Western church was
losing about 1048631104863010486241048624 professing
members every day1048626 Lamin Sannehrsquos estimate a decade ago 1048628104862710486241048624 people
per day1048627 was lower nevertheless it is clear that the church in the West is
dwindling Moreover the numerical decline is accompanied by deep com-
promise to the secular humanist worldview of Western culture And
alongside of the growing participation in cross-cultural missions of
churches in the majority world the church in the West has seen a corre-
sponding decline
Tis brief sketch is not intended to simply paint a romantic and rosy
picture of the church in the South and the East nor a dark and gloomy
picture of the church in the West Indeed there is much to be concerned
about in African Asian and Latin American Christianity and much to be
heartened by in Western Christianity Tis characterization is rather to in-
dicate a significant shi in global Christianity that makes a traditional view
of mission inadequate for today In light of these statistics it would seem
absurd to divide the world into a Christian home base and a non-Christian
mission field and to classify the growing churches of the South and the East
as a mission field and the declining churches of the West as the home base
for Christian mission
Beyond the growing Southern church and the declining Western church
2David B Barrett ed World Christian Encyclopedia A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World AD 1048625104863310486241048624-1048626104862410486241048624 (Oxford Oxford University Press 1048625983097983096983090) p 9830953Lamin Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity Te Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids Eerd-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
Te word ldquomissionrdquo derives from the Latin word mittere ldquoto sendrdquo and
thus assumes a sender someone sent a place or persons to whom the mes-
senger is sent and a task to fulfill Te Jesuits were first to use this wordwhen in their fourth vow they promised obedience to the pope in regard to
mission outside the churchrsquos fellowshipmdashincluding Protestantsmdashto gather
them in to mother church Given this origin it is surprising to see how
quickly Protestants employed the word to describe their task of propagating
the gospel among those who had never heard Indeed mission had become
a new orthodoxy by the end of the nineteenth century and today for the
most part at least in the Evangelical tradition the word continues to carrypositive connotations
At the beginning of the eighteenth century over 10486331048624 percent of Christians in
the world were found in the West Tus an important motivation for the mis-
sionary expansion that took place over the next two hundred years was the
biblical motive to take the good news of Jesus Christ to people and places
where there was no witness But at the same time this missionary activity
coincided with Western colonialism Tus the course and the practice of
Western Christianityrsquos geographical expansion were deeply shaped by colo-
nialist patterns
ldquoColonialism and mission as a matter of course were interdependent the
right to have colonies carried with it the duty to Christianize the colonizedrdquo
David J Bosch Transforming Mission p 227
Over the course of the last half-century many factors combined to make
a traditional understanding of mission unsuitable for today Tis is not to
say that the missionary enterprise of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
was a mistake Indeed a scriptural impetus drove much of the motivation
and practice of mission Nor do I want to eclipse cross-cultural missions
Te concern to take good news to places where there is no witness remainsa continuing aspect of the churchrsquos mission It is rather to say that dramatic
changes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have made a traditional
paradigm of mission inadequate for our time
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
worship and prayer and in doctrinal and moral faithfulness Moreover the
churches in the South and the East have now begun to take responsibility
for the lionrsquos share of cross-cultural missionsTe dramatic growth of the church in the South and the East has coin-
cided with steep decline in the older churches of the West oday Christians
in Europe and European-derived
cultures only make up about 10486251048629
percent of the total Christian
population David Barrett esti-
mated almost three decades agothat the Western church was
losing about 1048631104863010486241048624 professing
members every day1048626 Lamin Sannehrsquos estimate a decade ago 1048628104862710486241048624 people
per day1048627 was lower nevertheless it is clear that the church in the West is
dwindling Moreover the numerical decline is accompanied by deep com-
promise to the secular humanist worldview of Western culture And
alongside of the growing participation in cross-cultural missions of
churches in the majority world the church in the West has seen a corre-
sponding decline
Tis brief sketch is not intended to simply paint a romantic and rosy
picture of the church in the South and the East nor a dark and gloomy
picture of the church in the West Indeed there is much to be concerned
about in African Asian and Latin American Christianity and much to be
heartened by in Western Christianity Tis characterization is rather to in-
dicate a significant shi in global Christianity that makes a traditional view
of mission inadequate for today In light of these statistics it would seem
absurd to divide the world into a Christian home base and a non-Christian
mission field and to classify the growing churches of the South and the East
as a mission field and the declining churches of the West as the home base
for Christian mission
Beyond the growing Southern church and the declining Western church
2David B Barrett ed World Christian Encyclopedia A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World AD 1048625104863310486241048624-1048626104862410486241048624 (Oxford Oxford University Press 1048625983097983096983090) p 9830953Lamin Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity Te Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids Eerd-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
worship and prayer and in doctrinal and moral faithfulness Moreover the
churches in the South and the East have now begun to take responsibility
for the lionrsquos share of cross-cultural missionsTe dramatic growth of the church in the South and the East has coin-
cided with steep decline in the older churches of the West oday Christians
in Europe and European-derived
cultures only make up about 10486251048629
percent of the total Christian
population David Barrett esti-
mated almost three decades agothat the Western church was
losing about 1048631104863010486241048624 professing
members every day1048626 Lamin Sannehrsquos estimate a decade ago 1048628104862710486241048624 people
per day1048627 was lower nevertheless it is clear that the church in the West is
dwindling Moreover the numerical decline is accompanied by deep com-
promise to the secular humanist worldview of Western culture And
alongside of the growing participation in cross-cultural missions of
churches in the majority world the church in the West has seen a corre-
sponding decline
Tis brief sketch is not intended to simply paint a romantic and rosy
picture of the church in the South and the East nor a dark and gloomy
picture of the church in the West Indeed there is much to be concerned
about in African Asian and Latin American Christianity and much to be
heartened by in Western Christianity Tis characterization is rather to in-
dicate a significant shi in global Christianity that makes a traditional view
of mission inadequate for today In light of these statistics it would seem
absurd to divide the world into a Christian home base and a non-Christian
mission field and to classify the growing churches of the South and the East
as a mission field and the declining churches of the West as the home base
for Christian mission
Beyond the growing Southern church and the declining Western church
2David B Barrett ed World Christian Encyclopedia A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World AD 1048625104863310486241048624-1048626104862410486241048624 (Oxford Oxford University Press 1048625983097983096983090) p 9830953Lamin Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity Te Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids Eerd-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
worship and prayer and in doctrinal and moral faithfulness Moreover the
churches in the South and the East have now begun to take responsibility
for the lionrsquos share of cross-cultural missionsTe dramatic growth of the church in the South and the East has coin-
cided with steep decline in the older churches of the West oday Christians
in Europe and European-derived
cultures only make up about 10486251048629
percent of the total Christian
population David Barrett esti-
mated almost three decades agothat the Western church was
losing about 1048631104863010486241048624 professing
members every day1048626 Lamin Sannehrsquos estimate a decade ago 1048628104862710486241048624 people
per day1048627 was lower nevertheless it is clear that the church in the West is
dwindling Moreover the numerical decline is accompanied by deep com-
promise to the secular humanist worldview of Western culture And
alongside of the growing participation in cross-cultural missions of
churches in the majority world the church in the West has seen a corre-
sponding decline
Tis brief sketch is not intended to simply paint a romantic and rosy
picture of the church in the South and the East nor a dark and gloomy
picture of the church in the West Indeed there is much to be concerned
about in African Asian and Latin American Christianity and much to be
heartened by in Western Christianity Tis characterization is rather to in-
dicate a significant shi in global Christianity that makes a traditional view
of mission inadequate for today In light of these statistics it would seem
absurd to divide the world into a Christian home base and a non-Christian
mission field and to classify the growing churches of the South and the East
as a mission field and the declining churches of the West as the home base
for Christian mission
Beyond the growing Southern church and the declining Western church
2David B Barrett ed World Christian Encyclopedia A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World AD 1048625104863310486241048624-1048626104862410486241048624 (Oxford Oxford University Press 1048625983097983096983090) p 9830953Lamin Sanneh Whose Religion Is Christianity Te Gospel beyond the West (Grand Rapids Eerd-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
a third factor in the global church is transforming mission today the ex-
plosive growth of the global Pentecostal church Te year 1048625104863310486321048624 was a wa-
tershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened thenumber of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians
for the first time and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to
become the biggest in the world983092 Perhaps the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo is the
imposition of a Western category on the growing churches of the South and
the East these churches oen manifest marks that have been associated with
Pentecostal churches yet these are indigenous churches that differ signifi-
cantly from each other For the moment there is no easy categorization soI will continue to use the term ldquoPentecostalrdquo with the hope that a more
suitable way of classifying these churches will emerge
ldquoAlready today the largest Christian communities on the planet are to
be found in Africa and Latin America If we want to visualize a lsquotypicalrsquo
contemporary Christian we should think of a woman living in a village
in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favelardquo
ldquoSoon the phrase lsquoa White Christianrsquo may sound like a curious oxy-
moron as mildly surprising as lsquoa Swedish Buddhistrsquo Such people can
exist but a slight eccentricity is impliedrdquo
Philip Jenkins The Next Christendom pp 2 3
In 1048625104863310486321048624 aer less than a century of existence Pentecostals had grown to
become one of the three largest Protestant communions in the world Tey
joined the Anglican and Baptist churches all with numbers around 10486291048624
million adherents By 1048626104862410486241048624 the Anglicans had grown to 10486311048630 million the Bap-
tists to 104862510486251048624 million and the Pentecostals to over 104862810486241048624 million oday Pente-
costals may number as many as 104862910486241048624 million Tey continue to grow at the
remarkable rate of 10486291048629104862410486241048624 per day and 10486261048624 million each year Te large ma-
jority of Pentecostals are found in the churches of the South and the EastPerhaps it is true that because of its short history and incredible growth rates
4Vinson Synan Te Spirit Said ldquoGrowrdquo Te Astounding Worldwide Expansion of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Churches (Monrovia CA MARC 1048625983097983097983090) p 983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
lization has been a feature of the world for many centuries However toward
the end of the twentieth century the term ldquoglobalizationrdquo became quite
popular to define a new global reality Globalization is the spread of themodern Western story of economic progress around the world especially
with the use of new information technology Globalization is the ldquosingle
most adequate way of describing the context in which we work todayrdquo1048631 It
has beneficial potential but also has been the source of a consumer society
in the West a growing gap between rich and poor ecological destruction a
massive displacement of peoples and a homogenizing force imposing the
spirit of Western culture on the cultures of the world Reneacute Padilla believesit to be ldquothe greatest challenge that the Christian mission facesrdquo1048632 and Richard
Bauckham agrees devoting the last chapter of his book Bible and Mission to
the churchrsquos mission in a globalized world1048633
A third factor a result of a globalized world is urbanization In 1048625104863210486241048624 only
1048629983077 of the worldrsquos population lived in cities One hundred years later the
number had risen modestly to about 10486251048628983077 But by the year 1048626104862410486241048624 over half of
the worldrsquos population could be counted as urban and by the middle of the
twenty-first century this will rise to 10486321048624983077 Cities represent powerful centers
of cultural economic and political dominance in the world Te urban
setting is also the scene of the enormous social and economic problems
facing the world Te 1048626104862410486251048624 World Disasters Report focused on violence
health problems and other issues facing the urban population9830891048624 Te cities
are also the place where people live We face an urban future and the city
changing-landscapeshtml)7Robert Schreiter ldquoMajor Currents of Our ime What Tey Mean for Preaching the Gospelrdquo
Catholic News Service 9830911048625 no 10486251048625 (August 10486251048630 9830909830889830881048625) See wwwdominicainscaprovidence
englishdocumentsschreiterhtm for a shorter version of the larger article8C Reneacute Padilla ldquoMission at the urn of the CenturyMillenniumrdquo Evangel 1048625983097 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048625) 10486309Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand RapidsBaker Academic 983090983088983088983091) pp 983096983091-10486251048625983090
10ldquoWorld Disasters Report 9830909830881048625983088 Focus on Urban Riskrdquo (wwwifrcorgGlobalPublications
disastersWDRWDR9830909830881048625983088-fullpdf)11Roger S Greenway and imothy M Monsma Cities Missionrsquos New Frontier (Grand Rapids
Baker Books 1048625983097983096983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
our world Te level of poverty and hunger in our world is alarming Tree
billion people almost half of the worldrsquos population live on less than 983076104862610486291048624
per day and 10486321048624983077 of the worldrsquos population on less than 98307610486251048624 per day Tirtythousand children die each day due to poverty and 10486251048629 billion people live
below the international poverty line Although enough food is produced in
the world to feed everyone 104863210486291048628 million people do not have enough to eat
and the number is growing each year ragically most of those who are
hungry are women and children And things are not improving in fact the
gap between the rich and poor is growing In 1048625104863310486301048624 the richest billion were
thirty times richer than poorest billion while in 1048625104863310486331048624 that number haddoubled to sixty times and today it is almost ninety times Te income ratio
between the richest to the poorest was 10486281048628 to 1048625 in 1048625104863310486311048627 but had risen to 10486311048628 to
1048625 by the end of the century Te wealthiest 10486261048624983077 of the worldrsquos population
accounted for 104863110486301048630983077 of consumption of the worldrsquos resources while the
poorest fih consumed 10486251048629983077 Americans spend 9830761048632 billion on cosmetics and
98307610486251048631 billion on pet food while 9830761048630 billion is needed for education for all 9830761048633
billion for water and sanitation for all and 98307610486251048627 billion for health and nu-
trition for all Te primary problem driving poverty hunger and the growing
gap between rich and poor are unjust structuresmdashcorrupt governments
inequitable global markets worldwide arms race structural consumerism
massive third-world debt and more
One can add to this a long list of other social and economic problems that
boggle the mind the HIV-AIDS epidemic which has been called ldquothe
greatest human emergency in historyrdquo9830891048626 organized crime heavily involved
in human trafficking the prostitution and the sex ldquoindustryrdquo drug traf-
ficking and more ruining lives and raking in over 9830761048625 trillion a year esca-
lating numbers of wars fueled by racial ethnic religious and ideological
animosities in which over 10486311048629 percent of the victims are civilians a crisis of
uprooted peoples and mass migration caused by conflict persecution
natural disasters and poverty gender inequality that leaves women much
more vulnerable to violence illiteracy and poverty growing violence ter-
rorism and crises in the areas of food education and healthcare along withother areas could be added
12Bryant L Myers Exploring World Mission Context and Challenges (Monrovia CA World Vision
International 983090983088983088983091) p 1048630983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
wo crises threaten the very existence of the planet nuclear and environ-
mental Tere are between forty thousand and fiy thousand nuclear war-
heads in the world capable of destroying the world sixty times over Ninecountries are armed with nuclear weapons with the potential of up to
twenty more in the next decade Over 9830761048625 trillion is spent annually on arms
an expenditure that could feed the worldrsquos hungry for years A UN environ-
mental study said about a decade ago that ldquothe planet is poised on a prec-
ipice and time is running out for making tough economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disasterrdquo9830891048627 We face global warming pro-
tective ozone layer depletion acid rain loss of biodiversity toxic chemicalwaste deforestation air and water pollution a depleting energy supply
looming water shortage unbridled harvesting of resources of ocean floor
and more Much of the problem is driven by a faith commitment to eco-
nomic growth and an accompanying runaway consumer culture that lives
off designed waste If the whole world used resources at the rate that North
Americans do the worldrsquos resources would last about ten years If Jesus in
his mission ldquolaunches an all-out attack on evil in all its manifestationsrdquo the
church is called to do likewise983089983092
Fih the soaring population of the last century which shows no signs of
abating brings new challenges to mission Although there is decline in parts
of the West and in Japan the overall global picture is one of escalating
growth When William Carey set sail for India in the late eighteenth century
there were not yet 1048625 billion people in the world Tat number would not be
reached until 1048625104863210486271048624 It took another century until in 1048625104863310486271048624 there were 1048626 billion
people Te third billion came thirty years later (1048625104863310486301048624) and the fourth
fourteen years aer that (1048625104863310486311048628) By 1048626104862410486241048624 world population passed the 1048630
billion mark and we passed 1048631 billion in 1048626104862410486251048625 While the global population
explosion increases pressure on the limited resources of the earth and con-
tributes to growing poverty it also heightens the evangelistic challenge of
reaching this burgeoning number of people with the good news
13Klaus oephler director of the UN Environment Programme Nairobi Kenya in ldquoUnitedNations Environmental Study 983090983088983088983090 Reportrdquo quoted in ldquoransition to a Sustainable Civilisa-
tionrdquo New Paradigm 1048625 no 1048625 (9830909830889830881048630) (wwwnewparadigmjournalcomMarch9830909830889830881048630transition
htm)14David Bosch ransforming Mission Paradigm Shis in Teology of Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis
Books 10486259830979830971048625) p 983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
pation in the mission of the triune God And this mission has a communal
nature it is a mission of Godrsquos people Oen evangelism and cross-cultural
missions are understood in individualistic ways However mission is thecalling of a people Finally the scope of mission is as broad as creation be-
cause Godrsquos mission is the re-
demption of his whole world
A third definition follows the
lead of four Dutch missiologists
who want to replace the ldquothe par-
adigm of lsquoexpansionrsquo with one oflsquocommunicationrsquordquo9830891048631 Mission is the
communication of the gospel
Mission is no longer primarily understood as the geographical expansion of
Christianity but rather as the task given to Godrsquos people everywhere to com-
municate the good news not only with their words but also with their lives
and deeds Mission is witness in life word and deed Putting ldquoliferdquo before
ldquowordrdquo and ldquodeedrdquo is intentional the gospel is first of all communicated in
the lives of believers both in their communal life together and as they are
scattered in the world Flowing from the new power at work transforming
their lives will be words and deeds that further communicate the gospel
A final definition follows a similar path Mission is the whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world Tis defi-
nition is a slight variation on the wording found in offi cial documents from
the Ecumenical and Evangelical traditions In 1048625104863310486301048627 the statement from the
ecumenical missionary conference in Mexico City spoke of mission as
ldquothe common witness of the whole Church bringing the whole Gospel to the
whole worldrdquo9830891048632 In 1048625104863310486311048628 the evangelical Lausanne Covenant followed suit
when it said ldquoWorld evangelization requires the whole church to take the
whole gospel to the whole worldrdquo (paragraph 1048630) Tis was affi rmed again in
1048626104862410486251048624 by the Tird Lausanne Congress meeting in Cape own in the pre-
amble of the ldquoCape own Commitmentrdquo ldquoTe Lausanne Covenant defined
17F J Verstraelen A Camps L A Hoedemaker and M R Spindler Missiology An Ecumenical
Introduction exts and Contexts of Global Christianity (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983093) p 104862518Ronald K Orchard ed Witness in Six Continents Records of the Meeting of the Commission on
World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City December 852024th
to 10486251048633th 1048625104863310486301048627 (London Edinburgh House Press 104862598309710486301048628) p 1048625983095983093
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
evangelization as lsquothe whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole
world rsquo Tat is still our passionrdquo9830891048633
It is the whole church not just missionaries or evangelists It is the wholegospel for the whole person not a ldquospiritualrdquo gospel for the soul or a ldquosocialrdquo
gospel for the body It is in the whole world not just in certain parts of the
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
the local character of a Western hermeneutical approach to Scripture sup-
pressing other contextual approaches and marginalizing mission oday the
growing reflection of third-world theology is enabling us to profit from con-textual theologies that see mission as central to the biblical story
And so a return to the biblical story will demand deepened theological
reflection to empower the mission of the church For too long abstract theo-
logical reflection has parted ways with the mission of the church10486261048624 We cer-
tainly will need renewed theological work on the mission of God and of the
church but it will also be essential to recover the ldquomissional nature of all
theologyrdquo1048626983089
and so to address other theological themes that shape thechurchrsquos mission at a deep levelmdashbiblical themes such as the nature of the
gospel Christology kingdom of God and eschatology pneumatology (doc-
trine of the Spirit) ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) anthropology
(doctrine of humanity) soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and culture
A second task for missiology today is to reassess the way we understand
the history of mission An African proverb says that until lions have their
historians the hunter will always be the hero of the story History is always
told from some standpoint and its result is to invite us to participate in a
story Te history of mission in the past most oen has been told from a
Western perspective Moreover it has been told from the standpoint of the
geographical spread of the gospel and so this view governed the selection
organization and interpretation of the narrative Te question that confronts
missiology today is this how do you write mission history if all of the global
churchrsquos life is mission
A third task that missiology must engage is fresh reflection on the nature
of mission What is mission anyway wentieth-century studies have re-
turned to the mission of the triune God as the starting point for mission As
the people of God participate in Godrsquos mission the church understands
itself to be ldquomissionary by its very naturerdquo Tus all of life is to make known
20ldquoLaypersons in the church would perhaps have been within their rights to bring a class-action
suit against systematic theologians for criminal pastoral and missiological negligencerdquo (KevinVanhoozer ldquolsquoOne Rule to Rule Tem Allrsquo Teological Method in an Era of World Christianityrdquo
in Globalizing Teology Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity ed Craig Ott and
Harold A Netland [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830889830881048630] p 983097983091)21imothy C ennent Invitation to World Missions A rinitarian Missiology for the wenty-first
Century (Grand Rapids Kregel 9830909830881048625983088) pp 1048630983088-10486301048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
the good news in life word and deed How do we relate this broader under-
standing of mission to some of the more narrow tasks that have been studied
in mission in the past such as evangelism deeds of mercy and justice andcross-cultural missions Have we overcome the dualistic heritage be-
queathed to us that splits word from deed When we view the staggering
social and economic problems of our world surely the people of God living
in Godrsquos new world of justice and shalom cannot be oblivious to these
problems but rather will seek ways of embodying and seeking justice and
compassion in keeping with the gospel In a world longing for good news of
justice Godrsquos people can offer the good news of Godrsquos kingdom How doevangelism mercy and justice relate to the life of the church and the callings
of believers in culture Is there still a place for cross-cultural mission and
what does that look like in a world where there is a church in every corner
of it In fact this will be an important issue with the broadening of mission
it is essential to see the place for taking the gospel to those who have never
heard in other parts of the world Tese are some of the questions and issues
that need continued reflection as missiology struggles toward a biblical
vision of mission
Fourth the growth of the church in every culture of the world makes the
issue of contextualizationmdashthe relation of the gospel and church to its cul-
tural contextmdashan important one oday with a global church we see many
different expressions and theologies as the gospel incarnates itself in various
cultures Tis creates difficult issues that surround two major sets of ques-
ldquoThe church only becomes the church as it responds to Godrsquos call to
mission and to be in mission means to change continually as the gos-
pel encounters new and diverse contexts Such change however is notarbitrary rather there have always existed certain constants that while
they might differ in content are always present as a kind of framework
by which the church identifies itself and around which the gospel mes-
sage takes shaperdquo
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder Constants in Context p 72
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8122019 Introducing Christian Mission Today by Michael Goheen - EXCERPT
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-
unique amidst other religious commitments How are we to understand
religions from the standpoint of the gospel What is our mission to the
members of these faith communitiesSeventh the explosive growth of cities their cultural power and the
growing socioeconomic problems that beset them makes urban mission a
critical issue to be studied by mission studies today Mission is no longer a
rural phenomenon What does a missional church look like in the increas-
ingly sophisticated Western and Westernized cities of our world How does
the church follow Jesus in the slums favelas and shantytowns of the cities of
our worldFinally in a world with a global church it will be important to deepen our
understanding of the world church A number of schools today label their
mission department with some variation of ldquomission and world Christianityrdquo
Should the subject of world Christianity be part of a mission course On the
one hand we might say no Aer all this continues to spread the false as-
sumption that anything associated with ldquooverseasrdquo and ldquoChristianrdquo is mission
On the other hand other areas of theological study have been slow to address
this topic Sadly issues surrounding the third-world church oen are con-
sidered to be exotic and something to be taught only in mission classes
which aer all are in the business of talking about Christianity overseas
Arguably the whole theological curriculum needs to engage third-world
Christianity What then is an au-
thentic way of addressing world
Christianity within the context of
mission It is to examine churches
in various cultural contexts in light
of the kinds of issues they face in
mission today
In this book I introduce these
various areas of mission studies In
the first section I ground the mission of the church in Godrsquos mission as nar-
rated in the biblical story and reflect theologically on the churchrsquos missionIn the second section I look at the way the church has carried out its com-
prehensive mission at various times in history Moreover I consider the
church today in terms of an emerging ecumenical paradigm current theo-