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Series: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII
The most important issue for the Western Church as been that they have “totally failed to recognize that the most urgent contemporary mission field is to be found in their own traditional heartlands, and that the most aggressive paganism with which they have to engage is the ideology that now controls the developed world.” This is how Newbigin begins and this is the foundation to the argument of the rest of the book.
Newbigin next addresses the issue of authority. He notes that the popular missionary stance by Western Culture was that of “white man’s superiority” and “confidence that it was only a matter of time before the whole world would receive its blessings, and the unconscious identification of the gospel with the good elements in that culture.” (12) Today, the question that comes to the missionary is “what right do you have to preach to us?” To which Newbigin suggests giving back another question, “Who is Jesus?” It is this question he states that “it is the work of the Christian witness through all the centuries and all the cultures until the day comes when all nations confess him Lord.” (15) The answer to the first question finds its roots in a few assumptions. First, we have the answer that comes from a personal commitment to Jesus himself that “cannot be demonstrated on the grounds established from the point of view of another commitment.” Newbigin here seems to take position that is at some level “foundational” (I know, I know, we’re supposed to be beyond foundationalism!) to the witness of a Christian and cannot really be argued against. He goes as far to state it this way, “I am wagering my life on the faith that Jesus is the ultimate authority.” (15) This approach seems to be a very faith-based, non-rational approach that I find very honest and refreshing. The second confession that he is making is that “Jesus is the supreme authority.” (16) In doing this, he effectively shows that the claim “Jesus is Lord” goes way beyond a personal understanding of salvation and actually extends into the public life of a Christian and his/her body of believers.
He writes,
The community that confesses that Jesus is Lord has been, from the very beginning, a movement launched into the public life of mankind. The Greco-Roman world in which the New Testament was written was full of societies offering to those who wished to join a way of personal salvation through religious teaching and practice. There were several commonly used Greek words for such societies. At no time did the church use any of these names for itself. It was not, and could not be, a society offering personal salvation for those who cared to avail themselves of it teaching and practice. It was from the beginning a movement claiming the allegiance of all peoples, and it used for itself with almost totally consistency the name ecclesia – the assembly of all citizens called to deal with the public affairs of the city the church could have escaped persecution by the Roman Empire if it had been content to be treated as a cultus privatus – one of the many forms of personal religion. But it was not. Its affirmation that Jesus is Lord implied a public, universal claim that was bound to eventually clash with the cultus publicus of the empire The Christian mission is thus to act out in the whole of life of the whole world the confession that Jesus is Lord of all. (16-17)
This lengthy quote was very helpful for me, as I have continued to process the theological rationale to why it is hurtful mission to over emphasize the individual nature of salvation. Of course, it is important that we do not under emphasize this side of salvation (as we have already seen from the earlier quote).
Wasihun Senbeta Gutema said...
1Dear brother,
I really thank you for the thought full reflection. I am also adding here a few points about the Missional Rationale.
Missional Rationale
The world in which the mission of the Church is founding it self currently is overwhelmed by waves of new and rapidly advancing ideologies. Enlightenment with its unremoved scarce left the church to modernity which was much more a challenge for the church with its potential resistance to the Gospel of Christ. This is followed by the Post Modern ideology and Globalization that have brought toughest challenges to the church and her mission.
This small sized paper is aiming to dig out some of the challenges and the rationale to them as elucidated in the works of Lesslie Newbigin and Darrell Guder.
Amidst the challenges of enlightenment & modernity the North American church as Guder exposes focus on maintenance and security and wait for the world to come to them, it seems that their Seminary has not been preparing leaders with a missional ecclesiology. This is further stressed by Newbigin as he says they totally failed to recognize that the most urgent contemporary mission field is in their traditional heart lands with aggressive paganism [Newbigin, 10]. They forgot reaching into their heart land as signs and witnesses into the Kingdom of God. One of the areas in which they have neglected to give much attention is the Kingdom of God. Both Newbigin and Guder say that Missions have been seen as something that takes place in areas outside of Western cultures which are not “Christianized.” Both show profoundly well how the church is always in a missionary situation in every culture, and indeed it cannot consider itself “at home” in any culture. To do so is to succumb to the Constantinian temptation wherein the church, in seeking cultural legitimacy uses the power of the state to achieve it’s ends, thus violating the way of power offered in the Cross and Resurrection.
Globalization with its call for diversity and particularity, introduces us to challenging notion to the mission of the church, religious pluralism. Advocacy for religious tolerance, political correctness and dialogue is not uncommon phenomenon in the post colonial and post modern world. As globalization attempts to create one global village suitable for all, good neighborliness[ Guder,42] is one of the most cherished virtues of the post modern world Nevertheless, neighborliness is not hereby viewed in Biblical sense that denotes that my neighbor is not determined by spatial proximity, but by my capability to meet needs for which I am responsible. The neighborliness in globalized world yet is in terms of accommodating diverse opinion of one another for peace sake. The significance of this notion of diversity to the mission of the church is that it promotes both religious relativism and secularization of this God ordained mission. Lesslie New Begin, in the Open Secrete, quotes some of the concurrent developments with several proposals about the nature of the Church’s mission by the world council of Churches
Concurrent with these developments, and to some extent related to them, was the development of a new attitude toward the world religions. This called for a relationship of dialogue and (where appropriate) partnership to replace traditional attitudes often stigmatized as “proselytizing”. With recognition of the secular as the sphere of God’s action in history came the call to recognize also his action within the world. [Newbigin, 9]
The above quoted statement clearly indicates that the advancement of post modern ideas and critique has forced the church on to the wall of succumbing to secular notions of religious or cultural accommodation. Her mission is being redefined to fit in the demands of globalization, secularism, universalism and religious pluralism. Newbigin observes:
The 1960 conference, convened at Strasbourg by the World’s student Christian federation on “the life and mission of the church,” saw the emergence of a radically secular interpretation of the missio Dei…. And at Uppsala in 1968 the fourth assembly of the WCC accepted a definition of mission that identified it primarily with action for humanization in the secular life of the world. [Newbigin, 8]
Another remarkable challenge against the mission of the church is the question of authority. First, the post colonial era has brought up attitudes of resentment by cultures that were once “Mission fields” against the authority of the Western missionaries. The superiority position of cultural ethnocentrism that was enjoyed by these missionaries among their colonial subjects is no more at this time of embracing cultural diversity and relativism. Secondly, it is not only the authority of the western missionaries that is being questioned but also that of the church in general. Newbigin notices that there are questioners of the church’s missionary authority both from out and within the church. The questioners, as Newbigin [12-13] realizes, doubt the relevance of mission “if missions are understood to involve calling people of other faiths to conversion.” These questioners, according to Newbigin, wish to have the church mission replaced by unity of the church with all other “sincere believers” in the quest for universal truth. They see mission as being offensive to the unity of humankind. Further more, they want mission to be re defined and reduced to a social enterprise rendering humanitarian services such as solving the problem of hunger, oppression and other life threatening issues.
In conclusion to this section, both Newbigin and Guder observe that in the post modern and post colonial world, the mission of the church is in progressive transition. This transition is fueled by advancing new ideologies amidst rapidly changing cultures. These ideologies include globalization, universalism, postmodernism, and cultural relativism. This change in ideas fuels debates within the church concerning the nature of her mission and at the worse, push the church on to the wall of attempting to compromise her mission so as to fit in the secular arena. The church is also forced into pits of doubt of the authenticity of her authority to do mission as she is being quizzed about the relevance of her mission in the world of modern ideas.
In response to all of the above challenges, Guder [86-87] suggests that the remedy is re-hearing of the Gospel where the re-hearing is the hearing of the Gospel that Jesus announced. This Gospel is Jesus Himself which shapes the churches sense of missional identity and it is concerning the entire human nation which Newbigin [68-89] further explains with the facts of particularity and universality. Newbigin says the meaning and end of human history is narrated in the scripture. Thus, the church must proclaim the faith in public and should not privatize it where her missional identity is one for the many. Although the church is uniquely stationed in the world where global developments override societies and communities, she must see her self as both local and international in the sense that she is authorized by God to cross boundaries. Her mission is authentically given by God and therefore she is distinct from all worldly, political, economic or cultural forces. The church must therefore not allow her self to be swallowed up by advancing ideologies but should re-hear the Gospel and stick to the Jesus of the Bible.
Added to the above, Newbigin [14-15] and Guder [105-108] acknowledge the source of the church’s authority as being derived from God himself. God is at work in his mission and those who carry it out do so under the authority of His son Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Understanding the nature of God’s mission, Newbigin invites missioners to carry out mission in this Trinitarian spirit.
On the issue of globalization, Newbigin calls upon the church to the continual awareness of her universal character as well as to think ecumenically:
…The church now exists as a global fellowship present in almost every part of the world and is increasingly conscious of its universal character…All thinking about the world mission of the church today must thankfully and joyfully take account of the fact that the “home base” of mission is now nothing less than the world wide community, and every proposed expression of the church’s mission outreach must be tested by asking whether it can be accepted by the whole ecumenical family as an authentic expression of the gospel.
The church can no longer survive well enough in isolation amidst the world of global ideas.
Both Guder and Newbigin notice among other factors, the importance of the church to recover her missionary identity. Mission should not be viewed as an external department of the church but the church should see her self as the mission. The church is representative of God’s kingdom and recovering her missionary identity would boost her self esteem and image in the ever changing world.
In recovering her missionary identity and become a missional church, the church as Guder [18] says must engage in contextualization where it should not be an option. In this contextualization process the church must challenge the doctrine of the post modern world which says truth is relative [Guder, 40] by experiencing a more holistic understanding of truth. With in the multiple cultures, pluralistic society the church needs to focus on unity in diversity by sharing the reconciling power of the Gospel of Christ. The church also needs to focus on the spirituality and the now. People are secular spiritualists [Guder, 44-45] and focus on the now than the future. The church should take advantage of the spiritual openness and share the divine spiritual word of Christ that surpasses emotions and feelings but heals them. The church also need to bear the gospel of actual history that deals with the now with a genuine hope of future.
The rationale given by Guder and Newbigin bears significance to the church world wide. First, their affirmation of the mission being missio Dei (God’s mission) and God being its supreme authority boosts confidence, faith and hope of the church on mission. This is equally true for my home church in Ethiopia. Believers in Ethiopia and world wide need re awakening to the understanding of the truth that as they carry on mission, they are not doing it in their power but God in His sovereign power is actively present, working through them. This builds hope and strengthens faith of those involved in mission because amidst contemporary chaotic situations, they are made to sense that since God is at work. His mission will always flourish and succeed in spite of the flourishing ideas of globalization and philosophies.
Secondly, Newbigin and Guder’s rationale challenge redundancy and complacency of the church. With all these emerging ideologies, criticisms and questions of relevance, the church is admonished to wake up from slumber. In Ethiopia, waking up from slumber may specifically imply realizing the emerging forces of Islam as the percentage of Moslems has gone up to 50% with in a decade and a half besides the secularization and global culture that is sweeping Christians. It also implies rising up against the forces of traditional belief that came under the banner of religious freedom. These all are taking many believers while the church is slumbering. Waking up thus implies taking all the armors of God, and wearing the shields of faith, continual prayer, wearing the shoes of the Gospel and reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thirdly reinventing and rediscovering in predicament as quoted by Guder [77] from Craig van Gelder edition, The church between Gospel and cultures is important. It means here that the church should dig out her structures, nature and purpose whether they fit to the contemporary global ideology or not. The church can wear her garments of calling now [Guder, 78] as these are her opportunities and embodying the Gospel’s challenging relevance is required of her coming out of being domesticated in to the world. Domestication in this sense reflects the churches marriage to the world and entertaining ideas of the world and unscriptural facts from among which are becoming shallow to immoralities.
Fourthly the church needs to be the church in mission leaving her comfort zone and stop seeking security and maintenance but rather go to the world preaching the Gospel in its holistic [Newbigin,91] fact focusing on the reign of God which has a missional perspective of receiving and entering [Guder, 96]. Guder examines the church as representative of the reign of God. This concept of the church as centered in the kingdom of God paves the way for him to talk about how the church must offer an alternative to the dominate culture. Thus, the church has an alternative politics, an alternative economics and an alternative vocabulary. All of these discussions are excellent and go a long way toward grounding Christian ethics in a thoroughly christological context that is centered on the kingdom of God and embodied in the church as a community.
Together with what Newbigin and Guder suggest I like to suggest that the church should look at the emerging forces of globalization, secularism, universalism and religious pluralism in the context of spiritual warfare. Rather than just writing academic papers and entertaining arguments over what method or technique should be used for mission, the church should revive the spirit of warfare prayer. The Bible makes it clear who our enemy is and we should not be left in doubt when the church is attacked, on who is fueling the attack. We know that it is Satan with his deceptive decisive mechanism.
To sum up, Newbigin and Guder see the post colonial and post modern world as significant because in it there is a diversity of cultures, systems, ideologies and opinions all of which are posing a challenge to the church, questioning the authenticity, authority and relevance of her mission. Amidst all these challenges however, the church should confide in the reality of God being sovereign and the author of her mission. With that confidence, her missionary identity will never be lost or compromised by any of the emerging worldly forces.
10/27/08 9:30 PM | Comment Link