Wasihun Senbeta, ThM

Reflection on Lesslie Newbigin [Pp1-65]

One important concept that I picked form the 1st chapter of Lesslie Newbigin is the idea quoted from Willingen council of 1952 that says, “There is no participation in Christ without in His mission in the world.” This makes me speechless in that the God whom we worship makes people participate in his kingdom. Christians are not only called to believe but also to participate in mission. Mission and believing are inseparable. Of course believing comes first and then mission. He/who believes begin to take part in mission. This was also how Jesus trained the twelve. He called them to follow him then he began to edify them. Edification follows believing and then participation in mission. No edification no participation. I conclude this point as believing—–edification—–mission. Believing may or may not be within a blinking of an eye but edification and mission is a process. Thus, participation in Christ involves participation in mission. How long the time for edification? I think no one is sure of that .But scriptural truths reflect hat there are people who began participation in mission the moment they believed. For instance; the Samaritan woman and the blind man respectively in [John 4:1-42, John 9:1-41]. Accordingly, there is no time frame for edification yet believing is always the first phenomena.

Generally, there is no participation in Christ without participation in His mission in the world is Biblical and every believer is a participant. This participation in mission is without any geographical barrier and in any situation even in the situation of suffering. The participation is not given to a particular mission organization nor an individual but to every believer. Mission is any where even in our heartland. Jesus said, “…you will be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and to Samaria and to remotest end of the earth” [Acts1:8]. In giving this commandment Jesus did not teach that they should forget their own periphery. This brings me to the issue of the Western churches. The biggest mistake that the Western churches committed was that they forgot their own fields. They were too generous. They thus as Newbigin says, “…in general, totally failed to recognize that the most urgent contemporary mission field is to be found in their own traditional heartland …” [Newbigin, 10]. This elucidates that they have to come back to their own heartland. Their heartland has actually a number of problems among which the idea of individual freedom and privacy system challenge Christians not to witness.

In chapter two I took the idea of “by what authority?”[Newbigin.15]. We are sent by God’s authority in Jesus name. This authority is not derived from human beings and it is given to us to declare his Lordship. This Lordship of Christ is for all whether a believer or not. The implication of this to mission is recognizing God as ultimate authority. That authority is our affirmation. This drives us in to mission whether people agree with us or not. This mission is carried out in the Trinitarian sense. That is what I picked from chapter three. This is a framework for Christian mission. Newbigin looks through the lens of mission with three filters- “as proclaiming the kingdom of the Father, as sharing the life of the son, and as bearing the witness of the Spirit” [Newbigin, 29]. Newbigin then affirms that Mission is always faith in action. This is firmly rooted in the proclamation of the kingdom of the Father where His reign and supreme deed is revealed on the cross. This shows that “God is indeed active in History” [Newbigin, 39]. This activity of God is in the weakness of Christ which is contrary to the view of the world and thus believers as people in mission should declare that by faith enduring sufferings as Jesus did. An important reflection to this was the Muslims attack of Lutheran Christians in Ethiopia in 2007. Muslims burnt no less than 23 congregations, killed an evangelist in his compound yard, wounded and tortured the others. The Lutheran believers of the area did not retaliate. They patiently saw the hand of God in weakness and suffering. When the government took action against the Muslims they were praying for them. Finally their actions brought many Muslims to Christ. Mission is also love in action. Jesus was taken to the cross which was the actual love in action. The church must invite all humankind to this love even if there is suffering. Christ loved amidst suffering and while the Jewish were nailing him on the cross. To reflect here the case of Lutheran believers in Ethiopia is necessary. While Muslims were killing them and burning their properties they kept silent not because it was legally right or they were afraid but because they learnt from the Lord. Finally, Muslim converts are speaking the love in action of these Christians. Besides these, Mission is hope in action. This is to follow obediently to where the spirit leads and the spirit is the foretaste of the Kingdom. I assume that when the spirit touches, he takes us from our comfort Zone to begin pilgrimage. Thus, mission with faith, love and hope bears fruit.

Questions

What do you think of the western Churches these days? How could they begin mission in their traditional heartland?
How do you elucidate the authority of Christ considering your self as a missionary?