With the foundations of mission now established – the origin of mission is rooted in the nature of the Triune God, the Church is called to participate in the missio Dei, and the goal of mission is the worship of God and participation in His being – we must next examine what is included in mission. Definitions of mission abound. Carlos F. Cardoza-Orlandi defines mission as “the participation of the people of God in God’s action in the world.”(1) George Peters defines mission as “a comprehensive term including the upward, inward and outward ministries of the church. It is the church as ‘sent’ (a pilgrim, stranger, witness, prophet, servant, as salt, as light, etc.) in this world.”(2) Mission has also been described as “the force that propels us towards the unknown person, to the religiously alienated person whom God wants to welcome back again.”(3) What all these definitions have in common is that mission refers to that which the Church does to point toward the kingdom of God.
With all these definitions of mission, it must be realized that the concept of mission must include more than simply evangelism and church planting. Although important, mission is more than proclaiming a message of individuals’ salvation. It is more than making converts; it is making disciples. It includes providing opportunity for a response to the message whereby sin is forgiven, lives are restored to fellowship with God and others, and changes occur in actions and behaviors.(4) “The mission of the triune God is an invitation to life in all its fullness in the redeeming presence of the risen one.”(5) This message of the Kingdom, while not forsaking the personal aspect of salvation, includes discipleship, building Christian communities, and addressing systemic injustices by working to end poverty, environmental destruction, and war. Mission is about meeting people’s physical, spiritual, emotional, and social needs in order to reflect God’s reign in the world and invite them to enter into it. “Mission means continuing God’s work through the Spirit, to mend what is broken in the whole of creation, to overcome the destruction of humankind and to heal the rift between God, nature and humanity.”(6) The message of the Gospel goes right to the heart of humanity and takes up the cause of humans in their time of need and distress.
“Claiming that salvation has come to humans without seeking to correct injustice and restore dignity and value to human life is to defraud humanity of the gospel; it is cheap grace. Offering salvation for the soul alone and promising peace and justice only in the life to come is to abandon Christ in this world while hoping to be with him in the next.”(7)Some have argued that by expanding the definition of mission to include areas outside evangelism and church planting, that mission has lost its identity. Stephen Neill is often quoted for writing, “When everything is mission, nothing is mission.”(8) While this is, to an extent, true (meaning that everything should not be lumped into the category of mission), we must understand that mission includes more than simply evangelism and church planting. Jesus’ mission was not simply one of evangelism, but “to bring good news to the poor, ...to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).
Likewise, the mission of the Church must also be concerned with the whole person, so as not to offer a cheap gospel which is concerned with one’s soul but not with improving one’s conditions in the present life. The definition of mission used by the Hamburg-based Association of Protestant Churches and Missions in Germany (EMW) captures this holistic approach to mission:
Of course mission is an invitation to believe, and to talk about the meaning of life. It is the working for liberation, human rights and human dignity. Mission is the struggle against racism and economic exploitation, and works for reconciliation and justice. Mission is connected with the debt issue and about establishing a reconciled global community.(9)Ironically, if mission is defined too broadly, people can latch onto one aspect of it and ignore all the others. Holding them all together is a reminder that all aspects of mission are rooted in the one mission of the one Triune God. Mission is not just about social justice, but neither is it just about evangelism. We must hold the various aspects of mission in tension in order to faithfully bear witness to the reign of God with both our words and our actions.
1. Carlos F. Cardoza-Orlandi, Mission: An Essential Guide (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002), 45.
2. Peters, A Biblical Theology of Mission (Chicago: Moody, 1972), 11, quoted in Moreau, A. Scott, Gary R. Corwin, and Gary B. McGee. Introducing World Missions: A Biblical, Historical, and Practical Survey (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 72.
3. Theo Sundermeier, “Missio Dei Today: On the Identity of Christian Mission.” International Review of Mission Vol. XCII No. 367: 566.
4. J. Andrew Kirk, What Is Mission?: Theological Explorations (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), 61.
5. Wilhelm Richebächer, “Missio Dei: The Basis of Mission Theology or a Wrong Path?” International Review of Mission. Vol. XCII, No. 367: 596.
6. Richebächer, 588.
7. Ray S. Anderson, An Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 196.
8. Stephen Neill, Creative Tension: The Duff Lectures (London: Edinburgh House Press, 1959), 81.
9. Sundermeier, 561.
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