AGORA Newsletter

A time will come when is no need for missions anymore.  One day people in every nation, people, tribe and language will worship God because they have experienced saving transformation in Jesus Christ (Revelation 5:9-10; 7:9-17).  John Piper is right: “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man” (Piper, John, Let the Nations be Glad – The Supremacy of God in Missions, Baker Books, 1993:11).

Apparently, that time is not now.  Until that time comes, it is important for us to think about the ways we describe what the work is that he gave us to do, just as it is important to examine the way we do it.    Jesus told his disciples that they should not worry too much about the time.  Rather, they were to focus on being His witnesses in Jerusalem, all of Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:7-8).

Over the years, in the MC, we have worked hard at developing an honest critique about how we are doing with the task.  We also need to work hard in our critique of how we describe the task.

Right now, some churches–at least in the West–are stuck in old ways of thinking about missions that are paralysing their willingness to send and threatening their fruitfulness.   Missional faith is dimmed by discouraging descriptions that Christianity is losing its vitality in some places and is overwhelmed by descriptions multiple thousands of “unreached” groups in others.   We run the risk of reducing Christ’s mission into a statistical problem to be solved.

In another example from my own country.  We Swedes have worked conscientiously to engage and understand followers of other religions in dialogue and witness.  In the process, though, many churches have adopted pluralistic views that “all roads lead to Rome.”  That may have been true in the Roman Empire but it misses the point when it comes to understanding the work of Christ as the crucified Messiah, his resurrection and call to gospel faithfulness.

When we think about the mission Christ gave us, we do it with God.  And he seems to be working to keep the mission from getting stuck and to keep his people from missing the point.  At the moment, his solution seems to be new leaders in new places.  The fruit that these new leaders are producing is not only that new missionaries are sent from new places. God is also using them, and the missionaries they send, to talk about what the calling requires, and sometimes they are describing the mission in new ways.

Can we think out loud, together, about new ways in which Christ’s mission is being described?  How do you feel about what you see?

Bertil

All kinds of ships sail the missional seas of today. Some really big vessels have powerful engines.  Others small boats navigate with just a couple of oars. Just as in commercial transport by sea, the flags of some northern countries once dominated the practice of Christian mission.  In shipping, the flags of a few “free-states” allowed some to give less importance to security, maintenance and labour laws, with negative consequences.

The worldwide missional scene has seen in the last three decades the launching of many “mission vessels” with an unseen diversity of flags from all the continents. Without forcing the comparison, the spreading of the Good News requires all sorts of boats, both those that can navigate the big seas and those that can enter the smaller rivers and berth at local harbours.

The size of the boat does not matter, neither the port of origin. Some are built for deeper water, others are fragile for navigating streams but not the dangers of unknown seas. When big vessels try to enter small rivers or when rowboats go out to deep waters, catastrophe is eminent. Both “Titanics” and rowing boats have shipwrecked.

Both the numbers of injured sailors and of lost missionaries has been a big concern for some time.

The missional challenge is to understand and acknowledge the distinctive functions and seek co-operation between missional initiatives of all sizes, flags, and destinations. We look for partner-ships to be inclusive, respectful and strategic. As sea-routes go today from everywhere to everywhere, our missional co-operation should reflect the reality of the Holy Spirit’s initiative to move God’s people into His mission.

A good model for partnership is seen among Jesus’ disciples: “…they signalled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats…” (Luke 5:7).

The WEA Mission Commission considers itself to be a missional community — a fleet of many diverse boats, if you will.   The MC Leadership Team does not aspire for the MC to be a big vessel.  Rather, we want to be a catalyst for many partner-ships that include both the big and the small. In the worldwide trouble waters we believe that a safer and more productive journey can be done when we know each other, share our navigation journals and unite our efforts.

What experiences have you had with mission partnerships? Feel free to post your comments.

Bertil Ekström

The WEA Mission Commission Leadership Team wishes you all

A Blessed New Year!

On my recent visit to Mozambique and South Africa, I was reminded again about the importance of the mission legacy from the West. Churches have been planted and grown. In some cases large denominations have been formed. Some things should have been done differently. The ecclesiastical models, the doctrinal imposition and the Western culture as normative for the new believers have caused significant delays in the contextualisation of the Christian faith in many places. The search for cultural roots and relevant expressions for the faith in local contexts creates unnecessary tensions between leaders and generations. The supposed superiority of written books over oral transmission causes a deficient understanding of academia and the overestimation of formal studies in detriment of practical experience and popular wisdom. Leadership development and discipleship are in shortage.   Could this be the result of foreign models that are not suitable to African realities?

It is extremely important that mission efforts today seriously consider the local culture and its history and allow local Christians to form their contextualised structures for the church and find their appropriate expressions for the faith. Outsiders can and should collaborate with the dynamic and spontaneous churches in Africa, but the dancing rhythm and the singing tune have to come from the African leaders.

The Danish Mission Council (DMC) is marking 100 years of ministry by focusing this year on the theme, ‘Partnership in Mission.’ Last week they held seminar on their centennial theme in the city of Odense, and I was privileged to participate.  Denmark, along with the rest of Scandinavia, is unique for good ecumenical relationships that result in rich and helpful dialogue between the different expressions of the Christian faith.   Perhaps this is one reason why churches of Denmark are treated by the Danish government with high confidence.  As a result, an increasing amount of resources is channelled through the churches and mission organisations for community development around the globe.   Valuable documents, fruit of the Danish experience can be found on their website (two of them are in English, for those who don’t read Danish!).

As you will see, the partnership vision of the DMC comes from themes that are important expressions of Christian discipleship:  “the vision for a good and fruitful co-operation (partnership) in mission is relational and person-focused partnerships, centred around Christ, unity in faith and common values, characterised by trust, openness and transparency”.

Between denominations and mission agencies, the 36 organisations in the DMC represent the breadth of the Christian Church in Denmark.