Some Challenges In Missiology Today

Missiology in the 21st century is a necessary and important academic discipline committed to reminding the church of her ongoing mission. However, as much as we see the task of mission as an integral part of Christianity, it still remains a contested issue at many levels. In an essay entitled “what is mission?”, Donald McGavran writes: “A major cause for the tremendous decline in missionary sendings on the part of mainline denominations and the older missionary societies is the spreading confusion concerning the word mission.”
From a bird’s eye perspective, describe some of the challenges missiology has to address and remove-and add some other theological and non-theological points-that would lead the church to accomplish her task better and fuller.
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It is a very good question to clarify some of the challenges which church or missionary agencies are facing in the Christian missions. However, it is a hard question to solve and answer but I will try to address some of the concern that I have in my mind. What really is Christian mission(s)? What are the challenges in missions? What are some causes of confusions caused by mainline denominations and the older missionary societies? How do we define “Missio Dei”? Missiology must study the challenges and find out some solutions for Christian missions to be conducted accordance with the will of God which is revealed in the Scriptures. Missiology has a big task to do research and send out helpful information to mission agencies and missionaries how to theologically and biblically follow the will of God in saving the lost with the Gospel of Christ Jesus in the mission fields so that there might be less confusion in the Christian missions. Missiology must also determine what to add and remove in its theological and non-theological build up.
Christian mission(s) is proclaiming the redemptive work of God in/through Jesus Christ on the cross to the lost. It operates based on the biblical, theological and historical facts of Christianity and uses every communication method to pass the gospel message to every cultural society in the world. Human beings (or the church) are just the instruments of God for reaching out the Gospel to people. As Dr. Martin Luther biblically stated, “Justification is by faith in Christ Jesus through the grace of God.” We cannot save people by force or our enterprises or mission agendas but the Holy Spirit who touches the hearts of people and convinces people to have faith in Christ Jesus as we faithfully share the word of God. Christian mission is to preach the Gospel of Christ Jesus. If this preaching activity is not the primary aim for Christian mission, we must reevaluate our purpose for going to some other countries. Missiology must prescriptively or descriptively build every direction it takes based on what God is, and His plan in Christ Jesus for the lost world in the Old and New Testaments. Its normative must draw from the Scriptures.
God the Father sent Jesus Christ to die for us and Jesus Christ accomplished His mission; He then prayed and sent the church to the lost world (John 17). Jesus Christ willingly sacrificed His life on the cross without shame. St. Paul declared that he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it is the power of the salvation of God. (Rom. 1:16) Jesus Christ told us in Mark Gospel that “if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of his when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (Mk. 8: 34-38)
When a missionary does not or cannot deny himself to follow Christ by carry his own cross in his or her mission field, he/she merely consider the Christian mission as a business or some kinds of enterprises which he or she become the boss over the host nations. Some missionaries in the mission fields control the mission activities of the church by their capital ability. Some missionaries also want to save their own lives by securing their families financially. They build some fine missionary campus where the hosts are not allowed to come. How can they understand the receptors when they are away from the hosts? Some spend more capital in golf or recreations than their mission works. Missionaries are ashamed of offending people by sharing their belief in Christ Jesus. Thus, they emphasize on holistic approach by which they can live side by side with other religious people in the society. They are not ready to die for Christ Jesus in their mission fields.
Missiology must study the text of the Scriptures to understand how much it needs to depend on sociological, ethnological, anthropological, philosophical and economical scientific knowledge of the secular academic world. Since Christian mission is dealing with human beings, missiology has to constructively and critically do reflection these scientific knowledge or information to utilize in the Christian missions to spread the Gospel of Christ to the unbelievers.
In the past, Christianity was brought to other countries under or through the colonization of nations by the West. The super powers came to colonize the nations but missionaries came to Christianize other nations with the Christian teachings. Although they came under the colonizers, missionaries in the past went out from their countries to other nations knowing and convincing that God will lead them in the new mission fields. Many sacrificed their lives for the gospel of Christ Jesus in the mission fields. They also had established and planted churches, schools, translated, and so forth for the receptors to understand the gospel in their own ways. Adoniram Judson, the first missionary from American to Myanmar, learned the language, translated the whole Bible in Burmese language, suffered severely and sacrificed not only his life but his families for Myanmar. The American Baptist missionaries who came to the Chin State in Myanmar created a language for us by translated the whole Bible. They also opened schools, medical center and so on. These are essential for their missionary works to spread the good News of the love of God. Their works are so significant for the whole Chin society in Myanmar. The Judson’s Burmese Bible is still the best translation we have in Myanmar.
But the bad part of missionary works in Myanmar was that missionaries came along with the British colonizers. Burmese Buddhists could not really embrace Christianity because they suffered under these colonizers. They were enslaved by, what they called, the missionary country and heard the gospel of Jesus Christ from them, too. That is why, instead of embracing Christianity the Burmese Buddhists revitalized Buddhism in Myanmar. Christianity is still seen by the Burmese Buddhists as an intruder to their identity, Buddhist beliefs, and social cultural heritage. Missionaries also transported their own cultures and practices into their mission fields thinking that their cultures are Christian cultures and ethics.
Because of the technological instantness, mission agencies or missionaries project their mission works to accomplish within a certain period and time. Is it advisable to limit a period of mission works in a particular context? Can we call “program” as “mission”? When we emphasize building “programs” over the sharing or preaching the gospel to people, people are usually considered as business row materials which missionaries raise their funds and supports. People are people. They are not a row material or program to organize within limited time. Missiology has to study cultural anthropology and languages of the target people in order to better understand how it can help the boarder Christian community in reaching out the gospel to the world. Short-term missionary going is now popular today than sending long-term missionaries to the other countries. I think there are many places where long-term missionaries should be still sent to train local pastors and Christians in leadership knowledge, theological and biblical teachings. It is good news to see that churches in the then mission fields in the world are sending out thousands of missionaries to other foreign nations. These churches are also formed their own missionary organizations to partner with missionary agencies in the West in doing missions. One of the problems I see is that these churches are poor in capital to run their own mission affords. When the western missionaries left from their mission fields, the financial supports from the West seem steadily dry down and the local churches are left struggling financially.
When Christian mission is defined as “helping people with the grace of Christ,” it is true that the Christian mission will be interpreted as “to create a better world.” (McGavran) Can we really create a better world by helping people or our Christian missions? Christians should impact every societal decision made by the leaders in the community. Christians should transform the evil natures of cultures and practices in the society. However, it is not our task to change the hearts of people to believe in Christ because it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Providing the needs of the poor, I think, is excellent job to do but it cannot be considered as Christian missions. However, missionaries have to preach the Gospel of Christ to the poor as well as provide their needs because they will not listen the message with their empty stomachs. In some mission fields, this “helping people” seems go forever because missionaries or mission agencies do not directly encounter people by sharing about sins, and the salvation in Christ to people they are dealing with. Some mission centers exist only for the purpose of pre-evangelism. Missiology should study how Christians can better be the agents of transforming the hearts of people through pre-evangelistic centers around the world. Teaching English using the Bible stories is used for evangelizing the unbelievers in the foreign countries or even in the States. It is helpful to inductively start the Christian missions because inductive research will reveal us what really are the needs for a particular context or society. However, since an inductive approach does not begin with what the word of God to the context, the context controls the text in the process.
Liberal Christians and the World Council of Churches have been focusing on building a better world. I think that there will never be a better world or a peaceful world. But rather there will be more wickedness and sinful works in the world. Humanization is now thought as a primary goal of Christian missions. It is dangerous for Christendom and its mission affords for spreading the salvation of God. Christian missions are not humanization or civilization. To properly utilize “from above and below” approach will be necessary because when we highlight “from below” approach it only focuses on humanization and excludes the plan of God in the process. Missiology in its academic researches must apply “from above and below” rather than “from below and above” concept of missiological approach.
Some theologians and Christian leaders are planning to come together with other religions on the concept of “God” in order to dialogue with them. I think it is a wrong direction to take because Christian God who revealed Himself in the Christ Jesus is totally different from gods in other religions. Islam rejects the divinity and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Whereas Buddhism and Hinduism do not have the concept of a Personal Creator God in their beliefs. Buddha denied the existence of such Supreme Being in his teaching. He only emphasized on human affords to escape from suffering in life. Buddha also taught that one cannot save someone else from his or her suffering because his/her karma determines what will happen in the future life. Buddhism and Hinduism also teach reincarnation which is the opposite teaching of the Christian beliefs. Missiology should diligently study and do research on other religions so that it can understand the depth of their beliefs and critically contextualize and interpret the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for them. In doing so, missiologists will help missionaries who are working with other religious faiths in the mission fields. Missiology must also clarify what syncretism is and what is not syncretism. Syncretism is a serious matter in Christian mission works. Missiologists must do research on some theological terminologies and worldviews of other religions because these are very essential for missionaries to encounter with them. Moreover, missiologists should also study the historical reality of other religions to be able to fluently converse with people who have different faiths. I believe that Christianity is the only true religion which can be proven not only by theologically and Biblically but also historically to the world. Metaphysically, Christian God can be proved by phenomenology, ontology, epistemology, philosophy, empiricism and historical accounts. Other religions are cultural religions of people groups or nations in the world. But Christianity can be translated into several cultural people groups in the world. To become a Muslim is to identify and practice the Arab language and cultures.
Some defined Missio Dei as everything that is occurred in the history of the world. Then, is God responsible for the killing and evil deeds which are happening in the world? I believe that God is in control. But He does not dictate people just an automaton for every action and decision. God is not a confusing God. He created male and female separately. He never creates female to be male or male to be female. God has purposefully placed kings or leaders or people in particular position. I believe God has been leading me to be in this program at Concordia Theological Seminary to learn and be equipped by some scholarly professors for His kingdom mission. Liberal Christians interpreted Missio Dei as whatever happens in the world. I would say that Missio Dei is the redemptive act of the triune God in/through Christ Jesus in the history of human beings.
Missiology has to understand the struggles Christians are facing in this world. The struggle we have with the principalities of this world, the works of Satan in the lives of people. I think that missiology must include the study of the work of God the Holy Spirit in its studies. As St. Luke says in Acts 1:8, missionaries need the power of the Holy Spirit to encounter these worldly principalities in the mission fields. Missiology has to study not only the Biblical, theological and historical facts of God but also empirical reality of God by studying the work of the Holy Spirit. We cannot neglect one and emphasize the other in the Trinity. As Gailyn put it, “God: the source of mission, Christ: the message of mission, the Holy Spirit: the power of mission, the church: the embodiment of God’s mission, and the world: the target of mission.” John 3: 16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave only One and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” To share this love of God to those who do not know it Christians must obey the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 20:19-20 by going to them with the Gospel; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; and teaching them to obey what Jesus Christ teaches in the Bible for He will be with us to the end of the age.