But when reading Matthew 28, where Jesus said in the gospel of this kingdom will be preached in all nations, to all the earth, I see that as a promise that God will fulfill, not a task that we need to achieve. But many times, we have focused on it as if it were merely a task. The difference there is if we focus on it as a task - this is that whole “industrialized” perspective of missions - then we are required to use our own agency to fulfill it. And as a result, if anything gets in the way or if anything is different to the strategy that we have, we consider it opposition and it becomes problematic.
But when reading Matthew 28, where Jesus said in the gospel of this kingdom will be preached in all nations, to all the earth, I see that as a promise that God will fulfill, not a task that we need to achieve. But many times, we have focused on it as if it were merely a task. The difference there is if we focus on it as a task - this is that whole “industrialized” perspective of missions - then we are required to use our own agency to fulfill it. And as a result, if anything gets in the way or if anything is different to the strategy that we have, we consider it opposition and it becomes problematic.
I think missions influencers resort to militaristic tropes because, when it comes to the sharing of our faith, whether local or cross-cultural, we have a motivational problem. To get more believers ‘committed’ to evangelism, ministry, and missions, influencers too easily twist Scripture to promote a militant activism, casting the ‘great unwashed’, ‘pagan’, or ‘heathen’ as ignorant slaves of our enemy (sin, the powers of darkness, and the Devil) needing to be rescued (by force, if necessary, e.g. the burning building analogy).
Relationships define reality for us. Everything is interrelated. The interconnectivity of all things, physical and spiritual, are held together by relationships. So much so, that I believe in and started to develop a relational hermeneutic of Scripture that can better help us understand the purposes of God in the world today.
Relationships define reality for us. Everything is interrelated. The interconnectivity of all things, physical and spiritual, are held together by relationships. So much so, that I believe in and started to develop a relational hermeneutic of Scripture that can better help us understand the purposes of God in the world today.