Theology of Missions
There are many bible verses and passages that are related to missions. These can be found in both the New Testament and in the old testaments. However, many Christians do not relate them to mission and only know of the ones that directly talk of missions. Understanding the various bible verses and passages in the bible that directly or indirectly are related to missions would give a clear understanding of the high priority God places on missions. In fact it would be correct to say that the whole bible has a central theme of missions.
There are several texts in the Old Testament and new testaments that are related to mission. In fact, the theme of mission begins in the first verse of the Old Testament section of the bible i.e. in Genesis 11. Here, Yahweh is referred to as the God of the universe as a whole. From this point in the bible the rest of the whole bible is centered on sin of human kind with God promising to send a savior. In Genesis 123, God told Abraham that the people of the whole world would be blessed through him. This was Gods mission and he repeated this to both Isaac and Jacob. This is shown in Genesis 1818, Genesis 2217-18, Genesis 2624 and Genesis 2812-14. God told Moses at Mt. Sinai to tell people that even if the whole world was Gods, the Israelites would become a kingdom of priests for God. This is shown in Exodus chapter 19 verses 5-6. This means that Israel as a nation was chosen by God to be his agents in his efforts of reconciling the sinful humanity with Him. In Isaiah chapter 49 and verses 6 shows that God wanted the people He had chosen to be a light to the world. Joshua chapter 4 verses 24 says that God allowed the Israelites to cross the river of Jordan so that people in the whole world would know of his great works. Solomon while dedicating the temple that he had built in Jerusalem said that the temple had been built so that all the people of the world would know of Gods name. This is seen in 1 Kings Chapter 8 verse 43. In the prophetic books of the bible, the prophets confirms that God was focused on the whole world. A good example is seen in the book of Isaiah chapter 45 verses 44 where God says that all the ends of the earth should turn to him for salvation. Another text in the Old Testament is the whole book of Jonah which shows Gods desire and call for people to join him in his love for the nations.
In the New Testament, the most commonly known scripture that relates to mission is Matthew 2819-20 which is also commonly referred to as the great commission. The Lords Prayer is another well known text which shows mission. The prayer talks of Gods kingdom coming down to the earth and his will being done on earth same way as in heaven. Mathew chapter 24 verses 14 says that before the end comes, the gospel of Gods kingdom will have been preached in the whole world. In Luke chapter 10 verse 2 Jesus talks of the harvest being plentiful compared to the laborers. In the book of John chapter 17 verses 23 Jesus talks of his desire to have the world know that it was God who had sent him and that the reason for his sending him was the great love He felt for mankind. In the book of revelations chapter 21 verses 23 and 24 John says that all the nations will go before the Lord and worship Him. In the book of Mark chapter 13 verse 10 talks of Gods gospel being preached to all the nations. In the book of John chapter 12 and verse 32 Jesus says that when He will be lifted from the world He will draw people to Himself.
Christian mission comes from Gods initiative which was in line with Gods purposes of healing and restoring the creation. The word mission means sending. It forms the central theme of the whole bible and serves to describe what the purpose of God was in the history of humankind. God has a reconciliatory nature. To reconcile with the sinful humankind, God sent prophets and finally his only son Jesus Christ. Throughout the bible God is shown as a sender. He sends His laws to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai, He sends prophets to people, and Jesus sends his disciples into the world. All this sending Shows Gods attempt to reconcile with humankind due to the great love He felt for them. Gods desire is that we may share in his passion for reaching out to the world and converting all the people into his servants. Christians who have accepted Gods call have a role to play in Gods mission. Another nature of God that is related to mission is his great love for the mankind. God had every reason to abandon mankind after they sinned in the garden of Eden but he did not. Instead, throughout the bible he is seen making efforts to reconcile with the mankind. This is also seen by His sending of His only son Jesus Christ to come and reconcile Him with his people. This Gods nature of love can also be linked with His selfless nature. That is why God in the bible is depicted as going to any length to reconcile with the mankind.
Theology as an aspect of Christianity has been described as a systematic study of Gods nature and His relationship with the world and humanity. It is concerned with the study of Gods nature and truth about Christian religion. Mission theology is related to other aspects of theology in that mission theology is concerned with the study of how God relates with humankind. It shows how God loves the world so much that He is willing to give mankind the privilege of participating in his mission of saving the world. Mission theology is all about the study of Gods nature and trying to relate it to his purpose for creating mankind. It is a form of applied theology which is involved with reflections about God. Theology of mission is also concerned with all the other traditional aspects of systemic theology but the way it deals with it differs. It is committed to remain faithful to the intentions of God. It is also committed to the purposes and perspectives of God. The mission of theology is fundamentally concerned with how the bible is related to the bibles mission. It tries to the bible to give the foundational motivations for Gods mission in addition to allowing it to shape, evaluate, guide, question, and question the enterprise of mission.
Motif is usually described as an element or pattern that is recurring and which acts to reinforce the central guiding concern of an issue. It is synonymous to theme. The key themes of the theology of mission includes understanding Gods mission, understanding Gods use of humans as his instruments in mission, understanding Gods purposes and intentions as well as understanding how God works through His people in His world. These themes are seen running throughout the whole bible from Genesis to Revelations. These themes are central to the theology of missions and they intertwine with each other. God uses human beings to carry out his missions. This is seen by his act of sending people to deliver his messages throughout the bible.
The theology of mission is related to church leaders, missionaries and lay persons who are not engaged in ministry as full-timers. Mission is reacted to and perceived differently by lay people, church leaders and missionaries. The differences are seen in their reactions to suffering, worship and prayer. Mission theology cannot be separated from theology and God cannot be separated from mission theology. Similarly, how these groups of Christians react to prayer, worship and suffering is part of mission theology. Piper says that worship is better compared to mission and that mission only exists due to lack of worship. If all the nations were worshiping God, there would be no need for God to send people to humankind and thus there would be no need for missionaries. Mission has been said to be how the church relates to the world. And mission does not belong to the missionaries, lay people or church leaders as majority of Christians believe it belongs to God. These participants in Gods mission have been accorded the privilege of participating. An important point to note is that the participation of these people in mission is not optional. Failure to participate in missions makes them to cease being part of Christs church. Whatever activities these people engage in should all be focused on mission.
From the above discussion it is clear that mission is inseparable from theology. It forms the practical part of theology since it deals with the study of how the nature of God is related to mankind. It also deals with the mission of God which ultimately becomes the mission of mankind when they get saved. All the people who are in any way involves in church activities are participating in Gods mission.
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