Friday, June 30, 2006
Bosch D.J Reflections on Biblical Models of Mission
International Missionary Conference at Edinburgh, Martin &Her suggested that mission was "the mother of theology" or of the New Testament: it was because of their involvement in mission that the early Christians began to theologize ([190811971:190). More recently, Martin Hengel said essentially the'same: the history and the theology of early Christianity were, primarily, "mission history" and "mission theology" (1983:53). Moreover, writes Heinrich Kastin& "Mission was, in the early stages, ... a fundamental expression of the life of the church. The beginnings of a missionary theology are therefore also the beginnings of Christian theology as such" (1967:127).
Compassion
Nowhere is this illustrated more dramatically than in Ezekiel 16:4-7
on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in cloths. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for. you out of compassion for you; but you were thrown out in the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born. I passed by you, and saw you flailing about in your blood. As you lay in your blood, 1 said to you, "Live!",
This is indeed one of the most powerful "mission statements" in, the whole Bible, since it depicts God as the One who has compassion on the lost and the marginalized.
It is, however, in the person and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth that the missionary dimensions of God's boundless compassion are expressed in an unequaled way. For instance, it is striking to note the way in which the people on whom Jesus has compassion are depicted; they are called the poor, the blind, the crippled, the leprous, the hungry those who weep, the sick, the little ones, the widows, the captives, those who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and the like e (cf. Nolan 1976:21).
As God has compassion on Israel and others, and as Jesus over throws the codes of society in boundless compassion on the marginalized, so we too are called to show compassion. This is a fundamental thrust of the biblical picture of mission. Those who have experienced divine compassion are moved by the plight of others, whether or not their plight is "spiritual" or ""material." When Jesus looks at the crowds, harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matt. 9:36)
Belittled compassion = waste of time, mis-directed, humanitarian seen as a way in!
Martyria
Antithesis Triumphalism
We already see this in the Old Testament. The mightier Israel became, the less its existence revealed a missionary dimension: the nations moved into the background and remained at a distance. Conversely, the more Israel was stripped of earthly power and glory the more the prophets recognized a missionary dimension to its life.
Others have tended to the opposite extreme. They were inclined to make the "success" of mission almost completely dependent upon their own zeal and hard work. Perhaps this is, in part, what lies behind the tendency - particularly in Protestant circles - to interpret the Matthean version of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) primarily as a command and, with that, to overemphasize the auxiliary verb "-'go,,
(Creek: poreuthentes). As 1 have argued elsewhere, this is based on a faulty exegesis (Bosch 1983:219-20, 229-30; cf. also Legrand 1990:78-79). It is also, however, the product of a deficient theology: in semi-Pelagian manner, we tend to prioritize human intervention and relegate the power of God to secondary status. This happens particularly where the
Great Commission is, for all intents and purposes, limited to verses 19 and 20a, that is, where we ignore the fact that the commission proper follows on the statement of authority given to Christ in verse 18 and is dependent upon the promise, in verse 20b, of the abiding presence of him who is the real missionary (Legrand 1990:81).
We may by all means draw on the Great Commissio, but we should do so in a way that does not violate the text's intentions.
Matthew tor instance, views mission as ministry done in the consciousness of the universal authority of Jesus and of his abiding presence (28:18-20). Mission is, primarily, making disciples, that is, turning others into what the disciples themselves are: those who practice justice-love and emulate the works of Jesus (Matt. 11:2) (cf. Bosch 1991:56-83). In his Great Commission, Luke (24:46-49) understands mission as: fulfillment of scriptural promises; becoming possible only after the death and resurrection of the Messiah of Israel; proclaiming the message of repentance and forgiveness; intended for all nations; beginning from Jerusalem; carried out by '*witnesses"; and accomplished in the power of the Spirit (cf. Bosch 1991:84122; Senior and Stuffimueller 1983:260-69). And Johns version of the Commission (20:21) underscores the intimate relationship between' Jesus' mission and that of his disciples: they have to emulate him. The Commission follows directly after he has shown them his hands and his side (20:20); this undeniably suggests that, as I have argued above, mission will take place in the context of suffering and opposition.
The mission of the church, then, has all the dimensions and scope
of Jesus' own ministry and may never be reduced to church planting and the saving of souls. It consists in proclaiming and teaching, but 11 also in healing and liberating, in compassion for the poor and the downtrodden. The mission of the church, as the mission of Jesus, involves being sent into the world - to love, to serve, to preach, to teach, to heal, to save, to free.
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Compassion
Nowhere is this illustrated more dramatically than in Ezekiel 16:4-7
on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in cloths. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for. you out of compassion for you; but you were thrown out in the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born. I passed by you, and saw you flailing about in your blood. As you lay in your blood, 1 said to you, "Live!",
This is indeed one of the most powerful "mission statements" in, the whole Bible, since it depicts God as the One who has compassion on the lost and the marginalized.
It is, however, in the person and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth that the missionary dimensions of God's boundless compassion are expressed in an unequaled way. For instance, it is striking to note the way in which the people on whom Jesus has compassion are depicted; they are called the poor, the blind, the crippled, the leprous, the hungry those who weep, the sick, the little ones, the widows, the captives, those who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and the like e (cf. Nolan 1976:21).
As God has compassion on Israel and others, and as Jesus over throws the codes of society in boundless compassion on the marginalized, so we too are called to show compassion. This is a fundamental thrust of the biblical picture of mission. Those who have experienced divine compassion are moved by the plight of others, whether or not their plight is "spiritual" or ""material." When Jesus looks at the crowds, harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matt. 9:36)
Belittled compassion = waste of time, mis-directed, humanitarian seen as a way in!
Martyria
Antithesis Triumphalism
We already see this in the Old Testament. The mightier Israel became, the less its existence revealed a missionary dimension: the nations moved into the background and remained at a distance. Conversely, the more Israel was stripped of earthly power and glory the more the prophets recognized a missionary dimension to its life.
Others have tended to the opposite extreme. They were inclined to make the "success" of mission almost completely dependent upon their own zeal and hard work. Perhaps this is, in part, what lies behind the tendency - particularly in Protestant circles - to interpret the Matthean version of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) primarily as a command and, with that, to overemphasize the auxiliary verb "-'go,,
(Creek: poreuthentes). As 1 have argued elsewhere, this is based on a faulty exegesis (Bosch 1983:219-20, 229-30; cf. also Legrand 1990:78-79). It is also, however, the product of a deficient theology: in semi-Pelagian manner, we tend to prioritize human intervention and relegate the power of God to secondary status. This happens particularly where the
Great Commission is, for all intents and purposes, limited to verses 19 and 20a, that is, where we ignore the fact that the commission proper follows on the statement of authority given to Christ in verse 18 and is dependent upon the promise, in verse 20b, of the abiding presence of him who is the real missionary (Legrand 1990:81).
We may by all means draw on the Great Commissio, but we should do so in a way that does not violate the text's intentions.
Matthew tor instance, views mission as ministry done in the consciousness of the universal authority of Jesus and of his abiding presence (28:18-20). Mission is, primarily, making disciples, that is, turning others into what the disciples themselves are: those who practice justice-love and emulate the works of Jesus (Matt. 11:2) (cf. Bosch 1991:56-83). In his Great Commission, Luke (24:46-49) understands mission as: fulfillment of scriptural promises; becoming possible only after the death and resurrection of the Messiah of Israel; proclaiming the message of repentance and forgiveness; intended for all nations; beginning from Jerusalem; carried out by '*witnesses"; and accomplished in the power of the Spirit (cf. Bosch 1991:84122; Senior and Stuffimueller 1983:260-69). And Johns version of the Commission (20:21) underscores the intimate relationship between' Jesus' mission and that of his disciples: they have to emulate him. The Commission follows directly after he has shown them his hands and his side (20:20); this undeniably suggests that, as I have argued above, mission will take place in the context of suffering and opposition.
The mission of the church, then, has all the dimensions and scope
of Jesus' own ministry and may never be reduced to church planting and the saving of souls. It consists in proclaiming and teaching, but 11 also in healing and liberating, in compassion for the poor and the downtrodden. The mission of the church, as the mission of Jesus, involves being sent into the world - to love, to serve, to preach, to teach, to heal, to save, to free.
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