Encountering Mission Theology

Frame for Discussion

• Laying the Groundwork

• A Theological Approach to Mission

• Putting it Together

Laying the Groundwork: Key Terms

• Missions:the specific task of making disciples of all nations

• Mission: everything the Church does which points towards the Kingdom of God

• Missio Dei: a comprehensive term encompassing everything God does in relation to the kingdom and everything the church is sent to do on Earth (McIntosh, 2000)

• Missiology: the formal, academic study of mission

Mission Dei and Mission

People of God

Mission

God

Responsibilities of Created Order

Glorify God:

Have Dominion:

Evangelize:All Believers

All People

All Creation

A Theological Approach to Mission: 4 Questions

1. How does mission theology fit into theology as a whole?

2. What is the foundation for our theology of mission?

3. What guiding theme provides the orientation to our mission theology?

4. What motifs are important to mission theology?

2: What is the Foundation for Our Theology of Mission?

• The Bible alone contains God’s self-revelation

• It alone has the authority to guide us through the complex questions that face each new generation.

• It alone provides the general principles on which a theology of mission must be built and the specific instructions given to the Church by God that inform our view of mission today.

3: What Guiding Theme Provides the Orientation to Our Mission Theology?

• God’s glory and our reflection of his glory through worship are the guiding themes for our mission theology.

• Those themes find their focus in the tasks the church is commissioned by God to perform.– Being sent by God, – we are to call people to be reconciled to and come

worship the King of Kings – while at the same time growing in our own ability to

worship him by living lives that best reflect his glory.

Guiding Theme

1. Calling those who do not know Christ through the activities of evangelism and church planting; and

2. Growing in our capacity to live God-glorifying lives through the processes of discipleship, and church growth and

3. Reflecting God’s glory to a needy world through living lives of salt and light

Reflecting God’s Glory through Worship

Guiding Theme Illustrated

Biblical Revelation

Question 4: What Motifs Are Important to Mission Theology?

• One: The Kingdom of God

• Two: Jesus

• Three: Holy Spirit

• Four: Church

• Five: Shalom

• Six: The Return of Jesus

Theology of Mission

Incarn

ation

Cros

s

Res

urr

ection

Asc

ensi

onPe

ntec

ost

Parousia

Motifs in Mission Theology: David Bosch (1991)

Reign of GodJe

sus

Hol

y Spir

it

Churc

h

Wor

ld

Eschato

n

Motifs in Mission Theology:Wilbert Shenk (1999)

Biblical Revelation

Reflecting God’s Glory through Worship

Kingdom of GodJe

sus

Hol

y Spir

it

Churc

hSh

alom

Return

of Chris

t

Motifs in Mission Theology