In the Beginning…Mission 2

When it comes to a proper understanding of mission, most of us are quick to begin with the New Testament. We are not alone here for Köstenberger and O’Brien noted:

Many biblical scholars (as distinct from missiologists), who have written on mission in the New Testament, have failed to examine adequately issues relating to salvation for the nations in the Old Testament. . . . So, for example, Hahn ([Mission in the New Testament] 1965:18-20) devotes only three pages to the subject; Bosch ([Transforming Mission] 1991), although touching on several important theological matters arising from the Old Testament, gives four pages to the subject in a book of six hundred, while Kasting ([Die Anfänge der urchristlichen Mission] 1969: 11) begins his study on mission within Judaism, thus omitting the Old Testament entirely! Senior and Stuhlmueller ([The Biblical Foundations for Mission] 1983:7-138), with their section, “The Foundations for Mission in the Old Testament”, are a notable exception. (Salvation to the Ends of the Earth, 25).

I was reading through Newbigin’s The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission (originally published in 1978) today and noticed that his biblical starting point is Mark’s Gospel. Maybe the Old Testament foundation comes later, but I have yet to see it.

While such conversations are shifting (at least in missiological circles) since Köstenberger and O’Brien published their work in 2001, we still have a way to go in both academia and local churches.

Ask most seminarians or church members what contribution the Old Testament makes to the Church’s missionary task and you are likely to get confused looks. You may even get, “Absolutely nothing. That’s a New Testament thing.”

We have got to change this.

When we talk about the Church’s missionary activity, we must begin with “In the beginning, God…”