If Everything is Mission 1

I often keep my Instagram posts and blog posts separated. What shows up there usually does not show up here (a good reason to follow me on IG). 😁

However, every now and then something is worthy of redundancy.

Yesterday, I posted a couple of photos from Stephen Neill’s 1959 publication Creative Tension, which was based on his Duff Lectures of the previous year. The reason for such a post was because of Neill’s famous quote: “If everything is mission, nothing is misson.”

You have heard it. I have heard it. We have used it many times. And if you have not heard it, then hang around the missions community and it will find you very soon.

While many people quote Neill, they often do not know the source–which is Creative Tension (London: Edinburgh House Press, 1959), 81. You are welcome, come your next blog post, research paper, article, or book. 😁

Also, most people do not know the context of the quote. After Neill makes the statement, he continues:

“If everything that the Church does is to be classified as ‘mission,’ we shall have to find another term for the Church’s particular responsibility for ‘the heathen’, those who have never yet heard the Name of Christ; and that, in 1959, means half of the people now living on the earth” (81-82).

Most of us agree with his famous, now ubiquitous, statement. But what do we say about that which followed it?

(After I posted this, I noticed the image of the quote is not showing up on desktop screens (Thank you Word Press, Nimble Builder, this is not the first time for issues). If you can’t see the image, click on the words “Neill Quote” at the top left.)