The Church’s engagement in missions is 2000 years old. However, serious theological reflection on the matter has yet to reach the century mark. Zeal for the matters of the Lord and His Kingdom is important. But zeal without knowledge not not a good thing and the one who makes haste with his or her feet misses the way (Prov 19:2). We have gone into the world, made disciples, planted churches, and developed leaders, but frequently have done so on shallow theological foundations. A robust exegetical theology is not widespread throughout the world in general, and the West in particular. The result is a fog of confusion that surrounds the work of the Church in the last days. We are in the fog of missions.
The Fog of Missions
The language of mission is unclear. Is missions passing out gospel tracts in China or overseeing food distribution in Nicaragua? Is missions church planting in Iraq or constructing a building for a church in Russia? Or, does missions include all of these examples and others as well? Identity is unclear. Is every Christian a missionary or only those who relocate their lives to a remote location overseas? Are doctors and teachers missionaries, even if they do not share the gospel, or are evangelists the only missionaries? The purpose and priority of missions is unclear. Do missionaries go to help serve people with great physical needs? If so, what is the difference between them and any NGO? Do missionaries go and share the gospel and do nothing related to social justice and physical needs? Is evangelism the priority or social needs? Or, is there no overarching mission priority at all, but rather multiple equivalent actions? What are missionaries to do on the field? Are they to be involved in church planting activities? Are they to be involved in relief and development? Are they to be involved in training leaders? Caring for the environment? Freeing those captives to human traffickers? Alleviating poverty?
