Tena tātou katoa e te iwi mīhana… (Greetings to all the people in mission),

This month’s whakataukī (proverb) is: “He kura ka huna. He kura ka whaakina” [Learning is hidden. Learning is disclosed].

This could well be a proverb about what theologians call “progressive revelation”. In the Māori context it speaks of the unfolding of a learning process, with an inference that the disclosure is hard won—something akin to, “you live and learn”.

What we commonly understand as “the Great Commission” and its application for all Christians, was not understood that way as little as 230 years ago.

New contexts bring new learning to light. For example, did you know that what we commonly understand as “the Great Commission” and its application for all Christians, was not understood that way as little as 230 years ago? It is a perspective brought to light by European colonial exposure to the world, and an increasing concern, by UK Evangelicals particularly, to take beyond Europe what they understood the gospel to be. William Carey’s ‘Enquiry’ (1792) and the founding of missionary societies in quick succession added fuel to the spark, such that now Matthew 28:18-20 is entrenched in global missions’ imagination—as some would have it—as the end all and be all of all the Church should be in the world. But is it? Has the Twenty-First Century been revealing new learning to apply in the decades ahead?

Truth be told, it is probably revealing new learn-ings (plural). Interpretations of what missions ought to be differ from context to context. It seems clear from my reading that the 230+/- years of missions interpretation of Scripture is struggling for validity because the “means” (as Carey called them) are being invalidated. I refer specifically to the shift of modus from the monastic movements under Catholicism to the voluntary associations (missions) invented under colonial Protestantism modeled on organisational structures created to help the colonial companies achieve their global expansion. Back then, this form of missions impetus helped to revitalise a waning Church greatly, infusing its members with a sense of grand purpose: populating the world with Christianity (and “civilisation” as David Livingstone famously declared).

As we prepare to step out beyond 2020, we can no longer assume that grand purpose is helpful, at least not in the way it was articulated under the colonial expansion. To borrow a filmography metaphor, we are watching the “Great Commission” blur as new objects come into focus. And that is OK because that season is past.

Matthew 28:18 is Jesus letting go of a taut bow string.

Am I saying Matthew 28:18-20 and similar verses no longer have their place? No, I am not. I am suggesting that they are being put back in their rightful place—as the backdrop to God’s mission, not as the object of God’s mission. Rightly interpreted, Matthew 28:18 is Jesus letting go of a taut bow string. In Matthew 10:5 Jesus says “Don’t go”. Then He continues with His mission until we get beyond the resurrection and He says something like, ‘OK… the time to go is now’ (the imperative is ‘as you are going, disciple’). So the so-called Great Commission is merely the release, it’s not the mission. So, what is the mission? We would all probably (and correctly) say, to make more Jesus-disciples. But what does that mean?

Since the late-2000’s I have been convinced missions is moving from a colonial era into a communal era. If Matthew 28:18-20 is the key missions verse of the previous era, I believe John 17:18-25 is the key missions verse for our era. For regular readers of this blog this will come as no surprise. I have coined this passage, “The Great Commitment”.

Missions is moving from a colonial era into a communal era.

I have a great concern for us to be evidencing God’s love for the world by our love for one another, for in loving unity the Father sent the Son and in loving unity the Son sends (all of) us into the world. Where the Great Commission could be seen as limited to the Apostles, no such restriction exists with the Great Commitment. Loving unity describes the end-game of disciple-making. The whole of Scripture is our guidebook on how to be a lover of God and others. The whole of the world (wherever we are and are called to be) is a place for loving disciples to live, move and have their being. Anything your hands find to do for God’s glory is missions activity—if it shows the world our loving unity and love for God, with verbal explanations of why it is so.

In the US I picked up a book by a former colleague that supports the view (originally articulated by Stephen Neil, David Hesselgrave and others) that “if everything is missions, nothing is missions”. I can see their point, WHEN missions is focused on the Great Commission and a tight definition of “all nations” (panta ta ethne) is assumed. When that is set in the background and our relationships as disciples in the world is brought to the fore, that argument loses traction. Everything is missions if it strengthens our unity, enhances our relationships in Christ, mutually matures us as disciples, overtly glorifies God, AND… invites others to join us in the new kingdom we are evidencing. The Great Commitment calls us to this. This is missions for an era of communality. As the world struggles to hold together the unprecedented diversity created by people on the move, as nationalism divides societies, the gospel of reconciliation will shine more brightly and potently so that the world will believe and know that the Father lovingly sent the Son.

Where I live, in Aotearoa New Zealand, I believe we are in the best place in the world to develop this sort of missiology. Our post-colonial and bi-cultural context reveals this learning. What we learn locally can influence the world regarding how best to refocus for a new generation, helping us all to #stayonmission.

Whakapaingia te Atua, to tatou kaiunga ki te ao whanui (Praise to God, who sends us into the world),

Jay