Hey! Someone screenshotted just the part you wrote about hell and heaven there. I know that was just kind of an aside. I'm teaching Mission and Evangelism at Bethel Seminary this semester and we just finished a section on this. I had students read an excerpt from this book:
David Bentley Hart
That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation.
It's philosophy and Bible and theology and he is a famously dense and intense writer but he's definitely right to try to probe these issues.
There's also a brand new book out this year by Andrew Rillera called Lamb of the Free that kind of looks at the biblical theology of the levitical sacrificial system. Again, really obscure stuff here but huge implications for how we often summarize the gospel. It's kind of cutting edge biblical studies. (Douglas Campbell's work is also excellent on this).
I'm very much into Christians being involved in evangelism and mission. I think Christianity is good news. But I think a huge important thing is that we are actually communicating what the Bible says is the good news and not just passing on caricatures of the good news that aren't accurate so I think it's important that we think hard about the content of what we're sharing and I think that inevitably has effects too in how we do missions.
A more standard missiology book that my students read is The Gospel in a Pluralist Society by Leslie Newbigin. I think he was on to a lot of the same things raised in these new books back in the 1980's.
I just thought I would drop in and share a couple resources since I've been thinking about the same things and enjoying these books as helpful conversation partners. Peace!
That was the first Newbigin book I read. Loved it then, and it is rather timeless.
I serve on a foundation that gives to missions. They struggle deeply with this issue of defining the Gospel. They have settled on using the phrase "Gospel of the Kingdom." Recently, somebody chatgpt'd what that means and it came back with an interesting response that highlights so many of these issues. I post it here for your consumption - I am not endorsing this AI theology, but the ideas in this list resonated with a couple of our board members. Here it is:
Prompt: What are the differences between the Gospel most often preached in evangelical churches today and the Gospel of the Kingdom Jesus preached.
Here are 10 differences between the Gospel most often preached in evangelical churches today and the Gospel of the Kingdom Jesus preached:
Gospel in Evangelical Churches vs. Gospel of the Kingdom
_1. Focus_
- Evangelical Gospel: Focuses on individual salvation, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Emphasizes the reign of God, His sovereignty, and the establishment of His kingdom on earth.
_2. Message_
- Evangelical Gospel: Presents a message of personal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Calls people to repentance, discipleship, and obedience to God's kingdom principles.
_3. Scope_
- Evangelical Gospel: Limited to the individual's personal relationship with God and their eternal destiny.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Encompasses the broader scope of God's kingdom, including its principles, values, and practices.
_4. Emphasis_
- Evangelical Gospel: Emphasizes faith, grace, and the forgiveness of sins.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Emphasizes living a kingdom lifestyle, characterized by love, justice, and righteousness.
_5. Kingdom Principles_
- Evangelical Gospel: Often neglects or minimizes kingdom principles, such as love, forgiveness, and humility.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Teaches and emphasizes kingdom principles as essential for living a kingdom lifestyle.
_6. Eschatology_
- Evangelical Gospel: Often focuses on the individual's eternal destiny, with little emphasis on the kingdom's present and future implications.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Encompasses eschatological themes, including the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of God's kingdom on earth.
_7. Discipleship_
- Evangelical Gospel: May not emphasize discipleship as a crucial aspect of the Christian life.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Calls followers to obey God's kingdom principles and live a life of discipleship.
_8. Community_
- Evangelical Gospel: May focus primarily on individual salvation, with less emphasis on community.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Envisions a community of believers living out kingdom principles and values.
_9. Transformation_
- Evangelical Gospel: May not emphasize the need for transformation and obedience to God's kingdom principles.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Calls for transformation, emphasizing the need for obedience to God's kingdom principles.
_10. Ultimate Goal_
- Evangelical Gospel: Sees the ultimate goal as the salvation of souls and their eternal destiny with God.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Sees the ultimate goal as the establishment of God's kingdom on earth, with Jesus Christ as King.
These differences highlight distinct approaches to sharing the Gospel message. While the Evangelical Gospel focuses on individual salvation, the Gospel of the Kingdom emphasizes kingdom principles, community, and transformation.
Thanks for sharing your continued thoughts on Missio Dei. I am in the process of developing my missiology. Your thoughts here about human agency made me consider Jesus own mission and coming into the world. Could it be that in Philippians 2 where it says that Jesus "emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant" that it even extends as far as into His human agency in the sense that He had no physical resources (not even a physical attractiveness, according to Isaiah 53:2) to offer or use to solve problems? Could you argue that this was also the case with Jesus early followers, which is why in Luke 10 He tells them not to take any money or extra tunic and why in Acts 3, Peter and John specifically say they have no silver or gold to offer. Do you think we need to take a more active approach of emptying ourselves of, or our dependence on, human resources in order to rely more on the Spiritual resources for the work of God?
I thought I had replied earlier, but now don't see the reply, so this is round 2.
The word for the next (actually, current) era of missions is MUTUALITY. It helps frame mission in a much better way than we have traditionally done. It gets at the issues you note.
Hey! Someone screenshotted just the part you wrote about hell and heaven there. I know that was just kind of an aside. I'm teaching Mission and Evangelism at Bethel Seminary this semester and we just finished a section on this. I had students read an excerpt from this book:
David Bentley Hart
That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation.
It's philosophy and Bible and theology and he is a famously dense and intense writer but he's definitely right to try to probe these issues.
There's also a brand new book out this year by Andrew Rillera called Lamb of the Free that kind of looks at the biblical theology of the levitical sacrificial system. Again, really obscure stuff here but huge implications for how we often summarize the gospel. It's kind of cutting edge biblical studies. (Douglas Campbell's work is also excellent on this).
I'm very much into Christians being involved in evangelism and mission. I think Christianity is good news. But I think a huge important thing is that we are actually communicating what the Bible says is the good news and not just passing on caricatures of the good news that aren't accurate so I think it's important that we think hard about the content of what we're sharing and I think that inevitably has effects too in how we do missions.
A more standard missiology book that my students read is The Gospel in a Pluralist Society by Leslie Newbigin. I think he was on to a lot of the same things raised in these new books back in the 1980's.
I just thought I would drop in and share a couple resources since I've been thinking about the same things and enjoying these books as helpful conversation partners. Peace!
That was the first Newbigin book I read. Loved it then, and it is rather timeless.
I serve on a foundation that gives to missions. They struggle deeply with this issue of defining the Gospel. They have settled on using the phrase "Gospel of the Kingdom." Recently, somebody chatgpt'd what that means and it came back with an interesting response that highlights so many of these issues. I post it here for your consumption - I am not endorsing this AI theology, but the ideas in this list resonated with a couple of our board members. Here it is:
Prompt: What are the differences between the Gospel most often preached in evangelical churches today and the Gospel of the Kingdom Jesus preached.
Here are 10 differences between the Gospel most often preached in evangelical churches today and the Gospel of the Kingdom Jesus preached:
Gospel in Evangelical Churches vs. Gospel of the Kingdom
_1. Focus_
- Evangelical Gospel: Focuses on individual salvation, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Emphasizes the reign of God, His sovereignty, and the establishment of His kingdom on earth.
_2. Message_
- Evangelical Gospel: Presents a message of personal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Calls people to repentance, discipleship, and obedience to God's kingdom principles.
_3. Scope_
- Evangelical Gospel: Limited to the individual's personal relationship with God and their eternal destiny.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Encompasses the broader scope of God's kingdom, including its principles, values, and practices.
_4. Emphasis_
- Evangelical Gospel: Emphasizes faith, grace, and the forgiveness of sins.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Emphasizes living a kingdom lifestyle, characterized by love, justice, and righteousness.
_5. Kingdom Principles_
- Evangelical Gospel: Often neglects or minimizes kingdom principles, such as love, forgiveness, and humility.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Teaches and emphasizes kingdom principles as essential for living a kingdom lifestyle.
_6. Eschatology_
- Evangelical Gospel: Often focuses on the individual's eternal destiny, with little emphasis on the kingdom's present and future implications.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Encompasses eschatological themes, including the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of God's kingdom on earth.
_7. Discipleship_
- Evangelical Gospel: May not emphasize discipleship as a crucial aspect of the Christian life.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Calls followers to obey God's kingdom principles and live a life of discipleship.
_8. Community_
- Evangelical Gospel: May focus primarily on individual salvation, with less emphasis on community.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Envisions a community of believers living out kingdom principles and values.
_9. Transformation_
- Evangelical Gospel: May not emphasize the need for transformation and obedience to God's kingdom principles.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Calls for transformation, emphasizing the need for obedience to God's kingdom principles.
_10. Ultimate Goal_
- Evangelical Gospel: Sees the ultimate goal as the salvation of souls and their eternal destiny with God.
- Gospel of the Kingdom: Sees the ultimate goal as the establishment of God's kingdom on earth, with Jesus Christ as King.
These differences highlight distinct approaches to sharing the Gospel message. While the Evangelical Gospel focuses on individual salvation, the Gospel of the Kingdom emphasizes kingdom principles, community, and transformation.
Thanks for sharing your continued thoughts on Missio Dei. I am in the process of developing my missiology. Your thoughts here about human agency made me consider Jesus own mission and coming into the world. Could it be that in Philippians 2 where it says that Jesus "emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant" that it even extends as far as into His human agency in the sense that He had no physical resources (not even a physical attractiveness, according to Isaiah 53:2) to offer or use to solve problems? Could you argue that this was also the case with Jesus early followers, which is why in Luke 10 He tells them not to take any money or extra tunic and why in Acts 3, Peter and John specifically say they have no silver or gold to offer. Do you think we need to take a more active approach of emptying ourselves of, or our dependence on, human resources in order to rely more on the Spiritual resources for the work of God?
I thought I had replied earlier, but now don't see the reply, so this is round 2.
The word for the next (actually, current) era of missions is MUTUALITY. It helps frame mission in a much better way than we have traditionally done. It gets at the issues you note.