Maybe We Can Work on a More Biblically Sound Missiology…

I almost hate writing that title. I am involve in Pastoral Counseling, and there are so many people who come up with some principles or methods of counseling and label them as “Biblical” often meaning nothing more than that they have linked them to a few key Bible verses. Alternatively, it can mean even less and simply means that the person feels it is true.

But in Missions, there is often such a disconnect from the Bible, that saying that good missions should be drawn from good theology is simply not enough. A few points:

A couple of posts ago I noted that the two most well-known versions of the Great Commission (in Matthew 28 and Acts 1) do not emphasize going far away. The Matthews passage focuses on discipling wherever one goes. The Acts passage emphasizes that being a witness is to happen everywhere… with no greater emphasis on far than near.

I was just reading an article who noted (not for the first time, but still noted well) that “panta ta ethne” is really not best understood as “people groups.” It is better understood as “All Gentiles.” As such, it is more of a uniting term than a dividing term. A real industry has developed with homogeneous groups, UPGs, UUPGs, and more, While these may have limited value, there is no real justification in linking them to the that Biblical phrase. And since the term is a uniting term, it truly seems to be a bad misuse of the term that can easily lead to bad practices.

Matthew 24:14 has been used as a motivation to hurry up missions— often in ways that are rather short-sighted. There just is no justification from that passage to suggest that Jesus is waiting on our timing for His return. Considering the odd methods that have been driven by this misuse of Scripture, it is a good time to plan for transformation, not simply affirmation.

One could go on and on. What is missions from a Biblical standpoint? What does a missionary correspond to in the Bible. There is a lot that needs to be regrounded.

This is not to say that one has to base everything on the Bible. One can focus on unreached people groups even if the term is unknown in the Bible, and its imperative is only indirect. We don’t necessarily have to limit the roles of a missionary to the roles of an apostle in the Bible. But we need to understand God’s revelation first and foundationally, as we develop our work.