Mission Between the Times: Essays on the Kingdom

by C. René Padilla

One of the premier representatives of orthodox evangelicalism in Latin America, C. René Padilla here offers a Latin American perspective on the different aspects of the mission of the church. All mission must proceed from the context of the principles of the whole of the Kingdom of God, says Padilla, and that entails an evangelism fully integrated with a concern for social responsibility. While Padilla shares many of the concerns voice by liberation theologians, he nevertheless rejects liberation theology on the grounds that it has become a secular ideology that is distant from the true gospel imperative. Heartfelt and incisive, this book will be valuable to anyone interested in missiology, the church Latin America, or an evangelical perspective on the issues that have given rise to liberation theology. C. René Padilla is president of the Kairos Foundation and publication secretary of the Latin American Theological Fraternity. "Mission between the times is a major contribution to evangelical and ecumenical missiology form one of the most important Third World voices in the contemporary international theological dialogue." - Gerald H. Anderson, a founder and president of the American Society of Missiology and editor of the Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions (Eerdmans). "These essays are rich and persuasive reminders of where all theology should begin - at the cutting edge of the world, and of how theology should proceed - in a missionary spirit of crossing boundaries." - Harvie M. Conn, emeritus professor of missions at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before his death in 1999.

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction

212 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1985

About the author

René Padilla was born in Quito, Ecuador, and reared and Bogotá, Colombia. He has been living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, since 1967. He received a B.A. in Philosophy from Wheaton College, an M.A. in Theology from Wheaton College Graduate School, and a PhD in New Testament from the University of Manchester, England. In 1992 he was granted an honorary D.D. by Wheaton College. He is a founding member of the Latin American Theological Fellowship (FTL, its acronym in Spanish) and of the Kairos Foundation in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For twelve years, until recently, he was the International President of Tearfund - U.K. and Ireland. He is presently the President of the Micah Network and Executive Director of Ediciones Kairos, the publishing arm of the Kairos Foundation. He has lectured in many countries around the world and has written or edited several books in English and Spanish. His works have been published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, German and Korean.

Reviews

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of essays by Ecuadorian theologian and missiologist C. René Padilla. Since it’s a collection of essays, it is a bit of a disjointed book, but once you accept the structure there is so much good stuff in here. The book is older (this is a 2013 edition of the originally published work from 1985), but still so relevant to many of the issues facing the Church today. It felt like a privilege learning from one of the Latin American theologians who brought issues of social justice, liberation and integral mission to the forefront of Western Evangelicals’ minds in the 1970s during the 1974 Lausanne conference. It’s really a tragedy that we haven’t listened as well as we should and that Padilla’s ideas still seem radical nearly 50 years later.

My main takeaways:
- The gospel is something that affects the whole of life—spiritual, personal, social, political, physical. Any gospel preached that is only one-dimensional (i.e. only personal/private) is not enough to have the transformational effects it’s supposed to have.
- Capitalism, materialism and consumerism are oppressive, colonial systems that stand in direct opposition to the gospel and the kingdom of God. That is why the Church should be concerned with decolonization, simplicity and the restructuring of oppressive economic systems.
- Christianity must be contextualized in culture—when it is, we get a fuller, more diverse view of the gospel. At the same time, we must guard against “culture Christianity” like that of the West which has conflated Western values with Christianity all over the world and led to a one-dimensional gospel.
- Jesus’ call to simplicity is more radical than we think and way too convicting for those of us in the affluent West.
- Combatting paternalism, which is rooted in colonialism, will be harder than we think.
- Unity is of chief importance to the witness of the Church—but it is not to be confused with imperialistic uniformity.
- The distinction between evangelism and social action is a myth.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most essay collections, this is a mixed bag. Some essays are excellent, such as The Unity of the Church and the Homogeneous Unit Principle which persuasively argued against the homogeneous multiplication of churches that Donald McGavran put forth. Several others feel dated, and I was already familiar with most of the concepts and ideas René Padilla articulates in those essays. The overall collection was also lacking in scriptural engagement with the Old Testament, though that might be because of the collection of essays given. Still, I found the lack of engagement with the OT disappointing. All of those elements add up to an ok read. It wasn't bad, but I was hoping to get more out of it than I did.

[Salvador Blanco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. What a treasure of essays!

Padilla is balanced. He stands between liberation theologians and those who would have nothing to do with the social dimensions of the gospel and points them to Jesus.

…” the kingdom of God is neither ‘the progressive social improvement of mankind whereby the task of the church is to transform earth like unto heaven and do it now’ nor ‘the present inner rule of God in the moral and spiritual dispositions of the soul with its seat in the heart.’ Rather it is God’s redemptive power released in history, bringing good news to the poor, freedom to prisoners, sight to the blind, and liberation to the oppressed” (197).


“Salvation is man's return to God, but at the same time is man's return to his neighbor” (20).

[Corey Hampton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong intro, centred on the historical development of the Lausanne movement, followed by Padilla's contributions. I definitely don't agree with every detail, but I definitely recommend this book, particularly to conservative evangelicals.

[Jack Kooyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best I've read from a third world (?) perspective dealing with the meaning and implication of God's mission in our times. I strongly recommend it to anyone who has not read any missiological or theological material from a non-Western perspective. Very refreshing and insightful!

[Megan Doddridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Padilla’s essay collection is a wealth of Biblical interpretation and essential to the church in understanding her mission. It’s a very academic and scriptural heavy text, as is made clear from the onset and stated intention of the introduction. Though the essays were first published as long as 50 years ago, the timeless truths are as pertinent today as always.

[Marty Duren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish every American pastor would read this book.

[Brian Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Because the chapters are a series of essays, some are better than others. Also, because these were mostly written over 20 years ago some are a bit dated. This is why I've given it four stars. Overall, though, this is a thought-provoking and helpful analysis of mission especially within the Latin American context. Chapters 4, 5, and 9 were worth the price of the whole book.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, the lord bless Rene Padilla. The guy is a genius. This book is missional brilliance.