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The Integrity of Mission: The Inner Life and Outreach of the Church
114 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1979
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June 27, 2024
A CHALLENGE TO CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MISSIONS WORK
Orlando E. Costas (1942-1987) was an ordained minister in the American Baptist Church and the United Church of Christ, as well as directing the Latin American Evangelical Council for Pastoral Studies. He has also written books such as The Church and its Mission: A Shattering Critique from the Third World; The Integrity of Mission: The Inner Life and Outreach of the Church; Christ Outside the Gate: Mission Beyond Christendom; Liberating News: A Theology of Contextual Evangelization; Theology of the Crossroads in Contemporary Latin America, etc.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1979 book, “The crucial problem in mission today is whether we can overcome our particularities, get a glimpse of its totality, and maintain its integrity… We are experiencing a crisis of wholeness and integrity. The fundamental missiological question… [is] whether we can recover its wholeness and efficacy, whether we can see it as a whole and live up to its global objectives… In the present work I seek to analyze … the various aspects that make up the church’s mission-in-life… My purpose is a modest one: to look at the Christian world mission as a unitary, indivisible whole, in the hope of generating a wider vision and stimulating a more effective missional involvement.” (Pg, xii-xiii)
He continues, “since I wrote both as an evangelical and a mainline Protestant, what I have to say should also be applicable to conservative evangelicals from other denominations. As a Latin American I wrote from a minority ecclesial context and a Catholic cultural milieu… the fact that the crisis of mission is as much a reality among Roman Catholics as among Protestants… what I have to say should be equally relevant to Catholics.” (Pg. xiv)
He notes, “Regrettably, many Christians give very little emphasis to the message of the kingdom. They either push it to a far future or wrongly suppose that it was overcome as a central concern of the gospels by our Lord’s death and resurrection.” (Pg. 7) Later, he adds, “If present-day Christianity is not to be reduced to a museum piece, a historically insignificant religion… it will need to recover the urgency of proclaiming three things: the name of Jesus, the radical nature of God’s kingdom and the call to repentance and faith… its pulpit… will need to make PROCLAMATION a central aspect of its function… not only to those who are on the outside, but also to those who may be inside but nonetheless far from God’s kingdom.” (Pg. 12)
He suggests, “The way out of the present crisis in the North American church does not lie in the church itself; in more relevant programs, up-to-date methods and techniques, the efficiency and talent of its leadership or in a return to old patterns, Rather … [it] lies in the disposition of the church to humble itself before him, in its willingness to let him take control of its life and ministry, to let him set its missional agenda and transform its members, by his Spirit, into effective vessels of his grace.” (Pg. 21)
He asserts, “The mobilization process implies… the declericalization of evangelism, the transference of the apostolate to the whole church. That requires, in the one hand, a self-conscientization on the part of the clergy---i.e., self-awareness and acceptance of the fact that they are neither stars nor impresarios but servants of God in the edification of his people for ministry. The congregation, on the other hand, need to see themselves not as ‘gap fillers’ but as the true agents of God’s mission who have, in their pastors, certain resources for fulfilling their joint apostolate in the world.” (Pg. 27)
He observes, “There are those who want to see the church participate in the transformation of the world without reproducing itself into lively and committed communities. Others want to see it reproduce itself without fermenting their own environment with the kingdom’s transforming power. Jesus and the early Christian church refused to accept such a split. For them, the guarantee of the gospel’s fermenting action was the lively, committed communities of believers, spreading into ever-growing branches. The test of authenticity of those growing communities was their leavening action in the world.” (Pg. 39)
He argues, “We need to work to a unifying understanding of Jesus Christ… We know, for example, that he is not a lily-white, upper-middle-class bourgeois Jesus, detached from society’s poor and disenfranchised. He was a person who identified himself with people in situations of oppression and conflict. He was a preacher of the poor, a healer of the sick and a liberator of the oppressed [Lk 4:18]. He was a friend of ‘tax collectors and sinners’ [Lk 7:34] who was born in a stable [Lk 2:7] and died on a cross between two criminals [Lk 23:33].” (Pg. 49)
He states, “we are to grow in our lives because of what we are called to do. Christianity is personal, but it is not an individualistic faith. A person is always related to an environment, a culture, other people. In being personal, Christianity is socially oriented. Christians are expected to live exemplary lives before others. Their lives are to be transparent, reflecting the light of the kingdom---which is a new order characterized by love. Christians are to live in love. They exist for others. I don’t know any other community in the world that is specifically designed to exist for the sake of others.” (Pg. 56)
He acknowledges, “a global liberation process may sound too utopian… for the churches to spend their energies on. Yet such a goal is essential if their other diaconal actions are to have any meaning… The rediscovery of the language of liberation had led to a new awareness as far as the biblical vision of the human is concerned.” (Pg. 69) He continues, “The liberation which Jesus brings is both future and present. Future, because it awaits the ultimate fulfillment of the kingdom, the moment when God shall wipe away all tears… It is also a liberation for the here and now. First, because the prelude of what is to come is already taking place in the forgiveness that is effected in everyone who repents and believes in the name of Jesus, and in the dement to forgive the debts of their debtors, which accompanies the experience of forgiveness… Second, the liberation which Christ brings is a present reality because of the other liberating signs that have started to appear before everyone’s eyes… Because the liberation that Jesus brings is not just a future hope, but a present possibility, therefore, it is given as a charge to the church.” (Pg. 72-73)
He concludes, “Mission is God’s gift… Mission is thus a cause for celebration, and we should celebrate it in humility, with gratitude, and confidently. We should celebrate it in humility because we are only part of what God is doing around the world. We are not even the most important part… We are no more than a junior partner… God has given us the privilege of participating in such a marvelous way that he uses our limited services and transforms them into instruments of grace.” (Pg. 92-93)
This book will be of interest to those studying missions, and (to a lesser extent) studying Liberation Theology.
Orlando E. Costas (1942-1987) was an ordained minister in the American Baptist Church and the United Church of Christ, as well as directing the Latin American Evangelical Council for Pastoral Studies. He has also written books such as The Church and its Mission: A Shattering Critique from the Third World; The Integrity of Mission: The Inner Life and Outreach of the Church; Christ Outside the Gate: Mission Beyond Christendom; Liberating News: A Theology of Contextual Evangelization; Theology of the Crossroads in Contemporary Latin America, etc.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1979 book, “The crucial problem in mission today is whether we can overcome our particularities, get a glimpse of its totality, and maintain its integrity… We are experiencing a crisis of wholeness and integrity. The fundamental missiological question… [is] whether we can recover its wholeness and efficacy, whether we can see it as a whole and live up to its global objectives… In the present work I seek to analyze … the various aspects that make up the church’s mission-in-life… My purpose is a modest one: to look at the Christian world mission as a unitary, indivisible whole, in the hope of generating a wider vision and stimulating a more effective missional involvement.” (Pg, xii-xiii)
He continues, “since I wrote both as an evangelical and a mainline Protestant, what I have to say should also be applicable to conservative evangelicals from other denominations. As a Latin American I wrote from a minority ecclesial context and a Catholic cultural milieu… the fact that the crisis of mission is as much a reality among Roman Catholics as among Protestants… what I have to say should be equally relevant to Catholics.” (Pg. xiv)
He notes, “Regrettably, many Christians give very little emphasis to the message of the kingdom. They either push it to a far future or wrongly suppose that it was overcome as a central concern of the gospels by our Lord’s death and resurrection.” (Pg. 7) Later, he adds, “If present-day Christianity is not to be reduced to a museum piece, a historically insignificant religion… it will need to recover the urgency of proclaiming three things: the name of Jesus, the radical nature of God’s kingdom and the call to repentance and faith… its pulpit… will need to make PROCLAMATION a central aspect of its function… not only to those who are on the outside, but also to those who may be inside but nonetheless far from God’s kingdom.” (Pg. 12)
He suggests, “The way out of the present crisis in the North American church does not lie in the church itself; in more relevant programs, up-to-date methods and techniques, the efficiency and talent of its leadership or in a return to old patterns, Rather … [it] lies in the disposition of the church to humble itself before him, in its willingness to let him take control of its life and ministry, to let him set its missional agenda and transform its members, by his Spirit, into effective vessels of his grace.” (Pg. 21)
He asserts, “The mobilization process implies… the declericalization of evangelism, the transference of the apostolate to the whole church. That requires, in the one hand, a self-conscientization on the part of the clergy---i.e., self-awareness and acceptance of the fact that they are neither stars nor impresarios but servants of God in the edification of his people for ministry. The congregation, on the other hand, need to see themselves not as ‘gap fillers’ but as the true agents of God’s mission who have, in their pastors, certain resources for fulfilling their joint apostolate in the world.” (Pg. 27)
He observes, “There are those who want to see the church participate in the transformation of the world without reproducing itself into lively and committed communities. Others want to see it reproduce itself without fermenting their own environment with the kingdom’s transforming power. Jesus and the early Christian church refused to accept such a split. For them, the guarantee of the gospel’s fermenting action was the lively, committed communities of believers, spreading into ever-growing branches. The test of authenticity of those growing communities was their leavening action in the world.” (Pg. 39)
He argues, “We need to work to a unifying understanding of Jesus Christ… We know, for example, that he is not a lily-white, upper-middle-class bourgeois Jesus, detached from society’s poor and disenfranchised. He was a person who identified himself with people in situations of oppression and conflict. He was a preacher of the poor, a healer of the sick and a liberator of the oppressed [Lk 4:18]. He was a friend of ‘tax collectors and sinners’ [Lk 7:34] who was born in a stable [Lk 2:7] and died on a cross between two criminals [Lk 23:33].” (Pg. 49)
He states, “we are to grow in our lives because of what we are called to do. Christianity is personal, but it is not an individualistic faith. A person is always related to an environment, a culture, other people. In being personal, Christianity is socially oriented. Christians are expected to live exemplary lives before others. Their lives are to be transparent, reflecting the light of the kingdom---which is a new order characterized by love. Christians are to live in love. They exist for others. I don’t know any other community in the world that is specifically designed to exist for the sake of others.” (Pg. 56)
He acknowledges, “a global liberation process may sound too utopian… for the churches to spend their energies on. Yet such a goal is essential if their other diaconal actions are to have any meaning… The rediscovery of the language of liberation had led to a new awareness as far as the biblical vision of the human is concerned.” (Pg. 69) He continues, “The liberation which Jesus brings is both future and present. Future, because it awaits the ultimate fulfillment of the kingdom, the moment when God shall wipe away all tears… It is also a liberation for the here and now. First, because the prelude of what is to come is already taking place in the forgiveness that is effected in everyone who repents and believes in the name of Jesus, and in the dement to forgive the debts of their debtors, which accompanies the experience of forgiveness… Second, the liberation which Christ brings is a present reality because of the other liberating signs that have started to appear before everyone’s eyes… Because the liberation that Jesus brings is not just a future hope, but a present possibility, therefore, it is given as a charge to the church.” (Pg. 72-73)
He concludes, “Mission is God’s gift… Mission is thus a cause for celebration, and we should celebrate it in humility, with gratitude, and confidently. We should celebrate it in humility because we are only part of what God is doing around the world. We are not even the most important part… We are no more than a junior partner… God has given us the privilege of participating in such a marvelous way that he uses our limited services and transforms them into instruments of grace.” (Pg. 92-93)
This book will be of interest to those studying missions, and (to a lesser extent) studying Liberation Theology.
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