What do you think?
Rate this book
Introducing Christian Mission Today: Scripture, History, and Issues
Best Texts of Missiology, Hearts and Minds Bookstore Mission--a driving force in the long Christian story--today is often cast as the embarrassing relative of tall-steeple religiosity. In our wider culture it's now tucked in the endnotes of book-club histories or forms the ghostlike ellipses in the six o'clock news. But in Introducing Christian Mission Today , Michael Goheen brings the vibrant history, motivation and challenges of Christian mission to the fore. Through the centuries Christian mission has always been recalibrating, retooling and reevangelizing. It has repeatedly taken surprising turns as it is carried along by the Spirit of God. Goheen's introduction to mission's biblical, theological and historical dimensions engages the present and anticipates the future. As he unfolds the major issues of the global and urban, the pluralistic and wholistic contexts of mission today, he lays the ground for engaging in God's great kingdom enterprise. This full-scale text incorporates the keen missional insights of Lesslie Newbigin, David Bosch and other formative thinkers. It will be a valued resource not only for those in crosscultural contexts but also for those engaged in reevangelizing the West.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published June 2, 2014
61 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Michael W. Goheen
29 books41 followersMichael W. Goheen (PhD, University of Utrecht) is professor of missional theology, Newbigin House of Studies, San Francisco, and Jake and Betsy Tuls Professor of Missiology at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is also minister of preaching at New West Christian Reformed Church in Burnaby, British Columbia, and is the author or coauthor of several books, including The Drama of Scripture, Living at the Crossroads, A Light to the Nations, and a work on Lesslie Newbigin's missionary ecclesiology.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 6, 2020
2020 reads: 38/52
Rating: 4.5 stars.
Read for my Introduction to Christian Mission class with Dr. Paul Akin at the Southern Baptist Theological seminary.
Man, this was an excellent textbook. The book consists of four parts: 1) a biblical and theological reflection on mission: Scriptures tells the story of God's mission to restore the whole world; 2) theology of mission and missional theology: theology is inherently missional and missions ought to guide every field of theology; 3) historical and contemporary reflections on mission; 4) current issues in mission today.
For me, the Biblical/theological reflection of mission was his strongest section. Goheen showcases how the gospel speaks to the entirety of man’s plight; the mission of the church is thus wider than mere proclamation: it is also to be a witness in the world in deed. This ought to function in concert with the primary task of proclamation—but we absolutely cannot afford to diminish the need to be faithful witnesses and ambassadors for Jesus.
I also enjoyed and benefitted from Goheen's persistent and accurate critique of the Enlightenment and it’s residual effects on the modern church that have resulted in Gnostic practices; the dualism of word/deed; the relegation of the faith to the private/personal/spiritual realm. We seriously need to recover from this today.
Goheen also presents a good discussion on urban missions and the need for holistic discipling.
One small critique would be this: Goheen rightly highlights the centrality of local church but does not specify any details of what/how the local church should function—this could have been developed more, especially considering its importance.
Rating: 4.5 stars.
Read for my Introduction to Christian Mission class with Dr. Paul Akin at the Southern Baptist Theological seminary.
Man, this was an excellent textbook. The book consists of four parts: 1) a biblical and theological reflection on mission: Scriptures tells the story of God's mission to restore the whole world; 2) theology of mission and missional theology: theology is inherently missional and missions ought to guide every field of theology; 3) historical and contemporary reflections on mission; 4) current issues in mission today.
For me, the Biblical/theological reflection of mission was his strongest section. Goheen showcases how the gospel speaks to the entirety of man’s plight; the mission of the church is thus wider than mere proclamation: it is also to be a witness in the world in deed. This ought to function in concert with the primary task of proclamation—but we absolutely cannot afford to diminish the need to be faithful witnesses and ambassadors for Jesus.
I also enjoyed and benefitted from Goheen's persistent and accurate critique of the Enlightenment and it’s residual effects on the modern church that have resulted in Gnostic practices; the dualism of word/deed; the relegation of the faith to the private/personal/spiritual realm. We seriously need to recover from this today.
Goheen also presents a good discussion on urban missions and the need for holistic discipling.
One small critique would be this: Goheen rightly highlights the centrality of local church but does not specify any details of what/how the local church should function—this could have been developed more, especially considering its importance.
December 29, 2015
Definitely worth reading. As the title indicates, Goheen (of Dutch Reformed extraction) introduces Christian mission by looking at the teaching of Scripture, the lessons of history, and the pressing issues of the present.
Basically, he argues on the basis of Scripture that God's mission is comprehensive--that he works to restore the whole world. Here he picks up Bavinck's notion of grace restoring nature. He then argues that the gospel announces God's reign and the reconciliation of the world through Christ; i.e., the gospel does not concern itself merely with how to get to heaven when one dies. Therefore we must see "the whole church together taking the whole gospel to the whole world" (412).
He quotes Martin Kahler early in the book as saying, "Mission is the mother of theology." This claim/observation hit me like a ton of bricks. It's so easy to get caught up in doing theology without thinking about why we do it. Elsewhere he quotes someone else commenting that Western students of theology will spend countless hours studying the corpus of some German theologian with relatively few followers but will effectively ignore the teachings of over 1 billion Muslims. In response, I'll be reading through the Qur'an within the next few months.
The issues he covers are holistic mission, contextualization, missiology of Western culture, missionary encounter with world religions (including a brief but good theology of religions), urban missions, and missions with an -s. Each chapter ends with a list of resources as well as response questions. I can imagine using particular chapters in a Christian education class and having the class work through the response questions together.
Negatives: the content gets a little repetitive; additionally, the writing sometimes is dull, though I think that probably is due to Goheen's concern to make the book as clear and pedagogically useful as possible.
Positives: the entire book is incredibly well organized; he presents and, when necessary, analyzes mountains of statistics; he appreciates the comprehensiveness of the good news of Jesus Christ--that it is total public truth; he recognizes that sin is not only individual but also systemic; he identifies some of the idolatries of the West (e.g., consumer capitalism); he rebuffs the colonialist mindest that still infects many evangelical churches and enjoins genuine cross-cultural partnerships; he calls churches to provide vocational training; he calls churches to reclaim the burden for missions work from the mission agencies; and so on.
As a last point, Goheen states right up front, in the introduction, that he intends his book to be an updated and less technical version of David Bosch's seminal book, Transforming Mission. He succeeds admirably in creating a good pedagogical tool in this volume. I can't think of an introduction to Christian mission that I would recommend before this one for the church or the university classroom.
Basically, he argues on the basis of Scripture that God's mission is comprehensive--that he works to restore the whole world. Here he picks up Bavinck's notion of grace restoring nature. He then argues that the gospel announces God's reign and the reconciliation of the world through Christ; i.e., the gospel does not concern itself merely with how to get to heaven when one dies. Therefore we must see "the whole church together taking the whole gospel to the whole world" (412).
He quotes Martin Kahler early in the book as saying, "Mission is the mother of theology." This claim/observation hit me like a ton of bricks. It's so easy to get caught up in doing theology without thinking about why we do it. Elsewhere he quotes someone else commenting that Western students of theology will spend countless hours studying the corpus of some German theologian with relatively few followers but will effectively ignore the teachings of over 1 billion Muslims. In response, I'll be reading through the Qur'an within the next few months.
The issues he covers are holistic mission, contextualization, missiology of Western culture, missionary encounter with world religions (including a brief but good theology of religions), urban missions, and missions with an -s. Each chapter ends with a list of resources as well as response questions. I can imagine using particular chapters in a Christian education class and having the class work through the response questions together.
Negatives: the content gets a little repetitive; additionally, the writing sometimes is dull, though I think that probably is due to Goheen's concern to make the book as clear and pedagogically useful as possible.
Positives: the entire book is incredibly well organized; he presents and, when necessary, analyzes mountains of statistics; he appreciates the comprehensiveness of the good news of Jesus Christ--that it is total public truth; he recognizes that sin is not only individual but also systemic; he identifies some of the idolatries of the West (e.g., consumer capitalism); he rebuffs the colonialist mindest that still infects many evangelical churches and enjoins genuine cross-cultural partnerships; he calls churches to provide vocational training; he calls churches to reclaim the burden for missions work from the mission agencies; and so on.
As a last point, Goheen states right up front, in the introduction, that he intends his book to be an updated and less technical version of David Bosch's seminal book, Transforming Mission. He succeeds admirably in creating a good pedagogical tool in this volume. I can't think of an introduction to Christian mission that I would recommend before this one for the church or the university classroom.
April 29, 2022
This is an excellent introduction to the topic of missions. I especially enjoyed the biblical theology on missions in chapter 1 and the discussions on contextualization (ch. 7) and a missiology of western culture (ch. 8). Goheen holds in tension many different controversies and brings together a synthesis of the most important issues.
January 25, 2022
Maybe a 3.5* — Kind of unfair for me to give it such a low rating, there was such great content that I wish I could’ve meditated on more, but the way it was written made me feel like I was pulling out hair to keep going. Might just be me though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
May 19, 2022
When academics live in ambiguity, mischief is afoot. In Goheen’s work, the missiologist displays an uncanny ability to use vagueness to shroud his meaning. The result is a book in which one isn’t quite sure if the gospel is good news about the work of Christ or building architecture. That said, Goheen doesn’t avoid ambiguity when discussing areas that he things missions should include such as global economics, environmental protection, and more. To restate the issue, I’m certain on the authors chastisement of Western Capitalism but couldn’t discern what he means by gospel.
There is a thick irony to this work. Goheen regularly points out the failures of previous generations of Christians who he believes were captured by their culture but doesn’t recognize his own cultural captivity. For example, he avoids the idea of sin in exchange for brokenness at nearly every opportunity, so overplays contextualization that he can discuss different gospels, and fails to mention local churches and the establishment of them via missions excepts for a few sentences out of a 400+ page book on missions.
If it weren’t for his discussion of history of the church and some statistical information, I’d likely have given this one star. While this book isn’t exactly what J Gresham Machen wrote about, I’d consider it the ambiguous prophet that prepares the highway for modernism.
There is a thick irony to this work. Goheen regularly points out the failures of previous generations of Christians who he believes were captured by their culture but doesn’t recognize his own cultural captivity. For example, he avoids the idea of sin in exchange for brokenness at nearly every opportunity, so overplays contextualization that he can discuss different gospels, and fails to mention local churches and the establishment of them via missions excepts for a few sentences out of a 400+ page book on missions.
If it weren’t for his discussion of history of the church and some statistical information, I’d likely have given this one star. While this book isn’t exactly what J Gresham Machen wrote about, I’d consider it the ambiguous prophet that prepares the highway for modernism.
September 21, 2020
I was honestly nervous about whether or not this book would be helpful, but I was thoroughly impressed. There are times when writing about the mission of the church that I think Goheen fails to make a helpful distinction between the church as an institution established by God and the church as its members. Yet, by and large, this book was detailed, biblical, and intensely practical. I would certainly recommend to anyone wanting to dive into the history and theology of missions around the world.
May 17, 2020
Conclui agora a leitura. 388 páginas.
- muito conteúdo (bíblico, histórico, pesquisas e atualidade)
- não tem enrolação
- procurar ver de todos os ângulos (por exemplo: a influência esquerdista e capitalista/ocidental em missões)
- não é uma leitura maçante, porém não é para "iniciantes"
- recomendo a leitura.
Leitura obrigatória do Mestrado de missões do CPAJ. Módulo: Teologia Contemporânea de Missões .
- muito conteúdo (bíblico, histórico, pesquisas e atualidade)
- não tem enrolação
- procurar ver de todos os ângulos (por exemplo: a influência esquerdista e capitalista/ocidental em missões)
- não é uma leitura maçante, porém não é para "iniciantes"
- recomendo a leitura.
Leitura obrigatória do Mestrado de missões do CPAJ. Módulo: Teologia Contemporânea de Missões .
July 15, 2025
This is a well-researched resource with a massive blindspot. It is biblically and historically founded, rightly criticizing Western trends and promoting holistic ministry, but it lacks clear treatment of the gospel and evangelism — core aspects of missions.
•••
Part One (pp 35-113) is a biblical and theological reflection on missions. Goheen does a wonderful job demonstrating God's missional nature and the church's place in it. Part Two (117-224) is a review of historic to contemporary mission trends, focusing on big-picture rather than specific stories.
Part Three (227-434), on current issues in mission today, is where the rubber meets the road with practical advice. Goheen discussed holistic mission, contextualization, world religions, and different missions strategies. Goheen's advice is sharp and useful, especially as it comes to critiquing Western culture, relativism, and pluralism, as well as advocating for local church involvement.
However, while Goheen was right to critique the Western church's tendency to reduce Church-work to merely the future salvation of individuals (apart from any social work or cultural witness), Goheen swung the pendulum too far away from the importance of the gospel as truth and its spread through evangelism. Some explanation and examples would be appropriate on this point (though this is not exhaustive).
•••
Goheen does not deny the truth of a message for personal conversion, but he is quick to correct that God's goal is the redemption of the whole creation (94). Goheen does not go so far as to align with a "social gospel" that sees the beginning and end of mission as economic and cultural correction; instead, he advocates for a perspective that unifies evangelism and social work as one indivisible mission of the Church (237). However, Goheen's treatment of evangelism is hollowed of its confrontational truth-filled power.
The idea of personal conversion is (again) quickly corrected in favor of God's rule over human life (239), and this emphasis becomes imbalanced as Goheen prohibits evangelism that is not relational and attractive (244). The gospel "gains its power from a community" (246) whose "first priority ... is to be a model of the justice and mercy of the kingdom" (248). And the way to involve laity in the mission is to centralize "our cultural callings" (257) and learn to do business ethically (261, 387). While Goheen affirmed the exclusivity of Christ, he distances the conversation further and further from relationship with God: "The proper question is not 'Who will be saved?' but rather 'How will God accomplish a comprehensive salvation for the world and humankind?'" (346). Accordingly, salvation is described as "the renewal of the world that removes sin as the cause of the world's pain" (360).
While I believe the Church's mission should be holistic, and the Church should live in a way that makes following God attractive to a lost world, Goheen overly limits the confrontational nature and individual impact of the gospel to make those points. From the time of the apostles, missions sometimes must mean declaring the truth publicly: every individual is guilty before God yet can find forgiveness through faith in Jesus' work. Any definition of sin that is not primarily between man and God is deficient, and any definition of salvation that is not primarily between man and God empties the cross of its meaning. Yes, salvation from sin has social and societal implications, but evangelism must mean more than an idolatrous culture having a "missional encounter" (334) with an "attractive alternative community" (328) — as though the gospel can only be legitimately shared if someone asks about it first (cf. 244). So at best, this book does not offer a full picture of missions.
•••
The book is still useful, if incomplete (imo). It is well-researched and written, and it has so so many good things to say about the Church's relationship to culture — I was provoked, thought much, and learned. I think it is a good book, but its refusal to define the gospel and encourage evangelism frustrated me too much to rate it highly. That said, I may be caught up in my own frustrations as someone from a tradition Goheen clearly intended to critique, so I give the book 3 stars.
•••
Part One (pp 35-113) is a biblical and theological reflection on missions. Goheen does a wonderful job demonstrating God's missional nature and the church's place in it. Part Two (117-224) is a review of historic to contemporary mission trends, focusing on big-picture rather than specific stories.
Part Three (227-434), on current issues in mission today, is where the rubber meets the road with practical advice. Goheen discussed holistic mission, contextualization, world religions, and different missions strategies. Goheen's advice is sharp and useful, especially as it comes to critiquing Western culture, relativism, and pluralism, as well as advocating for local church involvement.
However, while Goheen was right to critique the Western church's tendency to reduce Church-work to merely the future salvation of individuals (apart from any social work or cultural witness), Goheen swung the pendulum too far away from the importance of the gospel as truth and its spread through evangelism. Some explanation and examples would be appropriate on this point (though this is not exhaustive).
•••
Goheen does not deny the truth of a message for personal conversion, but he is quick to correct that God's goal is the redemption of the whole creation (94). Goheen does not go so far as to align with a "social gospel" that sees the beginning and end of mission as economic and cultural correction; instead, he advocates for a perspective that unifies evangelism and social work as one indivisible mission of the Church (237). However, Goheen's treatment of evangelism is hollowed of its confrontational truth-filled power.
The idea of personal conversion is (again) quickly corrected in favor of God's rule over human life (239), and this emphasis becomes imbalanced as Goheen prohibits evangelism that is not relational and attractive (244). The gospel "gains its power from a community" (246) whose "first priority ... is to be a model of the justice and mercy of the kingdom" (248). And the way to involve laity in the mission is to centralize "our cultural callings" (257) and learn to do business ethically (261, 387). While Goheen affirmed the exclusivity of Christ, he distances the conversation further and further from relationship with God: "The proper question is not 'Who will be saved?' but rather 'How will God accomplish a comprehensive salvation for the world and humankind?'" (346). Accordingly, salvation is described as "the renewal of the world that removes sin as the cause of the world's pain" (360).
While I believe the Church's mission should be holistic, and the Church should live in a way that makes following God attractive to a lost world, Goheen overly limits the confrontational nature and individual impact of the gospel to make those points. From the time of the apostles, missions sometimes must mean declaring the truth publicly: every individual is guilty before God yet can find forgiveness through faith in Jesus' work. Any definition of sin that is not primarily between man and God is deficient, and any definition of salvation that is not primarily between man and God empties the cross of its meaning. Yes, salvation from sin has social and societal implications, but evangelism must mean more than an idolatrous culture having a "missional encounter" (334) with an "attractive alternative community" (328) — as though the gospel can only be legitimately shared if someone asks about it first (cf. 244). So at best, this book does not offer a full picture of missions.
•••
The book is still useful, if incomplete (imo). It is well-researched and written, and it has so so many good things to say about the Church's relationship to culture — I was provoked, thought much, and learned. I think it is a good book, but its refusal to define the gospel and encourage evangelism frustrated me too much to rate it highly. That said, I may be caught up in my own frustrations as someone from a tradition Goheen clearly intended to critique, so I give the book 3 stars.
June 3, 2025
I wish I could give this book a better review. Much of it was thought-provoking, truly introducing the modern issues facing mission. Goheen's distinction between "mission" and "missions" is helpful. His theology of mission and critique of the Western individualism that has altered mission from a holistic endeavor to a personal salvation experience is extremely valuable.
The books flaws come in his take on contextulization. Goheen sees the historical theology that has defined the church in the West as being a Western shell that distorts the gospel to the non-Western thinker. This take, however, reverse the order of historical operations. The West was primarily shaped by the gospel, not the other way around, and though the latter has and still is true at times, historical theology transcends these errors by establishing core gospel truths that have been affirmed by the church for thousands of years and throughout numerous cultures and people groups. If the epicenter of the church is shifting from the West to the global South as Goheen claims, it is paramount for the health of the church that these new hot spots hold to sound doctrine rather than disregard universal truths so to uphold their personal experiences (a postmodern, Western approach) lest the church resort to a medieval Catholic state.
The books flaws come in his take on contextulization. Goheen sees the historical theology that has defined the church in the West as being a Western shell that distorts the gospel to the non-Western thinker. This take, however, reverse the order of historical operations. The West was primarily shaped by the gospel, not the other way around, and though the latter has and still is true at times, historical theology transcends these errors by establishing core gospel truths that have been affirmed by the church for thousands of years and throughout numerous cultures and people groups. If the epicenter of the church is shifting from the West to the global South as Goheen claims, it is paramount for the health of the church that these new hot spots hold to sound doctrine rather than disregard universal truths so to uphold their personal experiences (a postmodern, Western approach) lest the church resort to a medieval Catholic state.
September 6, 2024
3.5???
While reading this book, I went through waves of agreeing, adoring, arguing against, and being frustrated. The author Michael brings together moderate Christians and more liberal conservative Christians outlook on missions. My critique is that Michael has a low view of work and production from a biblical perspective. Also, he’s pretty critical of systematic theology and the historical creeds of the church. I really love and enjoy these things and believe the Apostle and Nicene creed is binding for every Christian. Positives are he has a great view on how the west should shape a new perspective on missions. He demonstrates that missions are highly needed in the west. Yet he does not forget those who are completely isolated from any sort of gospel witness in the world and has a deep heart for them.
While reading this book, I went through waves of agreeing, adoring, arguing against, and being frustrated. The author Michael brings together moderate Christians and more liberal conservative Christians outlook on missions. My critique is that Michael has a low view of work and production from a biblical perspective. Also, he’s pretty critical of systematic theology and the historical creeds of the church. I really love and enjoy these things and believe the Apostle and Nicene creed is binding for every Christian. Positives are he has a great view on how the west should shape a new perspective on missions. He demonstrates that missions are highly needed in the west. Yet he does not forget those who are completely isolated from any sort of gospel witness in the world and has a deep heart for them.
May 20, 2021
A decent book on missions from three different angles. Goheen reflected on the Biblical and Theological aspects of missions, specifically how scripture is essentially a narrative of God's mission to mankind, and what the Theological aspects of missions truly are. Secondly, Goheen reflected on the historical and contemporary aspects of mission, specifically how the historical paradigm has given way to the emerging ecumenical paradigm, and how this squares with the global church. Thirdly, goheen reflected on the current issues in missions today, specifically how we as Christians are to bring forth a holistic, contextualized missiology that is cognizant of other world religions, urban issues, and the need for foreign and domestic missions.
January 1, 2019
This is an excellent overview of modern Christian missional thinking. Christian missions efforts are generally thought of as Western European and North American countries (Origin countries) spreading the gospel to Africa, South America and Asia (target countries). However, in 1981 an interesting demographic shift has occurred and the number of Christians in the target countries outgrew the number of Christians in the origin countries.
There is also a significant part of the book that deals with colonialism and the forced spread of Christianity.
The author makes the book easy to read and accessible, while conveying complex topics.
There is also a significant part of the book that deals with colonialism and the forced spread of Christianity.
The author makes the book easy to read and accessible, while conveying complex topics.
July 19, 2017
An excellent and lengthy read on the importance of Christian mission. This book traces the roots of Christian mission throughout Scripture, History, and the issues that have developed in the study of Christian missions. I think it is an exhaustive introduction of world missions and the spread of the Gospel.
October 21, 2024
A brilliantly comprehensive and helpful overview of Christian mission; some chapters are stronger than others (and some I don't have the expertise to assess), but every chapter I've found helpful. (Also enjoyed reading this alongside some missiologists/missionaries/church leaders to gain further insight!)
July 27, 2017
This book is a decent introduction to some of the main topics in Christians missions. Goheen gives a good historic overview of missiology and its development and shares some interesting insights about "missions" in his final chapter.
November 15, 2018
Excellent introduction to missions.
July 5, 2019
Interesting read.
Golden does a good job capturing the missions movement of today while exposing some of the short falls of Christian missions past.
Golden does a good job capturing the missions movement of today while exposing some of the short falls of Christian missions past.
February 13, 2020
A well written book on the mission of the Church solidly grounded in the glory of God.
January 9, 2021
Good general sweep of mission topics, but it lacks depth and is seriously deficient in biblical support. He has a strong bent toward ecumenicalism.
March 3, 2023
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Goheen's book is stout. It makes you think about the complexity and yet the simplicity of the mission. It is a much-needed, current resource on missions. https://amzn.to/3v8GhmU
March 25, 2024
This book had some helpful history and discussions about missions, but it was dragged out and often extremely repetitive. Could have been more concise.
March 23, 2025
2.5 stars
March 26, 2025
Had to read for seminary- didn't read it all but overall okay!!
July 22, 2025
Good. I'm not in total agreement at certain points and some parts make me wary, but it was helpful and challenged me in good ways.
August 29, 2022
Michael Goheen does an excellent job in what I would call a long-form reflection on mission and missions. He is balance and nuanced. This is a long book and worth the energy to read. While the reader does get more depth from reading the book cover to cover, the book can also be used a reference book. The chapters alone can offer significant insights into missions. In Part 1: Biblical and Theological Reflections on Mission, the author does a great job of building an overall Biblical arc of God reconciling to all nations. This is well done and readable but not unique to this book. I think parts two and three are some of the best insights Goheen has to offer. In part 2 he reflects on the history of missions and on global shifts in missions. He gives solid statistic and good analysis. In Part 3 he surveys current issues in missions. This is a great strength of the book but also a great weakness. The book was published in 2014, which means the historical insights need to be updated as time goes and current issues also change. These parts of the book have maybe a shelf life of 10 to 15 years. If it was updated every 15 years or so, it would continue to be a great resource. If I had one broad criticism it is that at times he makes claims that he does not footnote. The claims seem very credible, but I would like to see some support behind them. Here are some of my favorite insights:
“The year 1980 was a watershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened: the number of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians for the first time, and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to become the biggest in the world.” P 19
“If one considers mission from the standpoint of geography, than mission is not to three continents (Asia, Africa, Latin America) from two continents (Europe, North America). Rather, it is from all six continents, including Africa and Asia; it is to all six continents, including Europe and North America; and it is in all six continents.” P 25
“Mark Noll notes that third-world Christianity poses this question to all theology: ‘What is the unit of salvation?’ He continues, ‘Protestant evalgelicals usually think that salvation is one by one by one, as individuals come to develop a ‘personal relationship with Christ.’ But much of the emerging Christian world has not experienced conversion individually. Conversion, instead, has taken place by families, villages or even lineages extending back in time.’” P 210
“In order to understand the churches’ role in seeking justice and mercy, it is important to understand the relationship of the church to the kingdom proclaimed in the gospel. The relationship between church and kingdom can be articulated in three statements: the church is the place where the eschatological kingship of God in Jesus Christ becomes visible; the church as to serve the kingdom by proclaiming the message that Jesus is Lord; the church is engaged in the struggle of Christ’s kingdom in this world against the destructive powers of darkness revealed in unbelief, power of injustice and suppression of the poor, the powers of materialism, selfishness, discrimination, atheism, racism, and more.” P 248
“So, authentic contextualization means that the church unapologetically takes a committed stance within the biblical story and from within that story attempts to understand culture.” P 290
“The good news is an announcement, not that we will be taken out of this world to an otherworldly heaven, but that God will restore our lives as part of this good creation. The notion of an otherworldly salvation has been particularly damaging to the church’s mission.” P 304
“In addition to a theology of mission for the city we need theological education that trains leaders and pastors for ministry in the city. ‘With the growing importance of cities also come new requirements for training and development of urban church leaders. However, few traditional seminaries emphasize mission in an urban context…Urban ministry is the future of the churche’s mission in the twenty-first century.’ Moreover, the demands and complexity of urban ministry require that education be much more than theological. A broad liberal arts educaiton rooted in the gospel will offer urban church leaders tools for faithful ministry.” P 397
Overall this book has excellent content and that content is written in an attainable way without being simplistic. This book is a good read and functions well as a reference book.
“The year 1980 was a watershed year in the history of Christianity because two things happened: the number of nonwhite Christians surpassed the number of white Christians for the first time, and Pentecostals surpassed all other Protestant groups to become the biggest in the world.” P 19
“If one considers mission from the standpoint of geography, than mission is not to three continents (Asia, Africa, Latin America) from two continents (Europe, North America). Rather, it is from all six continents, including Africa and Asia; it is to all six continents, including Europe and North America; and it is in all six continents.” P 25
“Mark Noll notes that third-world Christianity poses this question to all theology: ‘What is the unit of salvation?’ He continues, ‘Protestant evalgelicals usually think that salvation is one by one by one, as individuals come to develop a ‘personal relationship with Christ.’ But much of the emerging Christian world has not experienced conversion individually. Conversion, instead, has taken place by families, villages or even lineages extending back in time.’” P 210
“In order to understand the churches’ role in seeking justice and mercy, it is important to understand the relationship of the church to the kingdom proclaimed in the gospel. The relationship between church and kingdom can be articulated in three statements: the church is the place where the eschatological kingship of God in Jesus Christ becomes visible; the church as to serve the kingdom by proclaiming the message that Jesus is Lord; the church is engaged in the struggle of Christ’s kingdom in this world against the destructive powers of darkness revealed in unbelief, power of injustice and suppression of the poor, the powers of materialism, selfishness, discrimination, atheism, racism, and more.” P 248
“So, authentic contextualization means that the church unapologetically takes a committed stance within the biblical story and from within that story attempts to understand culture.” P 290
“The good news is an announcement, not that we will be taken out of this world to an otherworldly heaven, but that God will restore our lives as part of this good creation. The notion of an otherworldly salvation has been particularly damaging to the church’s mission.” P 304
“In addition to a theology of mission for the city we need theological education that trains leaders and pastors for ministry in the city. ‘With the growing importance of cities also come new requirements for training and development of urban church leaders. However, few traditional seminaries emphasize mission in an urban context…Urban ministry is the future of the churche’s mission in the twenty-first century.’ Moreover, the demands and complexity of urban ministry require that education be much more than theological. A broad liberal arts educaiton rooted in the gospel will offer urban church leaders tools for faithful ministry.” P 397
Overall this book has excellent content and that content is written in an attainable way without being simplistic. This book is a good read and functions well as a reference book.
August 14, 2015
This book was a fine work that served to bring together both the practical side of missions, mission, and biblology, but it had its downfalls in a number of ways:
1. It was incredibly boring at times, making a 35 page chapter almost unbearable at times.
2. He seems to be at least more Reformed-leaning in his theological understanding of the cosmos, and Christ, which may not be a negative to you, but it is to me.
3. He had a tendency to hate on the Western academic system without ever really explaining why.
4. It didn't have a true conclusion. It would have been good to have a final chapter that summarized the previous chapters with a definitive "this is what this means" statement.
That said, this is a very good synthesis on the history of the Mission of the Church viz. the Mission of God, and did help me wrap my head around the issue.
1. It was incredibly boring at times, making a 35 page chapter almost unbearable at times.
2. He seems to be at least more Reformed-leaning in his theological understanding of the cosmos, and Christ, which may not be a negative to you, but it is to me.
3. He had a tendency to hate on the Western academic system without ever really explaining why.
4. It didn't have a true conclusion. It would have been good to have a final chapter that summarized the previous chapters with a definitive "this is what this means" statement.
That said, this is a very good synthesis on the history of the Mission of the Church viz. the Mission of God, and did help me wrap my head around the issue.
February 18, 2021
Excelente livro. Traz uma abordagem extremamente ampla e integral da missão igreja, tratando sobre pontos essenciais no que se refere aos problemas de prioridade - Evangelismo e Ação Social - bem como aponta para diversos temas caros, como contextualização da missão, a transformação social da missão urbana, a necessidade de entender a casca cultural que se distingue do fundamento do evangelho, etc.
February 2, 2017
Great introduction to the current state and the issues involved in Christian missions. It does get a bit long near the end, probably more helpful as a reference work than as a book to be read straight through.
December 10, 2023
This is a sound text for anyone looking to teach or learn about mission from an evangelical perspective. I think I've read just about everything this author has written over the past 15 years or so and have found it all very helpful.
May 30, 2016
Goheen is hitting on all cylinders here. Insightful. Engaging.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews