What is Mission?: Theological Explorations

by J. Andrew Kirk

This book fills the need for a single-volume introduction to the concept of Christian mission and the complex theological and practical issues revolving around it. Part one addresses foundational and methodological questions; part two presents the seven major missiological themes (evangelism, gospel and culture, justice, religious pluralism, violence and peacemaking, ecology, ecumenism); and part three addresses the nature of the relationship between the organized church and the missio dei (mission of God).Although Christologically grounded, it works from within a Trinitarian understanding of the missio dei and recognizes the mutuality of the local/global dynamics of Christian mission. Discussions of evangelism and social justice issues, as well as questions of religious pluralism, environmental issues, war and peace issues are included. Each chapter ends with study questions, making the text useful in congregational study group settings and in the classroom.

Genres: School, Theology

312 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1999

About the author

J. Andrew Kirk has spent his life in theological education in South America and the United Kingdom. Recently retired from a teaching position at the University of Birmingham, England, he is the former Dean and Head of the School of Mission and World Christianity at Selly Oak Colleges. Kirk holds degrees from the University of London and Cambridge.

He is the author of thirteen books, including The Mission of Theology and Theology as Mission (1997), What is Mission?: Theological Explorations (1999), and Mission under Scrutiny: Confronting Current Challenges (2006).

Reviews

[Troy Neujahr · Rating 4 out of 5]

J. Andrew Kirk does a competent and engaging job of discussing "mission" from a variety of angles. His understanding of mission seems to be (mostly) rooted in traditional soteriology--the need for human beings to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ--but he does bow to the ever-broadening sense of mission that includes justice, mercy, and the like. But in this move, he is careful to lay the best Biblical foundation he can for adding these things into "mission."

I, personally, favor the more narrow and traditional sense of the word "mission," but that did not keep me from benefiting from this book.

[Zack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good content, boring read. I guess it fulfills its purpose well, but I think the chapters on the “secondary” parts of the Mission could have been shorter. The model presented by Kirk is healthy, but he spends a lot of time presenting many different ways to view the different aspects of christian mission, even to the point where you wonder if he champions another view.

[James Boyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm surprised to see a relatively low rating. My decision was between 4 and 5 stars, not 4 and 3. Kirk wrote an excellent analysis of what Christian mission is, filtered through the lense of following Jesus and what the implications of that looks like in the modern world. It has held up well over the last 20 years and is still an outstanding read on the role of each follower of Christ.