Four Views on the Church's Mission

Counterpoints

by Jason S. Sexton (Editor), Jonathan Leeman (Contributor), Christopher J.H. Wright (Contributor)

This book articulates various evangelical views regarding the church's mission and provides a healthy, vigorous, and gracious debate on this controversial topic. In a helpful Counterpoints format, this volume demonstrates the unique theological frameworks, doctrinal convictions, and missiological conclusions that inform and distinguish the views:


Soteriological Mission: Jonathan Leeman
Participatory Mission: Christopher Wright
Contextual Mission: John Franke
Ecumenical-Political Mission: Peter Leithart
Each of the four contributors is to answer the same key questions based on their biblical interpretations and theological convictions. What is your biblical-theological framework for mission? How does your definition of mission inform your understanding of the church's mission? How does the Mission of God and Kingdom of God relate to the mission of the church? What is the gospel? How does your view on the gospel inform the mission of the church? How do verbal proclamation of the gospel, discipleship, corporate worship, caring for the poor, social justice, restoring shalom, developing culture, and international missions fit into the church's mission?

The interaction between the contributors will help readers get a clearer picture of where the differences lie and why different conclusions are drawn and provide a fresh starting point for discussion and debate of the church's mission.

Genres: Theology, Church, Christian

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 2017

About the author

Jason S. Sexton (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is a systematic theologian with research interests lying at the crossroads of theology and culture. He is a lecturer in the honors department of California State University, Fullerton, and serves as a research associate with the University of Southern California's Center for Religion & Civic Culture. He is the author of The Trinitarian Theology of Stanley J. Grenz. Sexton is the project convener behind the Theological Engagement with California's Culture Project (TECC), bringing together theologians, historians, social scientists and others to engage California's variegated cultural phenomena with quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. He is an ordained minister with the Evangelical Free Church of America.

Reviews

[C.J. Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can't agree with every author's contribution in this book, and that's the beauty of it. Regardless of one's agreement or position, you can't deny that each author does a great job of detailing his own position. As well, there's a needed emphasis on biblical theology of mission throughout. It's one of the best in this (2/3/4/5 views) series!

[Abel Babu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Form (4/5): One of the good ways to get started on topics with differing views would be to engage the various positions in conversation with each other. Debates and discussion are good ways to do it, so is the form taken by the book. Here, 4 views of the Mission of the Church are presented, so there are 4 articles, and each article is followed by 3 responses, trying to engage or critique the view presented. Hence seeing(reading) differing views in conversation brings out both the similarities and differences, and that would be a good way to get started.

Content (3/5): The books give a good introduction to the different views held by evangelicals on the question of "What is the mission of the church". I stress the word introduction here, as the views are stated but are not expounded more(to be fair, would be the point of the book as well). Hence to that end, the further responses by the other contributors also would not delve deeper either. This takes away the richer interaction that could have been achieved by the form of the book. None the less the book is a good invitation to think of the mission of the Church as a holistic one rather than something too specific. I would invite you to read the book to get what holistic and specific would/could mean :).

[Jace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting perspectives. Leeman's view is closest to my own; the mission is both broad and narrow, necessary distinction between individual Christians and the organized church, interesting insights into the how both authority and eschatology relate to mission. Wright's essay is thought provoking but doesn't appropriately emphasize the role of local churches and their narrow disciple making mandate. Franks' is unclear and unconvincing. Leithart's is creative but unsatisfactory.

[Tori Samar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book to get a basic overview of different views of the church's mission. I concluded that I align most with Leeman's position (soteriological), though I found valuable elements in the other ones. Nevertheless, I'd have to read at least one full-length book per position in order to say that I truly understand them.

[Ben Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helped me think more carefully and biblically about the mission of the church. It’s worth the price for Leeman’s contributions alone.

[Andrew Gates]

I read part of this book for an assignment for internship.
Jonathan Leeman presents the view (mission is centered on salvation) I would agree with and would commend his article and responses.
Christopher Wright argues for our mission being the same as God's mission. This view is flawed by failing to see the central problem of the Bible as sin and alienation from God as well as by failing to see that we do not imitate God in every single way (dying on the cross, for example).
John Franke presents the pragmatic view which sees mission as changing in every context and culture. This view, honestly, can hardly be considered legitimate by any who take the Bible seriously.
Peter Leithart takes what could be considered a sacramental-ecumenical-political view. If that sounds confusing, join the club (haha). Stemming from his views on Federal Vision and Postmillennialism, he argues that the sacraments are central to the mission of the church in that they bring together the nations and are the root of social progress. His view is hard to nail down and untangle, but essentially fails by confusing justification by faith alone, obscures the exclusivity of the gospel, and misunderstands the relationship between the church and the state. However, he does well to highlight the importance of the sacraments (Jesus does highlight baptism in the Great Commission), though they must be explained differently.

[Tyler Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few years ago, I read DeYoung and Gilbert’s book on the mission of the church. Then, recently, I worked through Chris Wright’s large work on the Mission of God. As a follow up to that read, I was thankful for this book which put these two (and other) perspectives in dialogue! I tend to land squarely between Leeman and Wright, thinking they really need each other’s voices but thinking the differences are exaggerated. Although much of Leithart’s Federal Vision background concerns me, I found his voice to add a needed angle to the conversation. Then Franke just seemed out to lunch.

In general, Wright should be the starting point. His emphasis on the OT background to discussions of mission give us the tools we need to see Jesus’ work in the cross as the solution to the holistic problem of sin. Leeman helps clarify the case by adding that we must include a robust doctrine of hell and what he calls “broad” and “narrow” definitions of the church’s mission. Then Leihart calls us to see table fellowship with the Lord as an often overlooked component in the dialogue. Thankfully, Wright seems to humble receive this correction and add it to his schema.

[Michael Abraham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent counterpoints book on the mission of the church. Leeman argues for a soteriological mission, Wright argues for a participatory mission, Franke argues for... well, his section is quite confusing, I'm still not sure what he is arguing for, and Leithart argues for a sacramental mission.

Leeman and Wright's section, along with their engagement are worth reading. Franke's section was perplexing. You might be surprised that two of the views had little to no mention of the local church, and three of the views barely included the doctrine of hell.

The question, "What is the mission of the church?", is certainly one to think critically and carefully about. This book was both helpful and engaging.

[Viktoriaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the format and approach in this compilation of articles. Hearing the immediate response on one's reflection or position on church and its mission was the highlight of this read.
I wish the author of the main article would have gotten some pages to respond to the comments of the other authors, therefore 4 stars.

[Paul, · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Counterpoints series is almost always thought-provoking. The book could have comfortably been 100 pages longer. I really wish the books in this series opened with a collaborative "consensus" section enumerating the themes common to all positions, which would allow the authors to focus on the particularities of their position.

[Philip Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. More or less found myself nodding my head to Jonathan Leeman's remarks. I would articulate some points maybe slightly differently, but I'm pretty sure we're saying the same thing overall.

[Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

First two chapters only. Probably not worth your time. Leeman not at his strongest. Wright was a typical transformationist. I didn’t know how to take Franke seriously. Some helpful things here and there.

[Matt Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I typically enjoy these Counterpoints books. I am particularly interested in this topic, so this one was especially enjoyable.

[Amit Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book I had read in biblical theology but I didn't get by the time.

[Todd Burgett · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disagree with 3 of these guys. The one I agree with has not been true to what he wrote here. Don’t waste your time.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scoring on enjoyment and mental stimulation, not necessarily agreement:

Leeman 4/5
Wright 2/5
Franke 3/5: Finally, some real sparks of disagreement.
Leithart 4/5

[Robbie Schmidtberger]

For anyone interested in the question, "what is the mission of the church?" This is an accessible volume that represents the four different answers to that question, all the while talking to one another.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Standard four views approach to the issue of the Church’s mission. Examines the traditional (conservative), the participatory/truly traditional, contextual, and sacramental approaches. Polite responses to each presentation. A good introduction but space considerations limit the presentations leaving room for plenty of questions. The book proves it's actually possible for Christians who hold divergent views to treat one another in a charitable manner. Who knew?