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Changing the Mind of Missions: Where Have We Gone Wrong?
The world has changed much since earlier Western missionaries set sail across the seas. And as a new millennium dawns, even greater global and cultural changes are overtaking us. Yet missions has remained much the same. In Changing the Mind of Missions James F. Engle and William A. Dyrness offer a courageous analysis of the challenges facing North American and other Western Christian Here is a book that is sure to spark conversation among missionaries, students of missions, mission leaders and church mission committees. It points a way forward with the goal of increasing the spread of the gospel by every means possible to every corner of our world.
192 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2000
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August 4, 2011As with any successful venture in life, the work of Christian mission is not immune to the dangers of complacency, despair, or mediocrity. Pertinent to the discussion is the way in which modern, evangelical missions approach the crisis of the twenty-first century. James Engel and William Dyrness lament the current state of missions but set out to articulate, in hope, "to see the current state of the missions enterprise function in the way God intended it and to prosper once again (17; emphasis mine). Engel and Dyrness formulate their model of missions by telling the fictitious story of Bud Anderson. Bud is president of Global Harvest Mission (GHM). GHM is representative of many missions and parachurch organizations in the world (and a key argument by the authors): It started successfully but has fallen onto hard times. Bud is faced with the crisis of rallying support and interest for a dying cause. Bud's dilemma is interwoven with one facet of the authors' argument: Missions must transcend the institutional mindset and become kingdom oriented.
Engels and Dyrness define missions as "the announcement, embodiment and extension of Christ's reign in the world, by the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father" (27). Such a definition does not necessarily preclude missions organizations, per se, but does force the leaders in the church to view such organizations as expendable, if need be. The authors aim to see evangelicals reorient a missions-focus by redefining the Great Commission around Jesus' kingship being advanced by kingdom communities throughout the world (88-89).
One of Engel's and Dyrness's central criticisms is leveled at the "institutional-bureaucratic" model of missions (and by implication, the Church). Before they level a critique of the modern structure (and aware that doing so will force them to give their own alternative), the authors begin a succinct biblical theology of missions. Like most, if not all, missions projects, the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 is the foundational text. However, unlike most Evangelical mindsets, the authors see Christ's words as a normative statement of his universal kingship over the cosmos. Christ has invested his people to go make disciples--extending that divine presence and bringing humanity into conformity with that call. Christ's saving work applies not only to humans, but to all of creation. Creation will be restored. Christ makes such work possible by sending his spirit. In the larger context, this is the missio Dei--"the mission of God and by God" (37). Missions involves the Triune God interacting with his creation.
Mission is the extension and joyful proclamation of the inauguration of Christ's reign on earth. Missionaries and strategic planners must resist the temptation to reduce the gospel to a set of propositions. If that is the gospel, then merely restating those propositions to a "people group" would constitute as "reaching them." Rather, missions must seek to engage the whole man and by implication, effect social transformation. The authors are to be commended for a bold vision for missions. However, there are a few flaws with the presentation. They should, if at all possible, state what kingdom-oriented communities would look like on the practical level. Secondly, they used the term "postmodernism" too loosely. To what degree do they seek to be postmodern? The term can be interpreted ambiguously. If by postmodern they mean challenging modernity's arrogance, then by all means let's be postmodern. But if they take a radical definition and mean the denial of truth-claims and the Christian meta-narrative, then we must oppose the use of the term. In fairness to the authors they probably meant the latter. Not all of the topics of missions were addressed in this review but the book warrants further study and will serve as a useful primer.
Engels and Dyrness define missions as "the announcement, embodiment and extension of Christ's reign in the world, by the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father" (27). Such a definition does not necessarily preclude missions organizations, per se, but does force the leaders in the church to view such organizations as expendable, if need be. The authors aim to see evangelicals reorient a missions-focus by redefining the Great Commission around Jesus' kingship being advanced by kingdom communities throughout the world (88-89).
One of Engel's and Dyrness's central criticisms is leveled at the "institutional-bureaucratic" model of missions (and by implication, the Church). Before they level a critique of the modern structure (and aware that doing so will force them to give their own alternative), the authors begin a succinct biblical theology of missions. Like most, if not all, missions projects, the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 is the foundational text. However, unlike most Evangelical mindsets, the authors see Christ's words as a normative statement of his universal kingship over the cosmos. Christ has invested his people to go make disciples--extending that divine presence and bringing humanity into conformity with that call. Christ's saving work applies not only to humans, but to all of creation. Creation will be restored. Christ makes such work possible by sending his spirit. In the larger context, this is the missio Dei--"the mission of God and by God" (37). Missions involves the Triune God interacting with his creation.
Mission is the extension and joyful proclamation of the inauguration of Christ's reign on earth. Missionaries and strategic planners must resist the temptation to reduce the gospel to a set of propositions. If that is the gospel, then merely restating those propositions to a "people group" would constitute as "reaching them." Rather, missions must seek to engage the whole man and by implication, effect social transformation. The authors are to be commended for a bold vision for missions. However, there are a few flaws with the presentation. They should, if at all possible, state what kingdom-oriented communities would look like on the practical level. Secondly, they used the term "postmodernism" too loosely. To what degree do they seek to be postmodern? The term can be interpreted ambiguously. If by postmodern they mean challenging modernity's arrogance, then by all means let's be postmodern. But if they take a radical definition and mean the denial of truth-claims and the Christian meta-narrative, then we must oppose the use of the term. In fairness to the authors they probably meant the latter. Not all of the topics of missions were addressed in this review but the book warrants further study and will serve as a useful primer.
May 4, 2017
The authors set out to change the mind of missions - to challenge current methods and philosophies of missions on two fronts. First, they propose that current approaches to missions are largely based on modernity. Second, they propose that the world has changed sufficiently that current approaches to missions to not mesh with the world today.
They present a hypothetical situation, spread out over each chapter, to illustrate their points. I am not a huge fan of this approach, but they did use this tool well. They examine a local church discovering their own role in missions and a stereotypical missions agency struggling to find its place in the new world. Using this teaching tool, the authors do a very good job of stating, illustrating, and arguing their points.
While I may not agree with everything the authors propose, they have given missions agencies, churches, individual believers, and missiologists much to consider. This one is well worth your time. Enjoy!
They present a hypothetical situation, spread out over each chapter, to illustrate their points. I am not a huge fan of this approach, but they did use this tool well. They examine a local church discovering their own role in missions and a stereotypical missions agency struggling to find its place in the new world. Using this teaching tool, the authors do a very good job of stating, illustrating, and arguing their points.
While I may not agree with everything the authors propose, they have given missions agencies, churches, individual believers, and missiologists much to consider. This one is well worth your time. Enjoy!
July 8, 2020
A good book on changes in missions due to many changes in the field as well as in church. Emphasis is placed on societal transition from a Modernist to Postmodernist worldview.
Positively, the issues brought up placed within a hypothetical, but very world scenario.
Negatively, the book came out in 2000, so it is potentially at least 20 years out of date. Overall, however, the issues are still quite relevant.
Positively, the issues brought up placed within a hypothetical, but very world scenario.
Negatively, the book came out in 2000, so it is potentially at least 20 years out of date. Overall, however, the issues are still quite relevant.
January 28, 2016
The authors’ thesis is fairly simple. The modern missions movement spent decades overly bought into a “modern” worldview. This both caused it to deviate from a Biblical worldview and caused it to start growing ever more out of touch with an increasingly postmodern world. As a result, missions have in-creasingly become both unpopular and ineffective.
I’ll briefly summarize how the authors see the missions movement having deviated.
First of all, it became growingly institutionalized, and not institutionalized around the church, the cen-ter of community faith, but around a professional missions institution that is distant from the everyday life and concerns of the people who support it. A transformed missions movement would have to be fundamentally centered around and supported by the church, not extrachurch organizations.
Second, it became overly focused on numbers and worldly goals. Things that were easily measurable, like tracts distributed and persons “converted”, gained importance over things that were more difficult to count. The Great Commission was interpreted as “convert X people from X people groups and then you will bring about Jesus’s coming”. A transformed missions movement would focus on holistic and continued transformation, consider an ongoing path of discipleship to be more important than the single moment of conversion, and continue “good numbers” to be a byproduct rather than a goal.
Third, as contemporary culture itself has become less outward-focused and more individualistic, the missions movement has failed to adapt, and as a result has lost funding and is in danger of becoming irrelevant. A transformed missions movement would give people in churches a means to engage, to use their own skills and experience, and see themselves as part of the action as opposed to disengaged supporters giving nothing but money to something outside themselves.
I agreed with all the main points, it just wasn't particularly well written, and I wasn't sure how much the offered solutions would be helpful or would match how the church and agency would actually react on the ground.
I’ll briefly summarize how the authors see the missions movement having deviated.
First of all, it became growingly institutionalized, and not institutionalized around the church, the cen-ter of community faith, but around a professional missions institution that is distant from the everyday life and concerns of the people who support it. A transformed missions movement would have to be fundamentally centered around and supported by the church, not extrachurch organizations.
Second, it became overly focused on numbers and worldly goals. Things that were easily measurable, like tracts distributed and persons “converted”, gained importance over things that were more difficult to count. The Great Commission was interpreted as “convert X people from X people groups and then you will bring about Jesus’s coming”. A transformed missions movement would focus on holistic and continued transformation, consider an ongoing path of discipleship to be more important than the single moment of conversion, and continue “good numbers” to be a byproduct rather than a goal.
Third, as contemporary culture itself has become less outward-focused and more individualistic, the missions movement has failed to adapt, and as a result has lost funding and is in danger of becoming irrelevant. A transformed missions movement would give people in churches a means to engage, to use their own skills and experience, and see themselves as part of the action as opposed to disengaged supporters giving nothing but money to something outside themselves.
I agreed with all the main points, it just wasn't particularly well written, and I wasn't sure how much the offered solutions would be helpful or would match how the church and agency would actually react on the ground.
September 21, 2009
I was surprised to find that the other Goodreads author's had rated this book more in the 2 to 3 star range. I wonder what they saw that I didn't.
As someone who grew up on the missions field and was always surrounded by the questions of "what makes for effective and God-centered missions?" this book seemed interesting and insightful.
The authors pose a critique of the modern missions movement and the legacy of 19th-20th century modernity. They make clear that they thank God for how he used the modern missions movement to advance the Kingdom, but they have clear concerns about how the actual, "Kingdom of God" was lost in the pursuit of shallow evangelistic efforts, a focus on numbers, and a center-periphery mindset. They advocate a radical reorientation of missions that puts missionaries in partnership with national leadership, that reaffirms the active role of the local church in sending and participating in missions, and a more holistic and biblical approach to missions that isn't just concerned with 'saving souls' via verbal assent, but is engaged in bringing the Kingdom of God, which involves salvation, restoration, and redemption.
The book wasn't always clear though and that was frustrating. Sometimes I felt like it contradicted itself (sorry, a clear example doesn't come to mind) which almost dropped the book to a 3 star. but overall I find that this would be a book i'd recommend to those reflecting on what missions will look like in the 21st century and what it is that God is inviting us into in this thing called "missions".
As someone who grew up on the missions field and was always surrounded by the questions of "what makes for effective and God-centered missions?" this book seemed interesting and insightful.
The authors pose a critique of the modern missions movement and the legacy of 19th-20th century modernity. They make clear that they thank God for how he used the modern missions movement to advance the Kingdom, but they have clear concerns about how the actual, "Kingdom of God" was lost in the pursuit of shallow evangelistic efforts, a focus on numbers, and a center-periphery mindset. They advocate a radical reorientation of missions that puts missionaries in partnership with national leadership, that reaffirms the active role of the local church in sending and participating in missions, and a more holistic and biblical approach to missions that isn't just concerned with 'saving souls' via verbal assent, but is engaged in bringing the Kingdom of God, which involves salvation, restoration, and redemption.
The book wasn't always clear though and that was frustrating. Sometimes I felt like it contradicted itself (sorry, a clear example doesn't come to mind) which almost dropped the book to a 3 star. but overall I find that this would be a book i'd recommend to those reflecting on what missions will look like in the 21st century and what it is that God is inviting us into in this thing called "missions".
February 26, 2018
The purpose of this book is to help us to understand why this crisis has arisen and what it will take to reverse the dangerous sag and decline now so disturbingly evident. This book is motivated by a joint, heartfelt desire to see the mission enterprise function in the way God intended and for it to prosper once again. The world vision thrust:
i. The contemporary missions movement is too often captive to American cultural realities. Associating the gospel with economic and political pragmatism.
ii. Meanwhile, the initiative in mission has shifted to the younger churches.
iii. Most seriously, missions has frequently lost sight of its theological roots by reducing the gospel to proclamation.
i. The contemporary missions movement is too often captive to American cultural realities. Associating the gospel with economic and political pragmatism.
ii. Meanwhile, the initiative in mission has shifted to the younger churches.
iii. Most seriously, missions has frequently lost sight of its theological roots by reducing the gospel to proclamation.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews