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A Reformed Perspective on Taking Mission and Missiology to the Heart of Theological Training

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A Reformed Perspective on Taking Mission and Missiology to the Heart of Theological Training Page 1 of 8 Original Research A reformed perspective on taking mission and missiology to the heart of theological training Author: Mission and missiology have been driven to the periphery of the life of both the church 1 Thinandavha D. Mashau and theological institutions. Missiology has, in many theological institutions in the world, Affiliation: struggled to find a home. It has in some instances been regarded as an intruder, in some as an 1School for Ecclesiastical interloper and in others as irrelevant. Missiology is without a doubt a voice from the margins. Sciences, Potchefstroom This article seeks to go beyond the exercise to identify reasons for such a marginalisation by Campus, North-West looking at ways in which mission and missiology can be restored to the heart of theological University, South Africa education. This article reminds us that the definition and practice of missiology should be Correspondence to: firmly grounded in themissio Dei; hence all theological disciplines should intentionally have a Thinandavha Mashau missionary dimension. This will in essence allow missiology to exist as an independent subject but at the same time exercise its multidimensionality. It is, therefore, critical to maintain a Email: [email protected] dynamic and creative tension between intention and dimension to understand the place of missiology in the theological encyclopaedia. Postal address: PO Box 20004, Noordbrug 2522, South Africa ’n Gereformeerde perspektief op die neem van sending en sendingwetenskap na die hart van Dates: teologiese opleiding. Sending en sendingwetenskap is na die periferie van die lewe van sowel Received: 19 Oct. 2010 die kerk as teologiese instellings verdryf. Sendingwetenskap het by baie teologiese instellings Accepted: 04 Aug. 2011 gesukkel om ’n tuiste te vind. In sommige gevalle is dit as ‘n indringer beskou, in ander as ‘n Published: 14 Dec. 2012 tussenganger, en in sommige gevalle as irrelevant. Sendingwetenskap is sonder twyfel ’n stem vanuit die buiterante. Hierdie navorsing poog om die redes vir so ’n marginalisasie te ontdek How to cite this article: Mashau, T.D., 2012, ‘A deur te kyk na maniere waarop sending en sendingwetenskap herstel kan word tot die hart van reformed perspective on teologiese opleiding. Die artikel herinner ons dat die definisie en praktyk van sendingwetenskap taking mission and missiology stewig gegrond behoort te wees in die missio Dei, en daarom behoort alle teologiese dissiplines to the heart of theological doelbewus ’n sendingdimensie te hê. Dit sal sendingwetenskap toelaat om as ‘n onafhanklike training’, In die Skriflig/In vak te bestaan en om terselfdertyd multidimensionaliteit uit te oefen. Dit is gevolglik krities Luce Verbi 46(2), 8 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ om ’n dinamiese en kreatiewe spanning tussen intensie en dimensie te behou om sodoende te ids.v46i2.64 verstaan wat die plek van sendingwetenskap in die teologiese ensiklopedie is. Introduction A number of theologians have called for mission and missiology to be at the heart of theology (Bosch 1982; Jongeneel 1997; Laing 2009), reminding us of a popular dictum by Kähler (in Bosch 1991:16): ‘Missiology is the mother of all theology.’ Theological training, in both the minority and majority worlds, has failed to live up to this expectation. Missiology has, in many theological institutions in the world, struggled to find a home. In some instances, it has been regarded as an intruder, in others as an interloper and in yet some others as irrelevant. Missiology is without doubt a voice from the margins. According to Soltau (1984): Missiology entered the curriculum as a theological orphan to be treated generally as an addendum and looked to as a means of providing instruction in technique rather than a theology of mission. (p. 153) The essence of the struggle for missiology as a theological discipline in theological institutions is captured in the following words by David Bosch (1982): The gradual disappearance of missions or missiology from the curriculum of one theological institution after another further emphasises this malaise. In some of the older European and American faculties of theology where in the early part of this century missiology appeared to be firmly entrenched, the chairs have been either abolished or converted into others for world Christianity, ecumenical studies, Third World theologies, world religions and the like. (pp. 13–14) The foregoing suggests that the future of missiology as a theological discipline is not bright. On the whole, neither the churches nor theological schools themselves welcomed the intruder. © 2012. The Authors. As a result, theological institutions all over the world continue to produce pastors without the Licensee: AOSIS vision, heart and passion for mission and church planting. Central to this problem is that both OpenJournals. This work is licensed under the mission and missiology have been driven to the periphery in the life of both the church and Creative Commons theological institutions. Even when missionaries, missiologists and independent missionary Attribution License. agencies continue to keep up their hope about mission and missiology, they continue to meet http://www.indieskriflig.org.za doi:10.4102/ids.v46i2.64 Page 2 of 8 Original Research resistance on the part of church and seminary leaders Missiology revisited respectively. The following says it all: ‘When the missionary flame was eventually kindled, it burned on the fringes of Missiology defined the institutional church, frequently meeting with passionate A thorough study of the body literature in the field of resistance from the official church’ (Bosch 1982:17). This missiology suggests that missiologists have had different comes as a result of the lack of vision for world missions perspectives on the name and definition of this theological on the part of church and seminary leaders. In his article discipline. Kuyper, for example, preferred the use of the ‘Recovering missional ecclesiology in theological education’, words apostolics and prosthetics whilst Bavinck preferred Mark Laing (2009:11) traces back this kind of missionless the word science of missions for the name (Bavinck 1960:xvii; ecclesiology that saw no necessity for the inclusion of cf. Visser 2003:81). For the purpose of this article, the word missiology in the theological curriculum to the Christendom missiology is preferred, and it can be used interchangeably in the West. When the majority of Western countries were with the words science of missions because the two concepts considered to be Christian, they isolated themselves from intentionally retains the notion of being sent. engaging with the wider world and as a result developed an abnormal theology that relegated mission and missiology As for the definition, Kritzinger (1987:4) defined missiology to the periphery. Jongeneel (1997:10) concurs with Laing simply as a science of mission or the study of mission. when he notes, amongst others, that ‘Western theology has Verkuyl, in contrast, defined missiology as ‘the study lost its missionary nature and has delegated mission issues of salvation activities of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and mission studies to missionaries and missiologists.’ The throughout the world geared towards the bringing of God same observation by Jongeneel is relevant for institutions into existence’. The definition provided by Kritzinger is in the majority world because this defective ecclesiology, simple and straightforward in terms of outlining how we which was introverted in its outlook, was exported to these should understand missiology as a theological discipline, countries; hence institutions from the South also struggle and it is complemented by the definition by Verkuyl. with the problem of integrating mission and missiology in Verkuyl’s definition is grounded more on the work of the their theological training. triune God as a missionary God who is actively involved in his created world. In line with the spirit of missional Apart from the reason identified by Laing and supported theology and in an effort to find a working definition for the by Jongeneel above, secularism and liberalism in theology purposes of this article, missiology can therefore be defined in theological institutions can be cited as the real reason as a theological reflection and study on God’s mission and for the marginalisation of mission and missiology. Where God’s command and calling of the church to participate in theological institutions fan the flame of genuine Spirit-filled that mission by witnessing to the coming of God’s kingdom. godliness, they continue to send out missionaries by the Our understanding of the kingdom will determine our hundreds just as Calvin did from Geneva by sending out approach to missions and the scope of our study of missions more than a thousand missionaries who planted about 2000 (missiology). This is well captured in the new statement of churches over a period of 20 years. We need to ask: What faith of the World Reformed Fellowship (World Reformed was there in the theology of Calvin and the reformers that Fellowship 2011): has lead to the most effective missions and church planting Our mission in the world flows from our passion for the glory of since Pentecost? What do we lack, causing our theological God and our assurance of the coming of his kingdom. The church efforts not to result in the same zeal for missions? as the community of Christ, is God’s instrument of evangelism, which is the preaching and sharing of the gospel of Jesus Christ, This problem will continue until such time that the supremacy through both words and deeds, that Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that of God and his mission are taken serious in the life of both He as the reigning Lord now offers forgiveness of sin, eternal life churches and seminaries. This brings us to the main research and gifts of the Spirit to all who repent and believe.
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