When God set about his great project of world redemption in the wake of Genesis 12, he chose to do so not by whisking individuals off up to heaven, but by calling into existence a community of blessing. Starting with one man and his barren wife, then miraculously transforming them into a large family within several generations, then into a nation called Israel, and then, through Christ, into a multinational com- munity of believers from every nation – all through the story God has been mould- ing a people for himself. But also a people for others. “Through you... all nations.”
In other words, the missional thrust of Genesis 12:1 – 3 is also ecclesiological. The origins of the church go back, not just to Pentecost, but to Abraham. And the missionary impulse that we find in Acts was no sudden change, but the outworking of the logic of biblical faith and history. The command of Jesus and the leading of the Holy Spirit combined to send the church out in mission to the ends of the earth, as those who, having received the blessing of Abraham, must now be the means of passing it on. That was how the story worked, and that was the story they knew they were in.
So the idea of “missional church” is far from a new idea. It may have taken on a particular cultural form in recent years in reaction to an institutionalized church that has lost touch with its own raison d’être. But really, if we understand the church from our biblical theology as that community of people chosen and called since Abraham to be the vehicle of God’s blessing to the nations, what else can the church be but missional? This is who we are and what we are here for.
Indeed, as a friend of mine said recently, “All this talk of ‘missional church’ sounds to me like talking about a ‘female woman’. If it’s not missional, it’s not church.”
- Christopher J.H. Wright,
The Mission of God's People: A Biblical Theology of the Church's Mission (Biblical Theology for Life)
, p. 73
3 comments:
Kevin Deyoung has written some good critiques of this line of theology:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2010/05/05/missional-misfire-1/
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2010/05/06/missional-misfire-2/
a few quotes:
"But Abram is not commanded to bless all nations. Rather, God promises that all nations will be blessed through him. And the blessings, according to Galatians 3:9, only comes to those who are of faith. Genesis 12:1-3 does not tell Christians to go and bless everyone. It promises that the nations will be blessed when they respond to Abraham’s Offspring in faith."
and
"The entire story of the patriarchs demonstrates that God is the one blessing apart from any blessing strategy on the part of Abraham. After Genesis 12, the narrative follows different individuals and nations which prove the promise of God that whoever blesses Abraham is blessed and whoever curses him is cursed. God blesses Abraham’s family despite themselves and he blesses those who bless Abraham. But Abraham never takes his call as a commission to go think of ways he can bless the nations around him. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be kind to others or seek the good of our cities. We should. But the call of Abram is not about a community blessing program. It’s about God’s unilateral promise to bless the fumbling Abraham and bless the nations through faith in the promised Seed that will come from his family tree."
in
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2010/05/06/missional-addendum-genesis-122/
I'm not sure I would lump Chris Wright in with Reggie McNeal.
I wouldn't "lump" him in with McNeal, but DeYoung's take on Genesis 12 directly applies to your posted quote, does it not?
Post a Comment