Prompt: prosperous farm, by Thomas Kinkade
Unlike the first book by David J. Bosch where I found a lot of material that deal with freedom and mission, there is scarcity of information relevant to my research in the next two books. And so I think my job will be easier this time. Once I completed this, eight more books to go in twenty-two days. That's my timeline.
So far, comparing these two books with the first one, I already stumbled upon several ideas regarding mission. They include humanization, development, liberation, and revolution. And now, two more terms are added: contextualization and reconstruction.
A Life of Dignity and Freedom
In the second book by Charles Brock, The Principles and Practice of Indigenous Church Planting, I found the 6th chapter relevant to my research. Here he describes that the goal in mission is to set people free from the bondage of sin into a new kind of life of dignity and freedom. I like that inclusion of freedom as part of the goal in mission. If achieved, such life will unleash human creativity and courage to take the risk.
Unfortunately, based on his experience, the role of money, particularly foreign financial support stifles the development of such a life and hence it become an obstacle to mission and for national churches to stand on their own feet. This affects the quality of their Christian life and service. Instead of living a life characterized with dignity and freedom, the kind of dependency resulted from mission money is more reflective of a new form of slavery.
See how Brock describes the evolution of such dependency:
The wrong use of money is a major factor in creating dependency on the planter which in turn dilutes the dignity and stifles the freedom of the new believers. One does not need to be on a foreign mission field long before he sees cripples produced by attitudes that money solves all problems. Money is usually a greater hindrance than help in producing indigenous churches (p. 37).
Mission's Primary Concern
In contrast to the social emphasis of both the liberal and the liberation theologians as I discussed in previous articles, here we find a contextual church planter that emphasizes the priority of the native context:
The primary concern of the church planter is not social betterment, economical adjustment, or political change. He meets the people in their native context in these areas and plants the revolutionary Gospel seed and allows it to make changes as it will (p. 36).
He mentioned here the term "revolutionary" to describe the power of the gospel. I am not sure if he is using the term just like the earlier liberation theologians where the use of force is allowed. What I appreciate in the above quote is the direction of the change that will follow from the kind of freedom that new believers will experience as a result of the transforming power of the Gospel of Christ.
Fulfilling the Great Commission
In the 24th chapter of Paradise Restored by David Chilton, he believes that the heart of the Great commission is discipling the nations. In his mind, such goal would entail "that every aspect of life throughout the world is to be brought under the lordship of Jesus Christ: families, individuals, business, science, agriculture, the arts, law, education, economics, psychology, philosophy, and every other sphere of human activity" (p. 213).
And then he describes that such a goal will be initiated by the church as the center of Christian reconstruction. This reminds me of the latter development in liberation theology in Latin America when they struggle to identify the exact bearers of liberation theology. For Segundo and his followers, the use of term "people" is inaccurate. He prefers to use the term "church" to describe the bearers of liberation theology to avoid confusing it with political movements. In Chilton's case, the same term is used but the goal is different. It is not liberation but reconstruction.
Furthermore, having the church as the center of reconstruction tells us that for Chilton the methodology to achieve the goal of the Great Commission is different from social revolution and the political way:
Paul does not begin his work of reconstruction by fomenting a social revolution. Nor does he begin by seeking political office.
The last sentence in the above quote reminds me of a story in F. A. Hayek's book, Road to Serfdom. There he mentioned a conversation between an aspiring politician and an economist. After hearing all the ideas of Hayek, the politician decided to use the former's ideas as his political platform. He intended to put things right. Hayek warned him not to do it for the former believes that society can only be changed not by public policies but ideas. If the politician really wants to contribute to such a change, the first goal is to reach the intellectuals, the teachers and writers, with reasoned argument. Hayek believes that the influence of these thinkers will shape the future direction of society. In closing, Hayek advised the politician to keep out of politics and make an intellectual case. This will keep him from a lot of trouble and do a lot of good.
Many theologians and missiologists are still unclear about the long-term impact of following the political solution. They are either not aware of Hayek's warning or if they are, perhaps they consider it naive and simplistic. I believe that the political way does more harm than good. I believe in the power of ideas. I also believe in the crucial role of the church to social change.
Grace and peace!
References:
Brock, Charles. 1980. The Principles and Practice of Indigenous Church Planting. Manila: Southern Baptist Mission.
Chilton, David. 1985. Paradise Restored. Texas: Dominion Press.