Validated groups offered as possible mission ECOs The Layman Online Friday, October 4, 2002 ORLANDO, Fla. – Two validated mission organizations offered themselves as Extra Commitment Opportunities during a workshop to "promote, fund, shape and oversee evangelistic mission opportunities" in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Representatives of the Outreach Foundation and Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship, in a presentation titled "Renewing Mission: Changing the world, Changing our churches," told participants at the Gathering VII that such an option for mission giving "in partnership with Presbyterians around the world to proclaim the gospel" offered a safe opportunity to serve "evangelistic missions in the United States and overseas." In an accompanying study guide prepared by the Mission Think Tank of Pittsburgh Presbytery, mission was described as "both the very essence of the local church and the most confusing element of the local church. Think of how easy it is to unite a church by noting how it needs to be more involved in mission. Who does not want to be involved in a church that is 'committed to mission?'" Users of the study guide were urged to "think of how easy it is to divide a church by talking specifically about changing the budget to incorporate a new mission commitment. ("I think we need to increase our giving to the local food pantry." "Excuse me, but we already give to local ministries; I think we need to start giving to church planting in Mongolia." "What do you mean? Our mission is to minister to this community, and we all know that the best way to do that is to provide the best child care center in the neighborhood.") The guide encouraged participants to ask such questions as "How are we going to be involved in mission either locally or globally? Are we going to send food, people, or ideas? Do we bring people to the United States to see our struggling churches? Do we make three-year commitments to churches or people or nations, or do we make ongoing, unlimited commitments? Should we be concerned with the possibility of creating new cycles of dependency? Should we even intervene at all in the work of God in other countries? Are we, in the way we practice mission, really 21st century Christian imperialists?" To help people in their discussions, the think tank offered 10 Theological Touchstones or Mission "to reflect on the mission efforts of our presbytery and to make suggestions as to how we should spend money and how we can encourage congregations to become more actively involved in mission." They are: 1) Christian mission is our participation in the Missio Dei: The mission of God. "The mission we are called to is God's mission, not ours. Our God is a missionary (sending) God, actively working in the world to redeem all. Since God is already out there working in the world, it is the responsibility of the faithful to find ways to participate in God's redeeming work, but it is not our job to initiate the work. Christian mission is a theological reality, something rooted in the nature of God. When we are involved in mission, we are representing God to the world. Faithful people are led by their theology and not by cultural norms, personal desires, or tradition." 2) Christian mission is Trinitarian. Christian mission is Trinitarian: "God the Father sends the Son. God and Jesus together send the Holy Spirit. The Triune God sends the church into the world. Christian mission involves sending and being sent in the power of the Holy Spirit. We affirm that the sending nature of God – going to reclaim the lost and to redeem the broken – is the very nature of God. God is the Prodigal Father. And those who have "put on Christ" have accepted that new "going" nature. Are you a Christian? Then you have "put on" the missionary nature of Christ; the restless nature of one sent into the world. 3) Christian mission is centered on witness to the coming kingdom of God. "Christian mission is centered on witness to the coming Kingdom of God, the reign of God in Christ expressed in communities of faith and obedience. Thus, there is content to our mission. Mission which does not clearly proclaim Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world may be mission, but it is not Christian mission. There must be clarity about this communication: God has done for us, in Jesus Christ, what the law (and all of our efforts) could not do. This is good news for the suffering and oppressed as well as for the powerful and the oppressor. Through word and works, we proclaim the glory of God in Jesus Christ for the nations." 4) The Good News of the Kingdom is for all people and all of creation. "The good news of redemption in Jesus Christ is available to all people and all creation. This is a radical message to a world torn apart by national and religious differences. Christian mission takes on the love and compassion of God for each ethnic group. Christian mission is extensive (for all) but it is also intensive (for each). In Christian mission we resist racism and ethnic divisions; we also resist the ethnocentrism which will not share the "Pearl of Great Price" with other groups. No groups of people, no matter how far away, how near, how strange or "religious" or violent are to be excluded from the good news of the gospel. Often those who seem furthest away are closest to the realm of God; and those who seem most resistant (most sick) are most in need of the great Physician." 5) Christian mission must avoid reductionism and dichotomy. "Reductionism oversimplification) and dichotomy (separation into opposing camps) have often misrepresented the witness of the Kingdom of God. These two tendencies are both very easy to fall into and they are very "American" weaknesses. For example, the church has often been guilty of separating those with a passion for evangelism from those with a passion for social action, or those with a call to local mission from those who feel called to global mission, or those who are involved in peacemaking from those involved in proclamation. These separations are the result of sinfulness and tend to divide the church. Christians are challenged by the gospel to think more holistically about the fullness of the nature of Jesus Christ. Reductionism involves the tendency of some believers to reduce the whole gospel message to one element, whether it is peacemaking or evangelism, physical healing or spiritual nurture. When we reduce mission to feeding the poor or converting the heathen, we have turned the Gospel into an ideology; a single overriding issue that relativizes all other issues. This must never be, because the single overriding element is a person, not an idea. Jesus Christ is the mission of God." 6) Christian mission involves continuing the suffering of Christ for the world. "We live in a culture that is rooted in the assumption that the primary drive in life is to avoid suffering. We believe that pain and suffering are sure proof that we are not doing God's will, that we have done something wrong. The same is often assumed in mission. If mission is too costly (e.g. evangelizing in Islamic nations, planting churches in Cambodia, challenging oppressive governments), then we assume that the door is shut, and we redirect our efforts. But, followers of Christ can expect to suffer. Christianity is a dangerous religion. There are many places in the world where those who profess Jesus Christ put their lives in danger. Christian mission is not measured by productivity or the end result. Christian mission is measured by faithfulness. We are called to be faithful to the God of the nations, and this is often painful and costly. In fact, the pain-free mission we seek may be a stumbling block to God's glory being revealed." 7) Christian mission must be ecumenical, inclusive, exclusive, and sacrificial. "Following Christ means removing denominational and national blinders. This is what it means to be truly ecumenical. Christian mission is ecumenical because it works with all Christians and all countries. It is inclusive in that all people are sinful and fall short of the glory of God. Everyone is equally in need of the salvation of Jesus Christ; no one is exempt. On the other hand, Christian mission is exclusive in that it is in Christ alone. Christian mission is not generic or non-specific. It is very specifically, even exclusively, about Jesus Christ. Mission is sacrificial in that we follow in the footsteps of Christ who sacrificed his life for our sake. All of these characteristics of mission will be costly and may be misunderstood. It is our own small-mindedness that has allowed divisions to develop in mission. We must resist unchristian forces that tell us that we must be involved only in Presbyterian mission or only in local mission. Starting with an assumption of unity and wholeness, we are called to include all people in the mission of God." 8) Christian mission must be done in bold humility. "Mission begins with confession and compassion; it continues with clarity and confidence. Christian mission involves recognition that listening and repenting may be more powerful gifts than money or knowledge. In mission we serve as ambassadors or representatives of Jesus Christ. The Christian church is the body of Christ in the world. How mission is done must always reflect the person and character of the one who sends, the one who came to earth as a servant. The faithful person lives within the tension between serving humbly and acting boldly for the sake of the gospel. We must not believe the lie that says if we are bold we must be proud or arrogant. Jesus showed us differently. Neither should we believe the lie that says if we are humble we must be shy and reserved. Jesus proves this wrong also." 9) The local church is the missionary presence in each context, and the sending body to the world. "The local church is a missionary outpost in a world in need of salvation. Called to take initiative, the congregation is a missionary presence within its own community and a sending body for mission throughout the world. Each church, therefore, is both an institution and part of a movement. … The goal in our missionary endeavor is to plant and encourage missional churches, "three-self" churches that are self-supporting, self-propagating and self-governing." 10) Christian mission means crossing barriers. "Some traditional Presbyterians have been guilty of assuming that "real mission" must involve the crossing of salt water. We believe that Christian mission does involve crossing barriers, but barriers come in many different shapes and sizes. An ocean can be a barrier, but so can language, race, age, class, mountains, and religion. Therefore, we don't want to be too dogmatic about mission always being "over there." And yet, we want to resist the temptation of thinking that the activities offered in our churches and communities alone fulfill our commitment to Christian mission. It is too easy for us to avoid the global call to mission by this simplistic assumption. We have to be careful not to excuse ourselves from missionary activities because we are involved in local ministry. Mission must involve some "sent-ness." God is a sending God, and the church, to be faithful to God, must understand that it is SENT. Sometimes the barrier we are called to cross is the barrier of our own personal comfort zones. Try to remember some incidents in scripture where God challenges faithful people to "go."

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