Towards a Network of Theological Enquiry
A question of mission – a mission of questions
Freedom of the human spirit from captivity
Theological and ethical issues in the age of globalisation
Towards an Asian theological agenda for the 21st century
Impulses in Caribbean theology
Beyond partnership – Towards a global theological agenda
The people of God among all God's peoples
Globalisation: A myth without a vision?
Democratic impulses in Buddhism
At the threshold of the new millennium, forty-five men and women from different cultural and confessional backgrounds came together in Hong Kong for an ecumenical mission roundtable. Our purpose was to probe the frontiers of the Christian mission in our time, and to initiate a rigorous and sustained process of reflection on the critical missiological issues which we face in this new era. In so doing, we were able to articulate some of the challenges which we see for our churches, and which will need much further exploration in the years ahead.
The issues we face in mission are new and complex. In our time together, we were able to engage one another in conversation and dialogue, and suggest new directions and ways forward. We are aware that every new thought becomes critical of existing traditions because it represents a different point of departure. We are also aware that we do not have a common perspective on the issues before us. Our purpose was not to come to agreement on every subject we discussed, but to suggest some common questions, pursue new avenues of approach and discuss ways in which we could work together. The challenges that we highlight in this report are those that have emerged in the course of our discussions and which we hope will contribute to the ongoing missiological discussion in the ecumenical community.
We met in Asia. The decision to hold our discussion in Asia was intentional because this continent provides an important context for reflection about Christian mission today. The countries of Asia are experiencing economic, political and social problems which, while having their own particular character, are similar to those found in other parts of the world. Asia is the largest continent, in terms of size and population, and it contains a wide variety of cultures and traditions, great disparities of income and well-being, and different experiences of colonialism and postcolonialism. Asia is also the home of world religions, and the challenge of religious plurality has come to our churches from this region. All of these factors helped us to see that to conceive of world mission today we need to take seriously the fact that as the people of God we live among all God's peoples.
Yet the issues facing the mission of churches in Asia are not unique to this region. Religious and cultural plurality have become global phenomena. In addition, the process of globalisation makes it impossible to focus on just one part of the world. The internationalisation of market economies, new communication technologies, and the end of the Cold War era compel us to look at the world as a whole in all of its regional, cultural and contextual diversity. Any discussion of mission in a global context must therefore be multicultural as well as interregional, and must seek to discover common reference points which embrace the variety of ways in which both the burdens and hopes of mission are understood in the world today.
1.1.1 The contexts from which we come are increasingly characterised by their cultural and religious plurality. The question of plurality becomes significant as soon as churches become aware of local communities. Because of the particularity of these communities, our understanding of mission is necessarily diverse. Yet we lack an adequate theological approach to plurality, especially as it bears on the broader situation and conceptualisation of mission.
1.1.2 Plurality has been interpreted as both an experience of people in particular contexts and an epistemological and metaphysical concern associated with theological and moral relativism. People in local communities affirm the plurality of their cultures, asserting their own multiple identities over against any single identity which might be imposed upon them. Plurality is affirmed because it is not absolutist or hegemonic, and because it takes into account the diversity of reality. The Church, however, has had the tendency to elevate the "one" over the "many" and "unity" over "harmony." Following the strict monotheism of the Semitic tradition, this has led to an emphasis on One Truth, One Faith, One Saviour, One Way and One True Community, the Church. Uniqueness is upheld over relativism, at times leading to a metaphysical reductionism, in which the many are reduced to the One. The tension between the experience of plurality and the metaphysics of pluralism has been reflected in missiological debates within our churches.
1.1.3 Some see plurality as part of God's creative activity and intention for the created order. They see the churches' intolerance of plurality as an aberration, and point to the need to explore a missiology that affirms the many ways in which God relates to peoples, and the many ways in which humankind has responded to God. In this view the religious and cultural traditions of the world are seen to be within the economy of God's saving and loving relationship to the world. Seeking and finding God within these traditions, and in the struggles for justice and solidarity on the part of peoples who belong to them, are regarded as part of God's reign over the whole creation. In this understanding, other religious traditions may be understood as falling within God's overall mission of bringing all things into fulfilment. Christian mission, in this understanding, becomes participation in the Missio Dei the mission of God to all cultures, and witness to God as Christians have understood and experienced God in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
1.1.4 Others caution against an overly optimistic or even romantic approach to plurality. They understand that plurality is complex and ambiguous in all of its manifestations. Plurality may become subject to manipulation by the distorted power relations that inevitably exist within the parts that make up the plural whole. In the postmodern view, an uncommitted pluralism denies religious and ethical commitment of any kind. Oppressive systems and their religious justifications are prevalent in many pluralistic situations. These may actually reinforce the hegemony of one group over others, sowing the seeds of dissension, violence and conflict. Plurality is itself a complex reality that defies easy explanation.
1.1.5 There is an inescapable relatedness and relativity of all cultures (Salvador, 1996.) Both relatedness and relativity have been evident in the interaction of different cultural and religious traditions throughout history, and this interaction is intensifying in our time. The relationship between the two terms has been described in a variety of ways: "negotiated diversity"; "differentiated consensus"; "reconciled diversity"; even "parallel convergence." The relatedness and relativity of all cultures indicates the importance of developing new approaches to multi-contextualisation and intercultural hermeneutics in future studies of mission and missiology.
1.1.6 The plurality of cultures and religions is indeed ambiguous, but it characterises the situation in which we find ourselves. Plurality need not negate commitment to our own faith tradition, but it sets that tradition alongside the normative vision of others. We are challenged to find creative new ways to understand and engage plurality, and to discover a theology and practice of mission that respects and builds upon that reality.
1.2.1 Globalisation is a multifaceted process through which peoples, nations and culturesbecome increasingly integrated into a single world system. It is in one sense the other side of cultural and religious plurality. The process of globalisation has been intensified since the early 1980s through the convergence of the forces of global capitalism and new communications technology. The increasing speed of communication and the internationalisation of trade and commerce have led to the emergence of transnational enterprises and networks that operate on a global scale. This has had an enormous impact on the social and cultural lives of people everywhere.
1.2.2 Globalisation links people around the globe, and offers fascinating new possibilities for the exchange of knowledge and ideas; for the expression of solidarity among peoples; for the sharing of human and material resources; and for fostering intercultural communication. We see many ways in which the globalisation process can help to bring people closer together and create new opportunities for social development. Churches need to discover how best to make use of the creative possibilities presented by globalisation for mission and engagement with cultures and society as part of their missiological agendas.
1.2.3 Globalisation also has an ideological dimension undergirded by a functional rationality with its own "self-evident" justification. As such, the rationality of the market is not only a rebellion against religion but a new religion in and of itself. It presents a realised secular eschaton for humankind with a quasi religious message of universal salvation through the global market and advanced technology. In this understanding, as long as we are within the market, we are free to worship any religion at all. This dimension of globalisation represents a new kind of political-economic religion with its own idols and gods, but it is ultimately destructive of all religions and cultures.
1.2.4 Both the process and the ideology of globalisation are dominated by global capitalism,through which nations are integrated into a world economy. The most significant aspect of this economy is the increasing centralisation of the world's production, trade and currency transactions in the hands of a select few multinational corporations and financial institutions. However, when left to the mechanisms of its self-regulating forces, globalisation has serious negative consequences, particularly the marginalisation, exploitation and exclusion of the majority of the world's population. Globalisation creates a fast world and a slow world, and in the slow world, people become increasingly impoverished. The growing inequality between rich and poor constitutes a special challenge to mission.
1.2.5 Globalisation has also served as a vehicle of a "universal" global culture, undermining religious and cultural plurality. Because it emphasises the permeability of borders and the transformation of cultures, globalisation tends to favour a uniform world culture which fits everywhere. This has encouraged the standardisation of consumer tastes in everything from food to clothes to music and popular entertainment. Indigenous cultures and their potential for human development are largely rejected or ignored in the process.
1.2.6 Globalisation is a complex process which defies simple categorisation. We need to differentiate the positive and negative dimensions of this process, so as to avoid presenting it as "the Beast" that has gained dominance over the world. There is a danger of viewing globalisation in a dualistic way as the source of all evil, even as we recognise its negative dimensions. A sober analysis will help us to better understand globalisation for what it is: the outcome of developments in technology, economics and communications which contains vast potential for humanity to live and interact in new ways, but which also creates further divisions among peoples and cultures.
1.3.1 Mission, God's self-revelation as One who loves the world, is central to the nature and purpose of the Church. The Church is sent out in mission to the world, empowered by the Holy Spirit, announcing the gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed, and witnessing to the reign of God. The Church is engaged in the Missio Dei, not because it claims to have all the truth, but because we as the Church are part of the body of Christ, and mission is part of who we are.
1.3.2 Yet the very word "mission" poses deep questions for many people and churches because of its close association with colonialism and the enormous injustices committed against people and cultures during the colonial expansion. The gospel message has been a power for liberation, confronting systemic evils and oppressive powers that have enslaved men and women in many parts of the world. Yet, mission and evangelisation, Westernisation and colonisation have often gone hand in hand, producing mission theologies and practices, as well as attitudes and approaches to other religious and cultural traditions that have come under serious criticism today. We need to develop new ways of speaking about mission that name and reject the wrongs of the past, embrace what is good, and respond in new ways to the challenges facing the churches and the modern world.
1.3.3 We seek further clarity as to whether questions of "salvation" and "conversion" can be separated from mission. Any understanding of mission which divides the world into those who are "saved" or "reached" and those who are "damned" or "unreached"; any understanding which seeks "conversion" to a particular understanding of Christian faith as its overriding goal, or which separates Christian and non-Christian into distinct human communities; is inconsistent with the gospel message. The rejection of such understanding compels us to ask: Is mission accomplished when our neighbour becomes a Christian, or when he or she experiences healing, wholeness, renewal or transformation?
1.3.4 The promise of God who sends us in mission is always hopeful, even though the forms that promise has taken have sometimes been problematic. We affirm mission as that which brings healing and wholeness into the lives of people in a broken world. We understand that the mission of the Church, amidst all its ambiguities and the burden of its history, is continually recast by communities which seek to shape their lives in light of the promise of the gospel. An understanding of mission as the fleshing out of God's purpose for particular cultures and contexts will require further development and exploration, but it points us in the right direction.
2.1.1 The Bible is central for our Christian identity and self-understanding, and it remains an enduring source of authority, faith and inspiration for mission. Yet the ways in which we use the Bible are deeply contested among Christians today, and there is little agreement on the nature of biblical authority and the principles of biblical interpretation. We affirm the richness and diversity of the Bible and the many traditions of interpretation, even as we struggle to come to a new understanding of how to make better use of the Bible in and for mission.
2.1.2 We are inevitably contextual in the way in which we approach and interpret the Bible, because the Bible becomes the living word of God only insofar as its message is appropriated in context. We affirm that "culture shapes the human voice that responds to the voice of Christ" (Bangkok, 1973). Context establishes the social and cultural location for judgement about the biblical text and any theology of mission which claims to be a "biblical theology" is inevitably a contextual theology.
2.1.3 The role of scripture is not the same for every age, place and confessional tradition. The Bible therefore needs to be continually reread and reinterpreted in new situations. The Bible is in one sense a "book for the Church," but this should not mean that the interpretation of scripture is the monopoly of Christians. Revealed texts are not closed systems for religious believers, and many churches today are experimenting with cross-textual studies and interreligious hermeneutics. We as Christians should encourage such experimentation.
2.1.4 There are many visions of mission in the Bible, and many different biblical paradigms of mission are possible. The fullness of the meaning of mission is discovered not in selected verses of the Bible, but through the interpretation of the Bible as a whole, even though every such interpretation is related to a particular time and context. We therefore see the need for a new "hermeneutics of mission" which allows us to move back and forth between scripture and context in a responsible and transforming interaction with the world. Here, we can only make a few suggestions about the ways in which we might proceed with this in our consideration of the Old and New Testaments.
2.1.5 The Old Testament, or Hebrew Scriptures, provides us with fresh insights foremerging theologies of mission. We discern in the Old Testament God's character with respect to creation. God moves out as a missionary God, creating order out of chaos, choosing the people of Israel for service, and sustaining and redeeming the world. Mission "cannot but flow from God's care for the whole of creation, unconditional love for all people and concern for unity and fellowship with and among all human beings" (San Antonio, 1989).
Several aspects of the Old Testament need further exploration for their bearing on questions we face today. The people of Israel were more concerned with survival than with mission, but mission is bound up with their self-understanding as the people of God. Our study of the Old Testament confirms that any view of mission depends upon the situation and circumstances in which a community finds itself. This understanding is different if the community possesses power or if it has to deal with basic questions of survival in situations of poverty, powerlessness or persecution, and we can find examples of each in the Old Testament.
The question of mission in the Old Testament is also related to what has been termed "the myth of the empty land" in ancient Israel. This is a myth because Israel was never "empty," any more than the "foreign mission fields" were empty before the first Christian missionaries arrived. Empty land is, moreover, a dangerous myth because it presupposes that there is no other community outside the chosen community which comes to occupy the land. People who are not "chosen" become invisible, their cultures unimportant, their land free for the taking. The experience of Israel vis-à-vis other peoples may help us to better understand our own experiences with "empty lands" in our mission histories.
Throughout the Old Testament we encounter Israel's concern for self-identity in relationship to responsible interaction with other peoples. Our reading of the Old Testament suggests a basic dialectic between the concern for self-identity and responsible interaction with the world, between Israel's elect status as God's chosen people set apart for service, and the community's humble awareness of its solidarity with the entire human family. When the concern for self-identity becomes excessive, separation of the elect leads to the marginalisation and exclusion of the un-elect. When solidarity with the human family is emphasised, there may be the fear that the self-identity of the community is lost.
We can detect a certain understanding of religious and cultural plurality in some Old Testament texts, and we believe that this subject needs further investigation. For example, Micah 4:5 suggests that gentiles will continue to honour their deities just as Israel honours Yahweh forever and ever. Isaiah 19: 19-24 speaks of God saving and healing other peoples and accepting their worship. In Amos 9:7 God says to Israel, "Are you not like the Ethiopians to me, O people of Israel? Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?" These and other such verses may provide clues for understanding Christian mission in the multireligious world of today.
The goal of mission in the prophet Jeremiah is the shalom or well-being of the city (Jer. 29: 4-9). The emphasis is on a holistic understanding of God's mission in Israel, of Yahweh's reign extending to all realms of life. The Deuteronomic historian writes that we should "Choose life, so that you and your descendants may live" (Deut. 30:19). Such texts provide images for a broader understanding of who we are as a people in mission.
Amos is an example of one who was called to engage in mission to his own people. Jonah, in contrast, was called to speak the word of God to the people of Ninevah, and he learned a great deal about himself in the process. Our reading of the Old Testament suggests that today we need to be more like Amos, even as we continue to learn from the experience of Jonah, in light of the witness of the whole Bible.
2.1.6 The New Testament is a missionary text which has continually been the basic authority and inspiration for the Christian world mission. But different understandings of mission can be found in the New Testament, from the mission of Jesus, to that of the early church, to the fully articulated theology of mission in Paul and John. We believe that it is important to reread the New Testament in light of its own development and the self-understanding of the early Christian community. We wish to suggest several areas of New Testament interpretation which need further exploration in developing a theology of mission.
Jesus came to announce the reign of God, but he did not initiate a world mission as such. Although Jesus laid the foundation for the mission of the early Christian community, the gospels do not say that he sought to bring the whole world into a single community. Jesus' mission was to announce the Kingdom of God and bring healing and wholeness to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. "Mission in Christ's Way" (San Antonio, 1989) means an identification with Jesus' own ministry, the motifs of which are evident in his life as a poor Jew, his death on the cross, and his resurrection to eternal life.
"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). These words of the resurrected Christ suggest that the Holy Spirit is the primary agency of mission. The early church found new life in the resurrected Christ and the Pentecost experience. The early Christian community proclaimed this message of new life in Christ in its mission to the world. Luke-Acts presents this as the empowerment and liberation of the poor and oppressed. We need to explore Luke's understanding of empowerment more fully in the theology and practice of mission.
Other New Testament passages draw on the inspiration for mission which comes from the Holy Spirit. The Father sends the Son and the Son sends out his disciples, breathing on them the empowering spirit of God (John 20: 21-22). Paul develops what is implicit in these words in his exposition of the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians. 5: 18,19). The author of Revelation speaks of discerning the signs of the times and listening to what the Spirit has to say to the churches (Rev. 2:7). Throughout the New Testament, the origins of the Church, and its life and mission are closely related to the Holy Spirit. Similarly, the Old Testament speaks of the Spirit as the primary mover in creation, and as continually active in this world. We need to develop a better understanding of the biblical view of the work of the Spirit in mission.
The "Great Commission" (Matt. 28: 18-20) has been the watchword for the modern Protestant missionary movement. We believe that this text has been overemphasised, a result of the contextual self-understanding of European and North American churches since the 18th century. The "Great Commission" in Matthew needs to be set alongside other commissions, such as Mark 16, Luke 4, John 17, and other texts that have been mentioned above. There are many New Testament images used to express the nature and purpose of mission, and none should be isolated from the others or made into the one controlling emphasis.
We continue to speak of the gospel message which brings something new to cultures as it becomes embedded within them. But we use the word "gospel" in different ways, sometimes in reference to the four Gospels, sometimes to the witness and message of Jesus Christ, sometimes to the liberative elements within a culture or within Christianity as a whole. This is a further indication of the need to move back and forth between the New Testament and the context of its interpretation in responsible ways. Different contextual interpretations of New Testament texts may challenge and correct one another, and will help us develop a better understanding of how the Bible speaks to people today.
2.2.2 The Spirit of God is at work in creation, in its plural manifestation, in all places where true healing, reconciliation and restoration take place. We recognise that an important part of our mission is to discern the Spirit at work in the world, and to participate in the life of the Spirit as witnesses to God's justice and love. It is the Triune God who sends us out in mission, to work as God's partners in mission to the world.
2.2.3 Traditional missiologies have tended to emphasise the second person of the Trinity. Although mission is founded on our faith in Christ, Christology is not the only starting point for a theology of mission. A Trinitarian missiology, with emphasis on the Holy Spirit as the agent and enabler of the mission of God in the world, both through the Church and in ways beyond the Churches' understanding, opens new possibilities for missiology in a religiously and culturally plural world. The freedom of the Spirit to move where it wills, the biblical accounts of the work of the Spirit outside the community called to participate in God's mission, and the Church's own willingness to discern the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit outside its boundaries, provide bases for an understanding of mission that treats both globalisation and plurality with the seriousness they deserve.
2.2.4 The discernment of the Spirit and the capacity to distinguish the principalities, powers, and the "spirits" of this world from the Holy Spirit has been a challenge to the churches through the centuries. How do we practice this discernment? How is the Spirit active in the "mission before the mission," the mission before the Church comes? Can the Holy Spirit help us to understand both the "otherness" of other religions and their "relatedness" to Christian faith? A Spirit-centered missiology that is based on Trinitarian faith is one of the areas that deserve fuller exploration as we seek answers to these questions.
2.3.1 We cannot abstract religion and faith from their concrete expression. The gospel, the witness to liberation and healing in Jesus Christ, is never abstract; it is always embedded in particular social and cultural realities. We are most truly universal when we are most truly particular. This is the meaning of the Incarnation which we discover in the New Testament.
2.3.2 Our theological and philosophical constructions should not obscure the concrete nature of this incarnational perspective. It is not simply that God became a human being, but that God became a poor and enslaved Jew. This particularity indicates the importance of the social location of New Testament writings, and it has implications for how we situate ourselves with respect to mission. The challenge to churches in mission is to become socially-located witnesses to the gospel in our diverse cultures.
2.3.3 Incarnation is related to inculturation and contextualisation. The gospel cannot be incarnate in any given culture without bringing something new to that culture. We believe in the power of the gospel to challenge, transform and confirm cultures, and in the inherent potential in all cultures to give shape to the meaning of the gospel in ways which makes the gospel relevant for people's lives.
2.3.4 Paul interprets the Incarnation in terms of the kenosis of God who "emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness" (Phil. 2:7). This suggests an orientation and posture in mission which has a fundamentally different starting point from missiologies which emphasise unifying the world under the Lordship of Christ. We need to develop a fuller understanding of what thinking and practice in mission would look like with this kenotic idea as our starting point.
The Vasco de Gama era of mission has ended, and it is now time to consider the questions which other religious traditions are raising for us. From its beginnings, the Christian community had to live in a religiously plural environment. Reflections on the nature of the Church's relationship to peoples from other religious traditions and the meaning and method of its mission among them has a history as long as the history of the Church itself. The Church has had to continue to draw and redraw its boundaries in order to make more sense of the realities in which it found itself. Further study of the growth of the self-understanding and mission practices in these early centuries will enlighten our discussion today.
In the postcolonial era, especially as peoples of different religious traditions learn more about each other, and build new bridges of cooperation across religious barriers, new questions have been raised about the mission theologies of the past. These questions need to be faced with a sense of urgency because earlier theologies of mission continue to inspire large sections of the Church today. There is a growing conviction in many parts of the world that churches are being challenged yet again to redraw their boundaries and revisit their understanding of mission and their approach to peoples of other religious traditions.
We seek to respond to the challenge to rethink mission and missiology in two ways. First, we seek to listen to and understand what challenges other religious traditions bring to our understanding and practice of mission. Second, on the basis of our listening, we seek to discern what it would mean today to be God's people among all God's peoples. We are aware that there is no unanimity among Christians on these issues because of our different understandings of the authority and interpretation of the Bible and our different theological and missiological starting points. However, we hope, that the reflections that follow can enable us to identify some of the issues around which sustained conversation should take place
3.1.1 The Challenge to Accountability
It is important to note that the issues of mission, conversion, and evangelisation are no longer matters of intra-Christian conversations alone. In several countries of the world, Christian mission activities are directly prohibited or curtailed. In other countries, there is organised opposition to Christian missions. In many of the areas that were evangelised during the past few centuries, there are deep grievances about what missions have done, intentionally or otherwise, to peoples, their cultures and their religious traditions. Some forms of mission directed to people of other religious traditions are experienced as the continuation of older, triumphalistic, forms of mission. Also, in some places, Christian missions were used by governments to control indigenous peoples. The presence of mission and the way mission is and has been experienced by other religious communities have become matters of witness or a counter-witness to the gospel message.
Opposition to mission may spring from resistance to the challenge of the gospel and the social transformation it would engender. But resistance is also related to the experience of Christian missions as domineering, insensitive and exploitative of people's weaknesses. People of other faiths hold Christians accountable, not only for what has been done in the name of mission in the past, but also for what we do in our day and plan to do in the future.
This concern for accountability presupposes a larger question, not only for Christianity, but for all religions which have functioned in ways that deny the dignity and freedom of peoples. The missionary activity of all religions needs to be held accountable to those who have been affected, excluded or marginalised in the process of doing mission work. We need to ask how our understanding and practice of mission is challenged by peoples of other religious traditions who raise the question of accountability with us.
3.1.2 The Challenge to New Understanding
All religious traditions, including Christianity, are ambiguous in their social and cultural manifestations. They contain the potential to liberate as well to enslave, to enhance or trample upon human dignity. Religious traditions have produced saints and sages as well as systems of oppression and exclusion. Since the 18th century, in part as a result of the modern missionary movement, religious communities have seen themselves as rival and mutually exclusive communities. This has often led to suspicions, prejudices and distrust that persist to this day, and it has paved the way for confrontations, conflicts and wars among religious communities, and to the use and abuse of religion in the conflicts of our day.
The great religious traditions are composed of praying and believing peoples with long spiritual histories. They bring healing and wholeness into people's lives and raise their own particular challenges for Christian understanding. Indigenous religions, for example, have long been neglected in considerations of world religions, but they offer rich spiritual and cultural resources for aboriginal and indigenous peoples, and promise new understanding for Christian theology. The Abrahamic traditions of Judaism and Islam confront us with a different set of questions, in part because of their long history of involvement with Christianity. Buddhism and Hinduism have contributed to the richness of Asian cultures and have inspired and sustained people for thousands of years. All of these religious traditions may have a mission to global Christianity and may contribute to the renewal of our churches.
The theology of mission is under increasing pressure to rethink its attitude to other religious traditions. How do we interpret the witness offered by peoples of other religions to their life with God, and to God's life with them? This is a difficult question to set aside, in light of the Christian affirmation of God as the creator and provider of all of life. How are we to assess the gifts and the fruit of the Spirit in the lives of people from other religious traditions? Can we understand the reign of God as being religiously plural? These questions suggest that the witness of peoples of other religious traditions constitutes a theological agenda that missiology can no longer ignore.
3.1.3 The Challenge to New Relationships
While many scholars are exploring the theology of religions at the conceptual level, there are increasing encounters between peoples of different religious traditions in the course of daily life, in social engagements, and in the common struggles to liberate humanity from all types of bondage. The increased interaction between peoples of different religious traditions has resulted in mutual interest in one another's spiritual heritage. Moreover, institutionalised interreligious relationships have emerged in the form of local, regional, national and global interreligious organisations.
As Christians, we are being challenged to rethink our relationship to our neighbors. Over the past few decades the concept and practice of "dialogue" has emerged as one of the ways to describe this relationship. Dialogue is understood and practiced in many ways, but primarily it is an encounter of commitments that seeks mutual understanding, enrichment and correction. While dialogue provides the opportunity for all communities to give authentic witness to their normative visions, it also challenges all communities to rethink and restate their faith perspectives in light of religious plurality. In this context, Christians are challenged to rethink our concept and practice of mission. And so we ask: What can mission mean in the context of a mutual and respectful relationship between and among religious communities?
In many parts of the world, people of other religious traditions or of none are joining hands in partnership with Christians in struggles to resist oppression and to confront the forces that dehumanise life, and in struggles for justice, dignity and human rights. In all such situations, Christians engaged in these common struggles understand themselves to be involved in God's mission in the world. At the same time, they understand that peoples of other religious traditions who struggle with them are also involved in a mission of humanisation and of advancing the reign of God over all realms of life. How does this kind of partnership challenge our understanding and practice of mission?
The challenges mentioned above lead us to a question that has been asked several times before in the history of the Church: What does it mean to be a people of God among all God's peoples? Following our tentative exploration of this question we see four areas that need further elaboration as part of a search for a missiology appropriate to the context of what has been termed our "irreducible plurality.
3.2.1 Toward a New Approach to Plurality
One area which requires further exploration is the Christian theological approach to plurality itself. As we affirmed in the first section of this report, the contexts from which we come are increasingly characterised by cultural and religious plurality. Yet we lack the theological categories to adequately interpret this reality. One of the problems of traditional missiologies has been their inability to deal with the question of the "one" and the "many." It is precisely in this area, particularly as it relates to religious plurality, that we need more creative thinking.
3.2.2 Toward a New Approach to Gospel and Cultures
Those who have accepted the message of the gospel are finding new ways to relate to their own religious and cultural heritage. The relationship between gospel and cultures has been a much-debated subject in the history of the Church. However, in view of the mounting witnesses to the harm which the missionary movement has done through its rejection of the religions and cultures of the peoples that were evangelised, it is important to rethink the relationship between mission and the religions and cultures of the peoples among whom it takes place.
Today we hear voices that speak of the need for persons to be able to accept the gospel message from within their own religious and cultural traditions. We believe it should be entirely possible for a person to develop a life of faithfulness to the gospel message from within his or her religious and cultural context. In so doing, creative interaction between the gospel and the religious tradition and culture is made possible. The tradition is challenged, but so too is the understanding, application and manifestation of the gospel within that particular context.
What does it mean for people to be inheritors of two (or more) cultural traditions, the traditions of one's people and forebears and the traditions of the Good News of Jesus Christ? Can overlapping religious and cultural identities enrich our understanding of the gospel? What new approaches to mission can enable this to happen? Some theologians have begun to speak of "hybridity" as a way of understanding the intercultural nature of all of our contexts and religious constructions. We believe that these questions open creative new possibilities for missiological reflection.
3.2.3 Toward a New Beginning
In seeking new ways of being in mission, we are aware that some traditional missiological understandings and practices which persist in our churches are holding us back. Often, a new enthusiasm for mission has meant a return to 18th and 19th century missiologies, missionary methods and the use of "key" biblical texts to validate such approaches. An understanding of mission in a religiously plural context requires that we move toward a deeper appreciation of the whole biblical message. This means that we will need to move away from missiological thinking and mission practices that have undermined the very credibility of authentic Christian witness among peoples of other religious traditions.
Missiology arises from reflection on the faith and practice of the Church as it seeks to live out the gospel in the world. Theologians have the task of pointing out the contours of new theological possibilities as the Church moves into new situations and redraws its boundaries. This includes the formulation of new mission paradigms.
The urgent need which we experience for the articulation of new paradigms indicates both the sense of dissatisfaction with prevailing understandings of mission, as well as an uncertainty about constructing a single missiology for the whole Church. No single new paradigm for mission may be sufficient.
For many of our churches, our local situations are interreligious ones. As we have noted in the foregoing paragraphs, interreligious situations challenge us in a variety of ways. As we continue to reflect on the meaning and significance of these challenges, we need to discover the ways in which we are called to be the people of God among all God's peoples.
Christian mission by its very nature presupposes social involvement, for it is embodied in concrete social forces and historical circumstances. There is a continuing interaction between the gospel and social conditions in every situation, but the mode of Christian social involvement depends upon the challenges which emerge from a given context. In facing the challenges posed by new historical situations, the ecumenical movement has provided churches with frameworks or models for social engagement that are both faithful to the gospel and relevant to each situation.
The Amsterdam Assembly (1948) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) proposed the model of a "Responsible Society" as a framework for Christian social engagement. The Assembly said, "A responsible society is one where freedom is the freedom of men and women who acknowledge responsibility to justice and public order, and where those who hold political authority or economic power are responsible for its exercise to God and the people whose welfare is affected by it." This emerged as a response to the contending ideologies of communism and capitalism. It rejected all totalitarian ideologies and systems. The Evanston Assembly (1956) of the WCC went on to clarify the concept, stating that the responsible society was not a specifically Christian social system, but "a criterion by which we judge all existing social orders and at the same time a standard to guide us in the specific choices we have to make."
Between the Nairobi (1975) and Vancouver (1983) Assemblies of the WCC, the search for a "Just, Participatory and Sustainable Society" attracted the attention of those concerned with Christian social engagement. It attempted to recognise the oppression of people calling for justice, the cries of people held down by dictatorial governments who were calling for greater participation, and the massive disregard for environmental concerns in the development of science and technology which raised questions about sustainable development. Though this model for social engagement did not survive, it did become a focus for a common vision for a new human society in the ecumenical movement.
The Vancouver Assembly (1983) of the WCC proposed that the Council's work be guided by an effort to involve churches "in a conciliar process of mutual commitment (covenant) to justice, peace and the integrity of all creation." In essence, it was an invitation to all churches to come together and commit themselves to resist the threats to life, particularly in the extensive denial of human rights in dictatorial regimes, racism as a political ideology and as a social reality, the possibility of nuclear confrontation between the superpowers and the escalating arms race, and the systematic destruction of the environment. It was to be a vision of churches uniting not only to resist the threats to life, but to move forward toward a more just, participatory and sustainable society.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union as a political reality and the rise of a more unified economic system perceivable in the phenomenon called globalisation, the concept of a civil society has been put forward. Konrad Raiser, the General Secretary of the WCC, describes its intention in these words: "A characteristic feature which distinguishes civil society from the realms of politics and of the economy is its orientation towards shaping and maintaining relationships. Civil society seeks to build a sense of coherence and trust and, through communication, to create a culture of fundamental moral consensus, rather than to acquire, defend and exercise power or to accumulate capital ... Essential to the struggle for civil society, therefore, is the enduring struggle for the autonomy or independence of its institutions."
All these frameworks or models for social engagement are responses to specific historical and social situations which seek to hold a global perspective together with local particularities. They are not necessarily discontinuous with each other. They are also related to other models of social engagement which have emerged within Roman Catholicism, particularly since Vatican II.
Our churches now face a new situation. Social and political developments as well as technological growth and the rate of change continue to raise new challenges to our churches' missionary vocation in society. How are we to respond? Is a revised model or framework for social engagement possible? We need to more adequately probe these questions as we face the challenges before us.
4.1.1 The Global Market
Globalisation is manifested and experienced primarily in the emergence of the global market. Transnational corporations and economic institutions dominate this market and reduce the sovereignty of peoples and nations. The global market, when left to its own devices and desires, has serious negative consequences, most notably the exclusion and exploitation of the majority of the world's population. We recognise that the situation we face in globalisation is by no means clear-cut. As we noted earlier in this report, we need to develop better analyses of globalisation which recognise both its positive potential and negative consequences. But we also need to address the needs of those who have been marginalised and excluded from the globalisation process.
Globalisation challenges the mission of the Church in several ways. We recommend for further exploration the suggestions made by a group of theologians who addressed these challenges at an earlier consultation: (a) to continue to develop social and theological analyses of the nature and manifestations of globalisation; (b) to critique the secularised eschatology of the global market in light of the promises of the reign of God; (c) to explore the role of religion in challenging the logic of the globalised market; (d) to critically support institutions, such as the state, that could carry the concerns of marginalised people over against the dehumanising forces of globalisation; (e) to promote networks of solidarity among groups which resist the excesses of globalisation ("World Mission Today: A CWM Perspective," April, 1999).
4.1.2 The New World of Technology
Globalisation is further manifested and experienced in the new world of information and telecommunications technology. This technology can create new forms of interaction between peoples, religions and churches, overcoming the divide between the so-called fast and slow worlds, and offering those who are excluded the potential of making their voices heard. New telecommunications media offer unprecedented openings for the gospel to cross frontiers and penetrate closed societies, whether traditional or totalitarian. New technology further opens new possibilities for communicating the gospel message in creative ways that advance the churches' mission. This challenges us to form new networks in order to overcome division and to present a unified witness in our mission activity.
In responding to the new world of technology, churches have to take into consideration some of its negative aspects as well. Many forms of Christian proclamation carried out through new telecommunications media are based on traditional missiologies which we no longer find adequate. Social communication through the internet has become a primary means of information, education, guidance, and inspiration for many individuals and communities. The media has acquired enormous influence, and promotes cultural values many of which are morally questionable that tend to create a global monoculture. Young people who make use of this new media are particularly susceptible to confuse a virtual reality with a living reality. The claim that it will bring new forms of community into being may lead instead to increased isolation. Despite its claim to build and enhance global community, access to telecommunications technology is still restricted to the privileged, thus resulting in further marginalisation of the many.
4.1.3 Identity Struggles
While the impact of globalisation is evident in all realms of life, exclusive ethnic, religious and caste groups represent an opposing trend. Today we witness increasing ethnic and religiously-inspired turmoil, an upsurge in violence, and social breakdown in many parts of the world
In contrast, marginal groups such as indigenous and tribal peoples, Dalits and other minorities are seeking new identities based on their traditional religions and cultures, previously suppressed or destroyed by dominant communities. In their struggles against historical processes of domination, they have increasingly become conscious of their identity as distinct peoples.
At the same time, religious identity is often exploited by political and economic powers in pursuit of their own ends. We are witnessing today a resurgence of fundamentalism, which we see as a modern attempt at the religious conquest of life. Fundamentalism manipulates legitimate concerns in the struggle to assert religious identity, while seeking to freeze and control the creative process of contextualisation and hybridisation.
The Church in the past had an ambiguous response to identity questions and the narratives that come out of them. Christian mission has greatly contributed to the social transformation of many indigenous peoples, but it has also been insensitive to these peoples' struggle for cultural identity. The churches need to develop a greater sense of clarity in response to the identity struggles which are now emerging.
4.1.4 The Ecological Crisis
Capital-intensive patterns of development, and the consumer-oriented lifestyle which they encourage, have had a disastrous effect on the natural environment, and the sustainability of life. Our ecological crisis highlights the need for imagining and experimenting with alternative forms of development that take the stewardship of the earth as a priority.
The ecological problem is further aggravated by the process of globalisation. Conflicts arise over the control of resources, and global peace is possible only if we can defuse such conflicts through the establishment of a more just world order. How churches participate in or initiate discussions that address this problem is an important missiological question.
4.1.5 Violence, War and Peace
The increasing levels of violence committed against women, conflicts that give rise to massive numbers of deaths, ethnic cleansing, racism, class and caste wars, and other acts of violence whether physical, mental, or spiritual have always been of deep concern for the Church. The possession of nuclear weapons and the enormous resources spent on nuclear as well as conventional weapons, raise disturbing questions for us. Churches often feel helpless in the face of such developments. A particularly disturbing aspect of the violence we witness is the inhuman conditions in which refugees, uprooted people, and migrant workers are often forced to live. The hostility and prejudice which they face, not to mention the violence directed against them, are intolerable. Churches need to find ways to deepen our commitment to a just peace in these situations.
The gospel cannot be communicated without a deep engagement with society, in the struggles for justice, for solidarity, and in new practices that seek to overcome discrimination, oppression and social violence. There needs to be a critique of power structures and the culture of power in order to keep people at the centre of our theological reflection and mission practice. We must also deepen our reflection on possible responses to the challenges we face as we search for viable frameworks or models for social engagement.
4.2.1 Spirituality
Holistic spiritualities are life-affirming, dynamic and empowering, oriented to celebration and sharing, as well as to lamentation and mourning. In the Bible and our Christian traditions, life in communion with others forms a complex web of faith and practice which underpins everyday realities. Our contact with marginal groups, and especially with indigenous peoples, heightens our awareness of the need for holistic understandings of spirituality.
We need to practice greater discernment in our approach to spirituality, for some forms of spirituality are inevitably distorted. Any spirituality, including those derived from the Bible and Christian faith, inflates reality in a particular direction. We need to explore more fully the nature and forms of spiritual practices in our own religious traditions, in order to discern the ways in which they shape our engagement in society.
We may also need to draw on resources from interreligious spiritualities in response to the problems we face. An interreligious "conspiracy of wisdom" might help us in the search for alternative approaches to social engagement in a world shaped by plurality and globalisation.
4.2.2 Culture as a Source of Action
Plurality and the cultural matrix of different peoples provides the ethos for social witness. The gospel offers both a transcendent critique of culture and an embodiment of culture. It is essential in mission to recognise the presence of God in indigenous cultures, and acknowledge that the destruction of local cultures raises serious questions for Christian witness. We need to discover ways in which all cultures can become more participatory and thereby open up additional cultural resources for social engagement.
Inculturation, contextualisation and hybridity involve a dialogue between the people of God and the Holy Spirit. We need to develop theologies which deepen and broaden this dialogue. The symbols of a given culture, indigenous as well as Christian, which can empower people and communicate the gospel, need to be more fully elaborated. Not only language, but music, art, food, clothing, and all forms of human interaction and creativity, provide rich resources for theology, and they need further exploration as resources for mission and missiology.
4.2.3 Prophetic Action and Witness
The struggle for political and social justice has provided a context for the Church's witness in many situations. Theologies of struggle and liberation, Minjung, Dalit, and feminist theologies, have presented new frameworks and inspiration for action in many churches. We need to further develop such theologies in the face of new challenges.
Prophetic action has three different functions: to criticise and denounce, in speaking truth to power; to energise and encourage people struggling under unjust conditions in depressed societies; and to mediate or serve as intercessor, bringing the word of God before the community, and the concerns of the community before God. This threefold witness of biblical prophecy may provide inspiration for our churches in situations of injustice and oppression. Prophecy is a missionary task, and our understanding of the prophetic function in mission requires further elaboration in our particular situations.
"Gathering" and "multiplying" may be useful images of mission in response to the situation we face today. These biblical metaphors combine an understanding of the covenant between God and God's people, which includes the reign of God and God's justice (gathering), with the plurality of all of God's peoples (multiplying). Gathering suggests our sustained efforts to establish justice and full humanisation, while multiplying suggests unlimited acceptance of human beings as children of God. Both terms indicate the need to combine prophetic action and witness with an understanding of God's love for all peoples in our approach to mission.
4.2.4 Solidarity with Victims
Among the new challenges that confront the Church is the condition of many marginal groups victims of the globalisation process, uprooted people, migrant workers and indigenous peoples. Christian action should begin in solidarity with the struggles of the victimised. Using the new communications and information technology, churches should be encouraged to build and support solidarity and networks between justice-oriented groups worldwide.
In solidarity with the suffering, Jesus gave expression to his hope in the liberating God whose preference is the defence of the poor and dispossessed. Here, in this combination of total identification with the depth of suffering and the hope that surpasses all experience to the contrary, we see the clue to Jesus' presence in our midst and to the future that God offers us. New wine, a new logic of community that comes from an inculturated solidarity, is set against the old wine and the old culture, which no longer serves humanity.
4.2.5 Dialogue with Decision Makers
In our response to the process of globalisation, solidarity with victims is of primary importance. But the churches also have the responsibility of entering into dialogue with people, especially Christians, who are involved in the decision-making levels of corporations, financial institutions and government. This will not only help us to understand the contours of these powers, but also to raise ethical issues related to Christian witness with informed understanding. Our churches, in cooperation with grassroots movements, should engage in educating people about the nature of globalisation and its impact. We should also explore ways of preparing people to cope with new communication patterns and technologies, and support efforts to evolve alternative options.
Our understanding of power comes into play in such dialogues. In many of the situations to which we are called to respond, power the power of technology and the market, the power of economic systems, as well as the power necessary for the growth of peoples and cultures becomes an essential ingredient. But marginalised groups are powerless. How do we understand the paradox of power and powerlessness? Those who preach to the powerless themselves often occupy positions of power; those who rise through the hierarchy of the church exercise power; power has to be used to get things done. How can we address this dilemma in our thought and action? What would incarnational forms of power look like?
4.2.6 New Models of Thought and Action?
There is an irony about continuing to use older (Western) models which have failed the established churches. These churches are now in decline and seen as irrelevant to the lives of contemporary peoples. This failure is in part reflected in the rise of Pentecostal churches, whose rituals and language are in many cases far more attuned to local cultures. The Pentecostal phenomenon is itself very mixed, but it should be explored more fully in our discussions of mission and social engagement. The challenge this presents to the churches we come from may be to develop new models appropriate to their own local cultures and using indigenous resources such as stories, dreamtime, dance and song.
A more basic question is whether we need new "models" for social thought and action at all? The concept of models is derived from 19th century sociological theory, and may no longer be appropriate for our situations. Models, like the International Monetary Fund model of development that has been imposed on developing countries, easily shift from being descriptive to being prescriptive. Rather than attempting to create models, it might be more useful to explore new forms of mission as social engagement, drawing on the images and ideas which have emerged in this roundtable.
Our new context calls for a reassessment of the missiological paradigms which we have used in the past. In the aftermath of World War II, the concept of Missio Dei helped to vindicate mission as primarily God's dealing with the world as a whole and comprising the totality of the salvific work of the Holy Spirit. The role of the churches in participating in this mission became focused on bearing witness to the reign of God, service to the poor and marginalised, and the building up of new communities of faith. We believe that Missio Dei retains its value as a liberative force with its emphasis on "God working in history," but that in our new situation, new theological questions have emerged which point us in new directions.
This calls us both to affirm certain approaches to mission which we hope will encourage further exploration and study, and to reject other approaches as incompatible with the mission of the people of God among all God's peoples.
a. Missions aimed primarily at increasing numbers and the power of the church;
b. Missions that rely on an alliance between churches and political power;
c. Missions that collude with economic powers that impoverish peoples' lives;
d. Missions that make peoples who respond to the message into an exclusive and alienated people within their larger religious community;
e. Missions that target particular groups and use unethical practices for conversions;
f. Missions that ignore the well-being of the total community;
g. Missions that alienate peoples from their cultures and religions, and thus isolate the transforming power of the gospel from the context into which it is brought;
h. Missions that ignore or deny the presence and activity of God among all people;
i. Missions that refuse to recognise the witness given by people to their life in God before their contact with the message of the gospel;
j. Missions that concentrate on the individuals over against their community;
k. Missions that refuse to admit the power of the gospel to address and transform oppressive structures and practices;
l. Missions that refuse cooperation and dialogue with other religious traditions.
As we participate in mission, our sharing of the gospel may result in new forms of community and greater reconciliation for humankind on its way toward "reconciled diversity." Our focus in mission must continue to be on justice for the poor and God's fundamental option for the poor. We do not wish to fall into a "new Manichaeism," creating an ultimate duality between "the people" and ruling elites. But we continue to understand the centrality of God's option for the poor in light of the ultimate unity of all God's peoples to which the Bible attests.
In the context for world mission which we have characterised in the foregoing pages, and in the directions and areas of reflection which we have indicated are in need of further exploration, we need to reaffirm the commitment which we have for mission in unity and unity in mission. Proclamation, Church and Unity necessarily belong together (John 17:21).
We recognise the tensions which exist among our confessional families, and the theological, historical and social issues which continue to divide us. Nevertheless, we believe it is more important than ever to come to a fuller realisation of the unity which God creates among us in the message we have been given to proclaim and in the Church of Jesus Christ to which we have been called.
We proclaim the healing and wholeness that we find in Jesus Christ, who by God's power conquered sin, pain, suffering, oppression and, finally, even death. We proclaim the One who breaks the barriers of nation, language and caste for the reconciliation of all humankind. In the name of Christ, we assert the power of the gospel, not as power over others, but as power with others, thus enabling the healing and reconciling power of God in our midst. We hold that proclamation must be specific to the societal and cultural contexts in which the communities of disciples find themselves. We further hold that proclamation and dialogue with people of other religious traditions belong together. In proclamation and dialogue, word and image are brought together.
There are a variety of proclamations which we find in the Bible. With Jesus, we proclaim the Kingdom of God, our solidarity with the oppressed, and God's ready forgiveness extended to all who turn to God in repentance. With the early Christian community, we proclaim new life in Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit. With Paul, we express our faith in the Christ through whom we have been justified and saved. We believe that in Christ a new order of existence has been offered us, a new type of discipleship, an invitation to live under the reign of God, a commitment to work for the unity and fellowship of humanity, a determination to actively oppose every form of discrimination and enslavement.
We recognise that proclamation depends on the social and cultural contexts in which we as Christians find ourselves. The proclamation of those who are poor and oppressed involves a different entry point from the proclamation of those who are in dominant positions in society. The proclamation of Christian faith has a subversive aspect in that it leads us to associate with those who are excluded, rejected and despised. We are aware that in carrying out the demands of Christian proclamation, we will often be led to work together with people of other religious traditions with whom we share common commitments and concerns.
Proselytism is the corruption of witness and an unacceptable form of proclamation. It poses a major challenge for mission and unity in the Orthodox world especially. We concur with the statement "Towards Common Witness: A Call to Adopt Responsible Relationships in Mission and to Renounce Proselytism" (1997) which has been approved by the World Council of Churches. The challenge is how we can proclaim what we proclaim together so as to reaffirm our common witness.
Proclamation is an integral part of the evangelising mission which Christ handed on to his disciples. Our discipleship is strengthened by our participation in communities of faith and healing, whose communion of life reflects the koinonia of the Triune God. By following the commands of Jesus to love one another, to wash each other's feet, and to be one, even as Christ and the Father are one, we bear witness to a loving God who desires all God's peoples to live in truth and harmony.
Throughout the world, the Church exists as a "communion of communities" of Christ's disciples. Each local church is "catholic" in the sense of being complete in itself. Gathered around the Word and Sacraments, churches act as heralds of the Good News, servants of humankind, sacraments of God's saving love for all, and gateways to mystical union with God. In this way, the Church exercises a mission that is one. Whether a local church is involved in worship or preaching or healing, in service and works of justice, or in dialogue, reconciliation and peacemaking, God's kingdom is proclaimed and promoted. What is important is to hold all of these elements together.
We recognise that there are deep tensions between local churches and among the various confessional traditions. For many churches, mission has been an experience of disunity. There are even divisions within local churches based upon caste and class, race and gender. We need to confront issues which divide and create disunity and explore new ways of overcoming separateness.
The Church's mission is to bring new life, to announce the saving presence of the Lord in our world, despite the divisions and tensions which exist among us. By sharing and reflecting on the gospel, we retell the "stories of salvation," recall all that the Lord did and taught during his earthly ministry, and meet anew the Risen Lord who continues to guide us and extend God's offer of salvation. While we await the ultimate fulfilment. of our hopes, we consider salvation as God's offer of the fullness of life in this world and the next.
The primary expression of the mission of the Church is the local Christian community. Who we are as a Church determines what we preach in each place. What we preach and how we preach also suggests that the Church is a hermeneutical community and that the task of interpreting Scripture is entrusted to the whole people of God. Such interpretation underscores the contextuality and incarnational perspective of our task.
We recognise that new forms of ecclesial existence can emerge as people gather together around particular concerns for social engagement, dialogue and community building. In many local situations, new "post-denominational" expressions of community are emerging, and these suggest new paths of unity and solidarity, not only among Christians, but among all the peoples of God.
We also recognise that the Holy Spirit continues to create Christian communities outside the historic Christian traditions to which most of us at this roundtable belong, particularly in independent, indigenous and Pentecostal churches. We seek to engage Christians from these communities in dialogue, to share and explore with one another our diverse understandings of mission, church and unity.
We understand the Church's mission as humble presence and service, as being God's people among all God's peoples. In affirming what seem to be exalted expressions of faith, we recognise that the real existing Church has an ambiguous and imperfect existence. History shows that all too frequently we have allied ourselves with worldly powers and goals. In Asia, Africa, the Americas, Oceania and the Pacific, the Church has taken part in the colonial enterprise, allying ourselves with forces of domination and structures of oppression to spread the Christian message. Too often, Christian missionaries have not stood in solidarity with the oppressed nor confronted with sufficient clarity those who have ignored or abused the dignity of others. As Christians, we have not recognised that the followers of other religions have a genuine spiritual life which is guided and supported by the God whom we experience as the presence of the Holy Spirit.
For our continuing failures to incarnate the life and example of our Redeemer, we confess our shortcomings, and ask God's forgiveness and the forgiveness of those whom we have wronged. We assert our determination to repent and to seek to follow Jesus' example with greater transparency and modest conviction. This resolution does not contradict our belief that, despite being humble earthen vessels, we have been filled with a priceless treasure, the message of life in all its fullness that is truly good news for all.
Our vision of unity is not directed toward the construction of an impersonal "superchurch" but rather toward the sharing of spiritual resources, concrete collaboration in serving humanity, seeking new structures to promote Christian unity and, most of all, the recognition of one another as being faithful communities of Christ's disciples.
We long for the day when all can sit together at God's table to share the Lord's Supper. We call on all Christians our leaders and all members of God's people to pursue this goal with a sense of urgency which arises from the gospel itself. At the same time, we realise that our deeper obligation of mutual love need not wait for its full liturgical expression. We call on our Churches to explore creatively the paths to express our agape in order to bring closer the day of full fellowship around a common Table.
Such fellowship is foreshadowed in the biblical understanding of hospitality, which is an image of both the mission and unity of the Church (Luke 9: 1-6). The hospitality of the table is also a traditional practice in every culture, suggesting mutual respect and the gracious offering of one's space to one's guest. Hospitality cannot be demanded; it can only be offered, and then accepted or rejected. In the mission of hospitality, we are all both guests and hosts, gathered in a community of faith as equal disciples. The ideas of proclamation, Church and unity are brought together in an understanding of hospitality in which the gospel becomes credible, communion takes place and human unity is restored.
Unity means healing and wholeness. Jesus came with power to subject the spirits of evil, to reconcile in himself the Jew and the gentile, the rich and the poor, the high-caste and the low, the young and the old, woman and man. He brought liberation where there was subjection, joy where there was sadness, health where there was sickness, fullness of life where death had held sway. This is still the Church's mission today, the great mission to heal humanity's wounds, to unshackle the oppressed, to relieve the burdens of history, to proclaim "a year of the Lord's favour"
Despite all that still divides us, we dare to speak of our "common witness," a witness in unity and solidarity with all of humankind. Aware of our individual and institutional weaknesses and of the many compromises of our mission that we have made and accepted in the past, but conscious also of the power of God, "who is strong when we are weak," we as Orthodox, Protestant, and Catholic Christians reaffirm our commitment to move beyond confessional differences and the social barriers of our own making, as we accept with joy the mission of active faith which Jesus Christ bequeathed to his disciples. In this way, we can understand ourselves to be the people of God among all God's peoples.
As we stand at the threshold of a new millennium, forty-five men and women from different cultural and confessional backgrounds came together at a Theological Roundtable in Hong Kong (November 10-17, 1999) to reflect together on what the churches' mission might mean in our day, and what challenges lie ahead in the new period. A full report of the meeting will come later. Here we articulate some of the challenges and convictions that surfaced in our discussions of the "Frontiers in Christian Mission" that need further study and exploration in the years ahead.
1. "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth," said the risen Christ to his disciples (Acts 1:8). Mission is an inalienable part of the meaning of being the Church in the world. We remember with gratitude the generations of Christians who had been faithful witnesses to the message of the gospel, both in word and deed. The word mission, however, poses problems to many of our churches because of its close association with colonialism, and the enormous injustices that had been committed against peoples and cultures during the colonial expansion. Therefore, we recognise the need to speak of mission both in ways that name and reject the wrongs of the past, and in ways that embrace what was good. Today we affirm mission as Christian witness and service that brings healing and wholeness into the lives of peoples. And we fix our eyes not on the past, but on the future, so "let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews. 12:1-2).
2. Our affirmations about mission are rooted in our Trinitarian faith, and on the conviction that God creates, cares for, heals and restores the world. It is also based on our belief that God intends to bring all things unto Godself, and that we have been called to be partners and co-workers with God in setting up the Reign of God over all of life. The Spirit of God is at work in creation, in its plural manifestation, and in all places where true healing, reconciliation, and restoration take place. Further, we discern the work of the Spirit in the lives of people when the fruit of the Spirit is evident. We recognise that an important part of our mission is to discern the Spirit at work in the world, and to participate in it as witnesses to God's justice and love. It is the Triune God who sends us in mission. A Trinitarian vision of mission, based on the work of the Holy Spirit as the agent of mission, needs further reflection and elaboration. This is a crucial task, especially in view of the fact that there are deep differences among Christians on the discernment of the Spirit and the criteria for such discernment.
3. We draw our inspiration to speak about God the Creator, Jesus Christ, and of the work of the Spirit from the Bible, an enduring source and authority of faith through the centuries. The Bible is central to our Christian identity and faith, and yet we are only too aware that there is little agreement among Christians on the nature of its authority and how the biblical witness to God and God's relationship to the world is to be interpreted. We affirm the richness and diversity of the Bible and the many traditions of its interpretation. We are convinced, however, that the Bible becomes the living "Word of God" only in so far as its message is appropriated in context. There are many visions of mission in the Bible. We need to develop a new "hermeneutics of mission" which allows us to move back and forth between the context and the Scripture in a responsible and transforming interaction with the world. We are also convinced that the fullness of the meaning of mission is to be sought not in selected verses of the Bible, but in its totality.
4. We feel the need to reconsider the way we have looked at other religious traditions. We recognise that the colonial context and the cultural insensitivity that accompanied much of colonial history have influenced some of the dominant negative attitudes to other religious traditions. Recognising that God has not left Godself without witness at any time or among any people, we affirm the need to respect and listen to the witness others give to their life with God and to God's life with them. We are in mission, not as aliens and strangers, but as fellow-pilgrims, and as God's people among all God's peoples, always ready "to give an account of the hope that is in us." It is our firm belief that the Holy Spirit is active in the world that opens us to peoples of different cultures and religions, both to discern God at work and to cooperate with them in furthering the Reign of God over all of life.
5. We recognise the plurality and the dynamism of the cultures we come from. These cultures have shaped us, and we see the diverse cultural contexts as the only possible starting points of mission. The gospel message is always clothed in a culture and received within a culture. And yet, we are aware of the ambiguity of all cultures, and the reality that, increasingly, persons and communities live in and are shaped by more than one culture. We believe in the power of the gospel to challenge, transform and confirm cultures, and in the inherent potential in all cultures to give shape and meaning to the gospel that makes the message relevant to peoples' lives. All cultures and nations are under the judgement of God. While accepting and affirming our cultural diversity and differences, we also affirm the power of the gospel to help us cross boundaries that divide us, and of our own need to develop the capacities and the spirituality necessary to serve and give witness to the gospel across cultural boundaries.
6. We are, however, deeply concerned with the rise of a culture in our day that presents, promotes and fosters an alternative vision of life that holds power and wealth as the ultimate and legitimate ends of life. This idolatry of Mammon, and the rationality on which it is built, finds its expression as a pervasive culture promoted through much of the mass media. It creates and maintains unjust relations, and promotes an ideology, both in theories and practices, that elevates the "Market," both economic and financial, as the supreme goal, and the panacea for all evils personal, social or global. This is the context of our mission today. The processes of globalisation link people across the globe, and offer fascinating new possibilities to transmit knowledge, to express solidarity and to share the resources of the earth. But it has also been used and abused in ways that devastate the environment and impoverish and exclude large sections of humanity. Similarly, new technological innovations hold out many new promises, and yet there is deep ethical concern about the uses to which they are put, and about tampering with the very building blocks of life, with unknown consequences to the well-being of nature and of future generations. These new contexts of our life, and the complexities and ambiguities they present, constitute a massive new missionary challenge to the Church, both to critically engage the powers and structures, and to practice mission, where appropriate, as resistance, protest, advocacy, and as solidarity with those that have been marginalised.
7. We proclaim healing and wholeness in the Triune God. Yet, we are struck by the realisation that the mission of the Church is both hindered and impoverished by its divisions, its incapacity to speak with one voice against the evil powers of our day, and its inability to demonstrate its mission of reconciliation through its own reconciled eucharistic life. Mission presupposes a healing community in each and every place that would bear witness to the truth that the gospel has the power to heal, restore and renew life, and to establish justice in community. The churches' mission of proclamation receives its credibility through the affirmation of life, and life affirmed in a reconciled community.