Apostolic Imagination: Rethinking Language of Mission

Strike the Match with J. D. Payne

Mission language forms our ideas and actions. Talking about such language is not a waste of time. Uncertainty abounds when it comes to the language of mission. Definitions are found in the eye of the beholder. Missionary activity is defined as everything from church planting among an unreached people to putting a roof on a building to creation care. Today, missions occur even if the gospel is never shared!

Mission, missions, missionaries, and missional are contemporary terms with the Church. Yet, these words are not found in the Bible, but developed from the 16th century as a mixture of theological, political, military, and economic understandings. Protestants adopted the language in the 18th century with it becoming widespread in the 19th century.

If such terms are unable to be found in the Scriptures, then society and context will determine how the Church understands her global responsibilities and actions. Such language and actions become relative to time and history. The Church needs to return to the Scriptures for the language of global disciple making–a return to the apostolic language and practices.

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