Mission means someone sent by someone else. We were sent here on a mission. Also, if that is what it means then God is a missionary too. He sent his Son to us to redeem us and show us how we can become his children. Jesus said
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,because he has anointed meto proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisonersand recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor" (Lk 4.16-20). The whole mission of the church is seen and understood through the life and work of our Lord Jesus (Matt 9:35-10:1). And in his preistly prayer Jesus says to God "As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world" (Jn 17:18) which he repeats after his resurrection (Jn 20:21). Now the early church never used the phrase "integral mission" but they certainly practised it (Acts 4:32-37). They evangelized, held communion with one another, praised God, built one another up through studying Scripture, and served the needy with what they had, so "that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need" (vv.34-35).
The church that practices this type of mission is that which learns from and proclaims the Word of God, practices koinonia, worships, evangelizes, and foments social action. Integral mission implies taking seriously Jesus Christ´s charge to preach the whole gospel, including its spiritual, physical, and sociopolitical implications, while staying faithful to its call to worship, evangelization, and social responsibility (Valdir Stehuernagel). As John Stott says, the Gospel remains invisible if we do not proclaim it, but it has no credibility if we preach only showing interest in the soul and we don´t worry for the physical well-being of people or for their circumstances. Or, as John would put it,
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,because he has anointed meto proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisonersand recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor" (Lk 4.16-20). The whole mission of the church is seen and understood through the life and work of our Lord Jesus (Matt 9:35-10:1). And in his preistly prayer Jesus says to God "As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world" (Jn 17:18) which he repeats after his resurrection (Jn 20:21). Now the early church never used the phrase "integral mission" but they certainly practised it (Acts 4:32-37). They evangelized, held communion with one another, praised God, built one another up through studying Scripture, and served the needy with what they had, so "that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need" (vv.34-35).
The church that practices this type of mission is that which learns from and proclaims the Word of God, practices koinonia, worships, evangelizes, and foments social action. Integral mission implies taking seriously Jesus Christ´s charge to preach the whole gospel, including its spiritual, physical, and sociopolitical implications, while staying faithful to its call to worship, evangelization, and social responsibility (Valdir Stehuernagel). As John Stott says, the Gospel remains invisible if we do not proclaim it, but it has no credibility if we preach only showing interest in the soul and we don´t worry for the physical well-being of people or for their circumstances. Or, as John would put it,
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." (1 John 3:16-17)
Better yet, just read the whole book. Orlando Costas words it a little more strongly (my translation and paraphrase):
The content of a gospel without demands in terms of justice, peace, and equity evokes a Jesus that appeases the conscience, with a cross that is not a stumbling block, a kingdom located in the big beyond, a privatized Spirit, a God that fits in your pocket, a spiritualized Bible and an escapist church. Its goal is a happy life, comfortable and successful, available through the forgiveness of an abstract sinfulness through faith in an historic Christ. (Christ outside the gate: Mission beyond Christendom)
So what is it we are doing in Bolivia? All that was to to say, we are in Bolivia to serve the "least of these" and to help support and train the Church here to do the same. In the words of John Perkins, we want the "whole church to take a whole gospel on a whole mission to the whole world." That is why we work with women, children, and youth who are victims of sexual and domestic violence. That is also why we are here to start a new project to work with indigenous groups who are the most vulnerable and marginalized part of Bolivian society. The link above goes to a document I wrote where I try to briefly explain where we are working and how.
When we approach this subject with churches here I like to begin with Jeremiah 29. Here Jeremiah is in Jerusalem and writes a letter to the surviving Jewish elders in exile in Babylon. In exile life was hard, the people had lost hope of being restored to the promised land, and the false prophets agreed that God had completely abandonded them. But look at the Lord´s response to the people in exile:
"Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the LORD. (vv.5-9)
Interstingly enough, the next part of God´s message here is one of the most well-know verses in the Bible (v.11), especially to the prosperity gospel crazed churches in Latin America, which is most often taken out of the context of this order from God. We see in this next part that God does not leave them in Babylon. In verse 10 and 11 he promises to come to the people and bring them back to the promise land and that he has their best interests in mind.
This is the call of the church today! The kingdom of God has begun but it is not yet consummated. We are in exile here but we can hope in God´s promise that he will return fro us and restore us to the land he promised us. But in the meantime we are not to sit around or to give up hope. We are called to seek the prosperity of the community we live in "because if it prospers you too will prosper."
It seems to me though that the Church today, in North and South America, has reversed the order. We seem to think that if we seek our own well-being and security first, then once we get there we can bless others through our service. This is not how God intended for us to act. But what would our community (and our church!) look like if we reversed the order again? What if our church measured its success not by the number of members or the quality of equipment it has but by the level of peace, justice, and prosperity in our surrounding community? What if the focus of the church´s discipleship was to equip its members to be good neighbors?
It is so important to realize that we can not accomplish this from a distance. The church must be immersed in its community, not escaping from it. For some reason God has brought us here to Bolivia to put that into practice, but this is not a calling just for Christians who travel to far-away places. This is the calling of the whole church, each one of us, where we are.
When we approach this subject with churches here I like to begin with Jeremiah 29. Here Jeremiah is in Jerusalem and writes a letter to the surviving Jewish elders in exile in Babylon. In exile life was hard, the people had lost hope of being restored to the promised land, and the false prophets agreed that God had completely abandonded them. But look at the Lord´s response to the people in exile:
"Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the LORD. (vv.5-9)
Interstingly enough, the next part of God´s message here is one of the most well-know verses in the Bible (v.11), especially to the prosperity gospel crazed churches in Latin America, which is most often taken out of the context of this order from God. We see in this next part that God does not leave them in Babylon. In verse 10 and 11 he promises to come to the people and bring them back to the promise land and that he has their best interests in mind.
This is the call of the church today! The kingdom of God has begun but it is not yet consummated. We are in exile here but we can hope in God´s promise that he will return fro us and restore us to the land he promised us. But in the meantime we are not to sit around or to give up hope. We are called to seek the prosperity of the community we live in "because if it prospers you too will prosper."
It seems to me though that the Church today, in North and South America, has reversed the order. We seem to think that if we seek our own well-being and security first, then once we get there we can bless others through our service. This is not how God intended for us to act. But what would our community (and our church!) look like if we reversed the order again? What if our church measured its success not by the number of members or the quality of equipment it has but by the level of peace, justice, and prosperity in our surrounding community? What if the focus of the church´s discipleship was to equip its members to be good neighbors?
It is so important to realize that we can not accomplish this from a distance. The church must be immersed in its community, not escaping from it. For some reason God has brought us here to Bolivia to put that into practice, but this is not a calling just for Christians who travel to far-away places. This is the calling of the whole church, each one of us, where we are.
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