@JinSiberia@ChrisHowles Yes, I was following. You’re saying Paul did missions (pioneer, UPG, language) and Timothy did mission (reached, churched context).
I think this oversimplified understanding has eroded the missionary skill, knowledge, and fervor of the average Christian.
@JinSiberia@ChrisHowles I don’t think this is any more true than if we were to say “every Christian an evangelist, servant, giver, etc.”
I agree that the scope of mission is all ethne. But I don’t think mission(s?) should end once a group is moved from the UPG list.
@JinSiberia@ChrisHowles I don’t find this distinction in Scripture.
I’m saying the stuff you seem to put in the “missions” category is exactly what’s missing from “what the average Christian is doing as part of a life of disciple-making.”
@JinSiberia@ChrisHowles I’m not sure it’s a matter of “proper.” How great does the cultural distance need to be for ministry to qualify as “mission?” Who among us has not been sent? Why should any of us choose between going and sending?
@JinSiberia@ChrisHowles If by “mission” you mean something like “only ministry done among those who don’t have a church in their language,” then i don’t think we’re talking about the same thing.
@JinSiberia@ChrisHowles You seemed to be saying that “Pauline ministry” = learning a language and planting the first church. Did Paul learn languages in order to plant the first churches in that language?
@JinSiberia@ChrisHowles What languages did Paul factor into his strategies?
Making sharp missiological distinctions between Paul, Timothy, etc. (few seem to mention Barnabas’ approach) seems unwarranted.
I’m afraid missiologies like this are why so few Christians practice mission in daily life.
@jd_payne This quote from Neill misses the missional role of the local church. The church isn’t “not mission,” it’s how God organizes His people for mission.
It’s possible to lead a group of people who think differently than you by rallying them around what you have in common and protecting equal rights for all.
I post a lot less here these days, as so many seem more interested in building/preserving their own tribes, tongues, and nations rather than making disciples. Until God's people unite around our mission, we will continue to miss out on what God is doing among the nations.
As I scroll through my feed, I'm reminded how differently I see the world as compared to many Christians on here. To me, it comes down to our fundamental understanding of who we're supposed to be, why we're here, and how we ought to relate to the world around us.
Our sentness informs how we relate to the world. We see people not as enemies, but as captives of the true enemy, dead in their sin as we once were. As such, we should have compassion for them while holding one another to a high standard of obedience in God's mission.
If you get serious about God's mission to cross cultural barriers to make disciples, get ready for a negative/defensive reaction from those who aren't serious about it.
@jakegwright The SBC doesn't govern member churches. It governs the work done w/pooled resources given by independent & autonomous churches. Removal from cooperation is refusal of that church's contributions; it doesn't/can't change anything at the church level.