theology of mission by john howard yoder
TRANSCRIPT
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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T H E O L O G Y
of M I S S I O N
A Believers Church Perspective
J O H N
H O W A R DY O D E R
E D I T E D B Y
G A Y L E G E R B E R K O O N T Z
A N D A N D Y A L E X I S - B A K E R
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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InterVarsity Press
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Email emailivpresscom
copy104862698308810486251048628 by Gayle Gerber Koontz and Andy Alexis-Baker
All rights reserved No part o this book may be reproduced in any orm without written permission rom
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division o InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement
o students and aculty active on campus at hundreds o universities colleges and schools o nursing in theUnited States o America and a member movement o the International Fellowship o Evangelical Students
For inormation about local and regional activities write Public Relations Dept InterVarsity Christian
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wwwintervarsityorg
Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are rom the New Revised Standard Version o the Bible
copyright 1048625104863310486321048633 by the Division o Christian Education o the National Council o the Churches o Christ in
the USA Used by permission All rights reserved
Te Aferword ldquoAs You Gordquo by John Howard Yoder was originally published by Herald Press copy1048625104863310486301048625 Used
by permission
Cover design David Fassett
Interior design Beth Hagenberg
Images abstract painting Ordered by Ron Waddams Private Collection Te Bridgeman Art Library
Vintage labels copy aleksandar velaseviciStockphoto
ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486328520199830881048632-1048628983088852019852019-983093 (print)
ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486328520199830881048632-98309510486251048633852019-852019 (digital)
Printed in the United States o America infin
InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment and to the responsible use onatural resources As a member o Green Press Initiative we use recycled paper whenever possible o learn more about the Green Press Initiative visit wwwgreenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record or this book is available rom the Library o Congress
P 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 10486251048630 1048625983093 10486251048628 1048625852019 10486251048626 10486251048625 1048625983088 1048633 1048632 983095 1048630 983093 1048628 852019 1048626 1048625
Y 852019983088 10486261048633 10486261048632 1048626983095 10486261048630 1048626983093 10486261048628 1048626852019 10486261048626 10486261048625 1048626983088 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 10486251048630 1048625983093 10486251048628
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CONTENTS
E983140983145983156983151983154983155rsquo P983154983141983142983137983139983141 983095
by Gayle Gerber Koontz and Andy Alexis-Baker
I983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983089983091
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Theology
Context and Contribution by Wilbert R Shenk
Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 I983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983156983151 983156983144983141 T983151983152983145983139 983091983093
983089 The Prophets 983092983097
Israel and the Nations
983090 Jesusrsquo Public Ministry and the Nations 983094983090
983091 The Great Commission and Acts 983095983093
983092 The Ministry of Paul in Salvation History 983097983089
983093 Other Texts and the New Testamentrsquos Theology of Mission 983089983089983093
983094 Mission and Systematic Theology 983089983090983097
983095 Church Types and Mission 983089983092983093
A Radical Reformation Perspective
983096 Pietist Perspective on Mission 983089983094983089
983097 The Church as Missionary 983089983096983090
983089983088 The Church as Responsible 983089983097983091
983089983089 The Church as Local 983090983089983089
983089983090 The Church as Laity 983090983090983096
983089983091 Ministry in a Missionary Context 983090983092983088
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983089983092 People Movements and the Free Church 983090983093983089
983089983093 Salvation Is Historical 983090983094983093
983089983094 Salvation Is for the World 983090983096983097
983089983095 Message and Medium 983091983089983088
Presence
983089983096 Message and Medium 983091983090983090
Servanthood
983089983097 Theology of Religions 983091983091983096
Particularity and Universalism
983090983088 Radical Reformation Perspectives on Religion 983091983093983090
983090983089 Christianity and Other Faiths 983091983094983090
983090983090 The Missionary Challenge of Non-Non-Christian Faiths 983091983095983093
983090983091 Judaism as a Non-Non-Christian Faith 983091983096983094
A983142983156983141983154983159983151983154983140 A983155 Y983151983157 G983151 983091983097983097
A983152983152983141983150983140983145983160 983092983090983091
S983157983138983146983141983139983156 I983150983140983141983160 983092983090983095
N983137983149983141 I983150983140983141983160 983092983091983089
S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141 I983150983140983141983160 983092983091983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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EDITORSrsquo PREFACE
In the past hal century many Christians have become skeptical about
Christian missionary efforts Western missionary organizations are
struggling more than ever to meet their budgets as donations wane
Missiology programs have a hard time attracting North American
students Ask people what first comes to mind when they think o
missions and one is likely to hear words such as colonialism violence
and disrespect All o this is understandable For many years Christian
mission was intertwined with the march o Western empires across
the rest o the world Missionaries were sometimes the first wave o a
long process that undermined other cultures and peoples Scholarly
books document this process983089 Popular fiction such as Chinua
Achebersquos Tings Fall Apart vividly narrates the way Christian mis-
sionaries bulldozed their way through non-Western cultures and en-
vironments to bring people their Western understanding o God and
the church Te good news was too ofen intertwined with the violent
machines o conquest
Anyone concerned about peace and justice has to wrestle with the
legacy o missions in the long advance o Western imperialism No eth-
icist or theologian rom the Mennonite tradition can avoid it Although
John Howard Yoder is best known or his work on issues o war and
peace the topic o this bookmdashtheology o missionmdashpreoccupied him
1For example see Luis Rivera A Violent Evangelism Te Political and Religious Conquest o the
Americas (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983090) and Richard Fletcher Te Barbarian Con-
version From Paganism to Christianity (New York Henry Holt 1048625983097983097983095)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
as a scholar teacher missionary and ecumenical dialogue partner or
most o his lie He sought to articulate a theological basis or a ree
church or believers church approach to Christian mission in whichsharing the gospel message disentangled rom Western industry and
militarism could become a proound practice o Christian peacemaking
a vessel or Godrsquos saving work
A983138983151983157983156 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147
From 98308998309710486301048628 to 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder taught a course on theology o mission at As-
sociated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries (AMBS)1048626
In 9830899830979830951048627 the coursesessions were recorded onto reel-to-reel audiocassettes and then re-
corded again in 9830899830979830951048630 however we could find only nine lectures rom the
9830899830979830951048630 course Yoder planned to have the lectures transcribed printed and
used or course material as he did with his lectures or the course
ldquoChristian Attitudes to War Peace and Revolutionrdquo983091 As Yoder said in a
memo to Wilbert Shenk in February 9830899830979830961048627 ldquoWe already have a taped
transcription rom the last time the course was offered six years ago It
is proposed that this be typed off and reproduced so the students can
read it prior to class session Tis would enable the same class ormat
which I have used in two other subjects or years and would also acil-
itate the preparation o an inormal publication such as had been done
with two o my other coursesrdquo983092
Like the war peace and revolution lectures Yoder thought that the
theology o mission lectures might someday be edited or publication as
a book In one memo he wrote in 9830899830979830951048627 Yoder hinted that he might want
to revise the lectures or publication at a uture date saying an inormal
transcription would be ldquoa separate question rom whether a more pol-
ished version should be created which would be visible or commercial
2Te seminary was renamed Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 9830909830881048625983090 Yoderrsquos course
was titled ldquoTeology o Missionrdquo not ldquoTeology o Missionsrdquo Tis reflected the shif in termi-
nology beginning to be accepted in response to the conceptual development rom the 1048625983097983093983088s o
missio Dei as the true source o missionary action Yoder however neither reers to this term nordiscusses the concept
3Posthumously edited and published as John Howard Yoder Christian Attitudes to War Peace and
Revolution ed Andy Alexis-Baker and ed Koontz (Grand Rapids Brazos Press 983090983088983088983097)4John H Yoder to Wilbert Shenk 1048628 February 10486259830979830961048627 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss
1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 10486259830961048625 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
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Editorsrsquo Preace 983097
publication either as a unit or in small segmentsrdquo1048629 He went on to in-
dicate that i he could get a sabbatical rom teaching he would be willing
to work on writing a book on mission based on the lecturesIn 9830899830979830961048628 Yoder lef AMBS and began teaching ull time at Notre Dame
where he no longer had the opportunity to teach about mission Te
tapes were stored away in a cellar at AMBS and orgotten In 9830909830889830881048630 Gayle
began teaching a course on Yoderrsquos theological legacy Several years later
when Wilbert Shenk was invited to class to reflect on Yoderrsquos contribu-
tions to mission theology and practice Shenk mentioned that some
ormer students had told him how ormative Yoderrsquos course on theologyo mission had been in their lives and ministry Shenk thought there
might be tapes o the lectures somewhere Afer a number o months o
ruitless searching the director o the AMBS library finally discovered
the ldquolostrdquo tapes in a box in the basement o the seminary
Immediately afer finding the recordings Andy set to work tran-
scribing the lectures so the two o us could see whether they were worth
publishing in book ormat At the same time we contacted the Yoder
amily representative and the AMBS Institute o Mennonite Studies
both encouraged us to proceed with the project Once we had tran-
scripts in hand we consulted with several missiologists and mission
staff persons and were encouraged by the enthusiastic response we re-
ceived We set to work editing the chapters
W983144983137983156 W983141 H983137983158983141 D983151983150983141 983156983151 983156983144983141 T983141983160983156
We have edited the course lectures significantly Te transcriptions were
obviously a replica o the spoken orm in which Yoder delivered the
lectures Although we wanted to preserve the more inormal oral
quality o Yoderrsquos voice in the final manuscript we repaired awkward or
unclear syntax changed passive to active voice where possible attended
to consistency in verb tense and reorganized or clarity some o the
material that we believe Yoder himsel would have done in preparing a
manuscript or publication We also added a number o transitional sen-tences or phrases where we thought such things were needed in a written
5Ibid
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983089983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
manuscript Finally we reduced the length o these lectures by careully
removing repetitious or unnecessary paragraphs sentences phrases or
words and by removing most o the class discussion material that ol-lowed the lectures
Because these chapters were delivered as lectures over several days
Yoder usually summarized the previous dayrsquos lecture to remind stu-
dents what they had heard I these summaries were done well we
sometimes used them in place o something he said in his lecture
Usually however these summaries were not needed and interrupted
the flow o the written text these we deleted In addition Yoder beganmany class sessions with prayer We removed the prayers because in his
course notes he clearly stated that he believed prayers should be spoken
rather than written
Since these were class lectures we developed all the ootnotes Some
o the ootnotes emerged rom questions in which a student wanted
Yoder to clariy something he spoke about in a lecture In general when
we elt material rom class discussion should be included we either
added a ootnote or incorporated the comments into the lecture itsel
Occasionally Yoder included reerences or other side comments in his
course lecture notes We included most o those notations in ootnotes
at the appropriate places as well When we thought it was needed we
added supplemental editorial ootnotes
We also added headings Sometimes the course notes already had
headings so we simply added them to the text Other times we created
them or ease o reading based on Yoderrsquos own wording in the lecture
or something he wrote in his notes Wherever possible we used his
own words
A983157983140983145983141983150983139983141
We envision several audiences or this book Seminary students and
proessors who are studying the theology o Christian mission may find
that this book gives a particularly helpul perspective on an Anabaptist view o mission rom one o the leading ethicists o the twentieth century
Tis book could serve as a textbook in missiology or ecclesiology In ad-
dition those who have ollowed Yoderrsquos work over the years will find
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983089983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
logian who helped many to engage the Christian gospel in resh ways In
troubling contrast he is remembered also or his long-term sexual ha-
rassment o womenWe recognize the tensions involved in presenting the past work o
someone who so passionately called Christians to reconciling lives and
yet used his position o power to abuse others At the time o this publi-
cation a new effort is underway in Yoderrsquos ecclesial and teaching institu-
tions to understand and speak truthully about what happened while he
was a part o these communities with a view to bringing healing to
those who still suffer rom the consequences o his actionsIt is our hope that those in the academy and others studying Yoderrsquos
work will not dismiss the complexity o these issues but continue to
evaluate appropriate and criticize Yoderrsquos work in the ull context o his
scholarly ecclesial and personal legacy
In this project we have tried to honestly and aithully preserve the
various nuances o Yoderrsquos perspective on Christian mission hoping
that as he might have said it will point readers beyond himsel toward
the astonishing reconciling mission o God through Jesus Christ
Gayle Gerber Koontz
Andy Alexis-Baker
Elkhart Indiana May 9830909830889830891048627
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INTRODUCTION
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Teology
Context and Contribution
by Wilbert R Shenk
John Howard Yoderrsquos missional engagements represent an important
dimension o his personal commitment and public ministry yet
scholars have largely overlooked his contribution to mission thought
and practice His Anabaptist heritage European theological edu-
cation and practical engagements in mission leadership permitted
him to develop a believers church understanding o mission that
uniquely integrated biblical insights historical perspectives and
commitment to Jesusrsquo way o peace ecclesiology and ethics983089 His ideas
ofen pointed to later developments in mission theology and con-
tinue to resonate strongly todayDuring the years 9830899830971048628983097ndash9830899830971048630983097 Yoder was directly involved in
mission program leadership Ater 9830899830971048630983097 he took on increased aca-
demic administrative and teaching duties but he continued to con-
tribute in both practical and theoretical ways through consulting
with mission agencies and personnel participating in conerences
and writing
1Yoder began using ldquobelievers churchrdquo in the mid-1048625983097983094983088s likely to indicate a deeper ecclesiology
than communicated by the traditional ldquoree churchrdquo nomenclature which tended to be tied
primarily to the churchstate relationship
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
983089983097983092983097ndash983089983097983093983095 P983154983151983143983154983137983149 A983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983151983154 M983141983150983150983151983150983145983156983141 C983141983150983156983154983137983148
C983151983149983149983145983156983156983141983141 E983157983154983151983152983141
Yoder lef or Europe the spring o 9830899830971048628983097 During World War II the Men-nonite Central Committee (MCC) began sending volunteers to help war
sufferers and reugees1048626 Tis effort grew greatly ollowing the warrsquos end As
part o this expanded program Yoder was assigned to a childrenrsquos home in
Alsace Eastern France Te other part o his commission was to promote
Christian witness to peace ldquoa new sort o missionary work one in which
little has as yet been done but which offers great opportunity or creative
workrdquo983091
Harold S Bender assistant secretary o MCC defined Yoderrsquos as-signment in the context o urgent spiritual questions that Europeans were
raising How can people have hope when they have experienced two dev-
astating wars resulting in widespread destruction and displacement all
within the space o thirty years Te oundations o Western civilization
were crumbling and it was insufficient to be concerned only about physical
and material needs983092 Te loss o hope had taken a heavy toll across Europe
Yoder was soon introduced to the International Mennonite PeaceCommittee and later the Puiduix Teological Conerence an ecu-
menical group that met regularly to study ldquoTe Lordship o Christ over
Church and Staterdquo He lived and worked among the French Mennonites
one o the oldest Mennonite conerences in Europe At this time they
were divided between traditionalists committed to preserving the past
and younger people eager or a more vital and spiritually satisying
Christian aith Yoder was asked to assist French Mennonites in recon-
necting with their historical and theological heritage hoping this might
help overcome division and oster renewal o congregational lie It was
characteristic o Yoder that he maintained close and ruitul relations
with the French Mennonites on the one hand and quickly orged an
extensive network o interchurch and ecumenical contacts on the other
2For a uller biography o Yoderrsquos lie see Mark Tiessen Nation John Howard Yoder (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) pp 1048625-9830909830973Harold S Bender to John H Yoder August 1048625983088 10486259830971048628983096 983094 b1048628983090 Bender papers Mennonite
Church USA Archives Goshen IN4North American Mennonite mission executives visited Europe July 983090983097ndashAugust 10486251048628 1048625983097983093983088 to plan
or the next phase o ministry See Wilbert R Shenk An Experiment in Interagency Cooperation
(Elkhart IN Council o International Ministries 1048625983097983096983094) pp 983090-1048628
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Introduction 983089983093
During this time Yoder and French Mennonite leaders were dis-
cussing possible collaboration between French and North American
Mennonites in new mission initiatives in France He reported to Men-nonite Board o Missions (MBM) that ldquothe social service program o
MCC is incomplete i it does not leadrdquo to evangelization But he cau-
tioned against any North American attempt to do evangelization alone1048629
His French interlocutors emphasized the importance o this being done
collaboratively with French leadership
Already in this early period Yoder was concerned with mission
strategy and theology Te spring o 9830899830979830931048628 he was part o a group hostedby the British Society o Friends While in Britain he and others visited
the Hutterian Wheathill Colony He reflected on this visit in an article
ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo contrasting the lack o attraction
o the typical church made up o nominal members with the evange-
listic appeal o a congregation characterized by dynamic koinōnia1048630
Te summer o 9830899830979830931048628 Yoder ended his service with MCC in order to
study church history and theology ull-time at the University o Basel
In early September however a major earthquake struck Orleacuteansville
Algeria killing a thousand people and causing widespread destruction1048631
For several years French Mennonites and American Mennonites
working in France had been discussing possible new ministry in Fran-
cophone North Arica Andreacute rocmeacute a French Reormed pastor and
the secretary o the International Fellowship o Reconciliation had an
interest in Islam and wanted to find practical ways o engaging with
Muslims He encouraged Mennonites to act
In response to this crisis Mennonite agencies agreed that MBM
would send a team o builders to Algeria French Mennonites also re-
cruited volunteers and helped provide oversight Yoder directed this
5John Howard Yoder to Mennonite Board o Missions ldquoReport on Mission Possibilities in
Francerdquo 983093 October 10486259830979830931048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-1048625983088 Box 983090 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN Special thanks to Colleen McFarland archivist who has been unail-
ingly helpul in locating materials6John Howard Yoder ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo Christian Ministry 983096 (JanuaryndashMarch
10486259830979830931048628) 983090983094-10486271048625 Republished in John Howard Yoder Radical Christian Discipleship ed John Nugent
Andy Alexis-Baker and Branson Parler (Harrisonburg VA Herald Press 9830909830881048625983090) pp 10486259830941048627-9830959830887Marian E Hostetler Algeria Where Mennonites and Muslims Met 983089983097852021852021ndash983089983097852023983096 (Elkhart IN np
9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048625-983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1960
Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2660
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 4160
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 460
InterVarsity Press
PO Box 10486251048628983088983088 Downers Grove IL 10486309830889830931048625983093-1048625104862810486261048630
World Wide Web wwwivpresscom
Email emailivpresscom
copy104862698308810486251048628 by Gayle Gerber Koontz and Andy Alexis-Baker
All rights reserved No part o this book may be reproduced in any orm without written permission rom
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division o InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement
o students and aculty active on campus at hundreds o universities colleges and schools o nursing in theUnited States o America and a member movement o the International Fellowship o Evangelical Students
For inormation about local and regional activities write Public Relations Dept InterVarsity Christian
FellowshipUSA 10486301048628983088983088 Schroeder Rd PO Box 98309510486321048633983093 Madison WI 983093852019983095983088983095-98309510486321048633983093 or visit the IVCF website at
wwwintervarsityorg
Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are rom the New Revised Standard Version o the Bible
copyright 1048625104863310486321048633 by the Division o Christian Education o the National Council o the Churches o Christ in
the USA Used by permission All rights reserved
Te Aferword ldquoAs You Gordquo by John Howard Yoder was originally published by Herald Press copy1048625104863310486301048625 Used
by permission
Cover design David Fassett
Interior design Beth Hagenberg
Images abstract painting Ordered by Ron Waddams Private Collection Te Bridgeman Art Library
Vintage labels copy aleksandar velaseviciStockphoto
ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486328520199830881048632-1048628983088852019852019-983093 (print)
ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486328520199830881048632-98309510486251048633852019-852019 (digital)
Printed in the United States o America infin
InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment and to the responsible use onatural resources As a member o Green Press Initiative we use recycled paper whenever possible o learn more about the Green Press Initiative visit wwwgreenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record or this book is available rom the Library o Congress
P 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 10486251048630 1048625983093 10486251048628 1048625852019 10486251048626 10486251048625 1048625983088 1048633 1048632 983095 1048630 983093 1048628 852019 1048626 1048625
Y 852019983088 10486261048633 10486261048632 1048626983095 10486261048630 1048626983093 10486261048628 1048626852019 10486261048626 10486261048625 1048626983088 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 10486251048630 1048625983093 10486251048628
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CONTENTS
E983140983145983156983151983154983155rsquo P983154983141983142983137983139983141 983095
by Gayle Gerber Koontz and Andy Alexis-Baker
I983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983089983091
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Theology
Context and Contribution by Wilbert R Shenk
Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 I983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983156983151 983156983144983141 T983151983152983145983139 983091983093
983089 The Prophets 983092983097
Israel and the Nations
983090 Jesusrsquo Public Ministry and the Nations 983094983090
983091 The Great Commission and Acts 983095983093
983092 The Ministry of Paul in Salvation History 983097983089
983093 Other Texts and the New Testamentrsquos Theology of Mission 983089983089983093
983094 Mission and Systematic Theology 983089983090983097
983095 Church Types and Mission 983089983092983093
A Radical Reformation Perspective
983096 Pietist Perspective on Mission 983089983094983089
983097 The Church as Missionary 983089983096983090
983089983088 The Church as Responsible 983089983097983091
983089983089 The Church as Local 983090983089983089
983089983090 The Church as Laity 983090983090983096
983089983091 Ministry in a Missionary Context 983090983092983088
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983089983092 People Movements and the Free Church 983090983093983089
983089983093 Salvation Is Historical 983090983094983093
983089983094 Salvation Is for the World 983090983096983097
983089983095 Message and Medium 983091983089983088
Presence
983089983096 Message and Medium 983091983090983090
Servanthood
983089983097 Theology of Religions 983091983091983096
Particularity and Universalism
983090983088 Radical Reformation Perspectives on Religion 983091983093983090
983090983089 Christianity and Other Faiths 983091983094983090
983090983090 The Missionary Challenge of Non-Non-Christian Faiths 983091983095983093
983090983091 Judaism as a Non-Non-Christian Faith 983091983096983094
A983142983156983141983154983159983151983154983140 A983155 Y983151983157 G983151 983091983097983097
A983152983152983141983150983140983145983160 983092983090983091
S983157983138983146983141983139983156 I983150983140983141983160 983092983090983095
N983137983149983141 I983150983140983141983160 983092983091983089
S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141 I983150983140983141983160 983092983091983090
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EDITORSrsquo PREFACE
In the past hal century many Christians have become skeptical about
Christian missionary efforts Western missionary organizations are
struggling more than ever to meet their budgets as donations wane
Missiology programs have a hard time attracting North American
students Ask people what first comes to mind when they think o
missions and one is likely to hear words such as colonialism violence
and disrespect All o this is understandable For many years Christian
mission was intertwined with the march o Western empires across
the rest o the world Missionaries were sometimes the first wave o a
long process that undermined other cultures and peoples Scholarly
books document this process983089 Popular fiction such as Chinua
Achebersquos Tings Fall Apart vividly narrates the way Christian mis-
sionaries bulldozed their way through non-Western cultures and en-
vironments to bring people their Western understanding o God and
the church Te good news was too ofen intertwined with the violent
machines o conquest
Anyone concerned about peace and justice has to wrestle with the
legacy o missions in the long advance o Western imperialism No eth-
icist or theologian rom the Mennonite tradition can avoid it Although
John Howard Yoder is best known or his work on issues o war and
peace the topic o this bookmdashtheology o missionmdashpreoccupied him
1For example see Luis Rivera A Violent Evangelism Te Political and Religious Conquest o the
Americas (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983090) and Richard Fletcher Te Barbarian Con-
version From Paganism to Christianity (New York Henry Holt 1048625983097983097983095)
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983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
as a scholar teacher missionary and ecumenical dialogue partner or
most o his lie He sought to articulate a theological basis or a ree
church or believers church approach to Christian mission in whichsharing the gospel message disentangled rom Western industry and
militarism could become a proound practice o Christian peacemaking
a vessel or Godrsquos saving work
A983138983151983157983156 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147
From 98308998309710486301048628 to 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder taught a course on theology o mission at As-
sociated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries (AMBS)1048626
In 9830899830979830951048627 the coursesessions were recorded onto reel-to-reel audiocassettes and then re-
corded again in 9830899830979830951048630 however we could find only nine lectures rom the
9830899830979830951048630 course Yoder planned to have the lectures transcribed printed and
used or course material as he did with his lectures or the course
ldquoChristian Attitudes to War Peace and Revolutionrdquo983091 As Yoder said in a
memo to Wilbert Shenk in February 9830899830979830961048627 ldquoWe already have a taped
transcription rom the last time the course was offered six years ago It
is proposed that this be typed off and reproduced so the students can
read it prior to class session Tis would enable the same class ormat
which I have used in two other subjects or years and would also acil-
itate the preparation o an inormal publication such as had been done
with two o my other coursesrdquo983092
Like the war peace and revolution lectures Yoder thought that the
theology o mission lectures might someday be edited or publication as
a book In one memo he wrote in 9830899830979830951048627 Yoder hinted that he might want
to revise the lectures or publication at a uture date saying an inormal
transcription would be ldquoa separate question rom whether a more pol-
ished version should be created which would be visible or commercial
2Te seminary was renamed Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 9830909830881048625983090 Yoderrsquos course
was titled ldquoTeology o Missionrdquo not ldquoTeology o Missionsrdquo Tis reflected the shif in termi-
nology beginning to be accepted in response to the conceptual development rom the 1048625983097983093983088s o
missio Dei as the true source o missionary action Yoder however neither reers to this term nordiscusses the concept
3Posthumously edited and published as John Howard Yoder Christian Attitudes to War Peace and
Revolution ed Andy Alexis-Baker and ed Koontz (Grand Rapids Brazos Press 983090983088983088983097)4John H Yoder to Wilbert Shenk 1048628 February 10486259830979830961048627 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss
1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 10486259830961048625 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Editorsrsquo Preace 983097
publication either as a unit or in small segmentsrdquo1048629 He went on to in-
dicate that i he could get a sabbatical rom teaching he would be willing
to work on writing a book on mission based on the lecturesIn 9830899830979830961048628 Yoder lef AMBS and began teaching ull time at Notre Dame
where he no longer had the opportunity to teach about mission Te
tapes were stored away in a cellar at AMBS and orgotten In 9830909830889830881048630 Gayle
began teaching a course on Yoderrsquos theological legacy Several years later
when Wilbert Shenk was invited to class to reflect on Yoderrsquos contribu-
tions to mission theology and practice Shenk mentioned that some
ormer students had told him how ormative Yoderrsquos course on theologyo mission had been in their lives and ministry Shenk thought there
might be tapes o the lectures somewhere Afer a number o months o
ruitless searching the director o the AMBS library finally discovered
the ldquolostrdquo tapes in a box in the basement o the seminary
Immediately afer finding the recordings Andy set to work tran-
scribing the lectures so the two o us could see whether they were worth
publishing in book ormat At the same time we contacted the Yoder
amily representative and the AMBS Institute o Mennonite Studies
both encouraged us to proceed with the project Once we had tran-
scripts in hand we consulted with several missiologists and mission
staff persons and were encouraged by the enthusiastic response we re-
ceived We set to work editing the chapters
W983144983137983156 W983141 H983137983158983141 D983151983150983141 983156983151 983156983144983141 T983141983160983156
We have edited the course lectures significantly Te transcriptions were
obviously a replica o the spoken orm in which Yoder delivered the
lectures Although we wanted to preserve the more inormal oral
quality o Yoderrsquos voice in the final manuscript we repaired awkward or
unclear syntax changed passive to active voice where possible attended
to consistency in verb tense and reorganized or clarity some o the
material that we believe Yoder himsel would have done in preparing a
manuscript or publication We also added a number o transitional sen-tences or phrases where we thought such things were needed in a written
5Ibid
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983089983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
manuscript Finally we reduced the length o these lectures by careully
removing repetitious or unnecessary paragraphs sentences phrases or
words and by removing most o the class discussion material that ol-lowed the lectures
Because these chapters were delivered as lectures over several days
Yoder usually summarized the previous dayrsquos lecture to remind stu-
dents what they had heard I these summaries were done well we
sometimes used them in place o something he said in his lecture
Usually however these summaries were not needed and interrupted
the flow o the written text these we deleted In addition Yoder beganmany class sessions with prayer We removed the prayers because in his
course notes he clearly stated that he believed prayers should be spoken
rather than written
Since these were class lectures we developed all the ootnotes Some
o the ootnotes emerged rom questions in which a student wanted
Yoder to clariy something he spoke about in a lecture In general when
we elt material rom class discussion should be included we either
added a ootnote or incorporated the comments into the lecture itsel
Occasionally Yoder included reerences or other side comments in his
course lecture notes We included most o those notations in ootnotes
at the appropriate places as well When we thought it was needed we
added supplemental editorial ootnotes
We also added headings Sometimes the course notes already had
headings so we simply added them to the text Other times we created
them or ease o reading based on Yoderrsquos own wording in the lecture
or something he wrote in his notes Wherever possible we used his
own words
A983157983140983145983141983150983139983141
We envision several audiences or this book Seminary students and
proessors who are studying the theology o Christian mission may find
that this book gives a particularly helpul perspective on an Anabaptist view o mission rom one o the leading ethicists o the twentieth century
Tis book could serve as a textbook in missiology or ecclesiology In ad-
dition those who have ollowed Yoderrsquos work over the years will find
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1260
983089983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
logian who helped many to engage the Christian gospel in resh ways In
troubling contrast he is remembered also or his long-term sexual ha-
rassment o womenWe recognize the tensions involved in presenting the past work o
someone who so passionately called Christians to reconciling lives and
yet used his position o power to abuse others At the time o this publi-
cation a new effort is underway in Yoderrsquos ecclesial and teaching institu-
tions to understand and speak truthully about what happened while he
was a part o these communities with a view to bringing healing to
those who still suffer rom the consequences o his actionsIt is our hope that those in the academy and others studying Yoderrsquos
work will not dismiss the complexity o these issues but continue to
evaluate appropriate and criticize Yoderrsquos work in the ull context o his
scholarly ecclesial and personal legacy
In this project we have tried to honestly and aithully preserve the
various nuances o Yoderrsquos perspective on Christian mission hoping
that as he might have said it will point readers beyond himsel toward
the astonishing reconciling mission o God through Jesus Christ
Gayle Gerber Koontz
Andy Alexis-Baker
Elkhart Indiana May 9830909830889830891048627
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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INTRODUCTION
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Teology
Context and Contribution
by Wilbert R Shenk
John Howard Yoderrsquos missional engagements represent an important
dimension o his personal commitment and public ministry yet
scholars have largely overlooked his contribution to mission thought
and practice His Anabaptist heritage European theological edu-
cation and practical engagements in mission leadership permitted
him to develop a believers church understanding o mission that
uniquely integrated biblical insights historical perspectives and
commitment to Jesusrsquo way o peace ecclesiology and ethics983089 His ideas
ofen pointed to later developments in mission theology and con-
tinue to resonate strongly todayDuring the years 9830899830971048628983097ndash9830899830971048630983097 Yoder was directly involved in
mission program leadership Ater 9830899830971048630983097 he took on increased aca-
demic administrative and teaching duties but he continued to con-
tribute in both practical and theoretical ways through consulting
with mission agencies and personnel participating in conerences
and writing
1Yoder began using ldquobelievers churchrdquo in the mid-1048625983097983094983088s likely to indicate a deeper ecclesiology
than communicated by the traditional ldquoree churchrdquo nomenclature which tended to be tied
primarily to the churchstate relationship
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
983089983097983092983097ndash983089983097983093983095 P983154983151983143983154983137983149 A983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983151983154 M983141983150983150983151983150983145983156983141 C983141983150983156983154983137983148
C983151983149983149983145983156983156983141983141 E983157983154983151983152983141
Yoder lef or Europe the spring o 9830899830971048628983097 During World War II the Men-nonite Central Committee (MCC) began sending volunteers to help war
sufferers and reugees1048626 Tis effort grew greatly ollowing the warrsquos end As
part o this expanded program Yoder was assigned to a childrenrsquos home in
Alsace Eastern France Te other part o his commission was to promote
Christian witness to peace ldquoa new sort o missionary work one in which
little has as yet been done but which offers great opportunity or creative
workrdquo983091
Harold S Bender assistant secretary o MCC defined Yoderrsquos as-signment in the context o urgent spiritual questions that Europeans were
raising How can people have hope when they have experienced two dev-
astating wars resulting in widespread destruction and displacement all
within the space o thirty years Te oundations o Western civilization
were crumbling and it was insufficient to be concerned only about physical
and material needs983092 Te loss o hope had taken a heavy toll across Europe
Yoder was soon introduced to the International Mennonite PeaceCommittee and later the Puiduix Teological Conerence an ecu-
menical group that met regularly to study ldquoTe Lordship o Christ over
Church and Staterdquo He lived and worked among the French Mennonites
one o the oldest Mennonite conerences in Europe At this time they
were divided between traditionalists committed to preserving the past
and younger people eager or a more vital and spiritually satisying
Christian aith Yoder was asked to assist French Mennonites in recon-
necting with their historical and theological heritage hoping this might
help overcome division and oster renewal o congregational lie It was
characteristic o Yoder that he maintained close and ruitul relations
with the French Mennonites on the one hand and quickly orged an
extensive network o interchurch and ecumenical contacts on the other
2For a uller biography o Yoderrsquos lie see Mark Tiessen Nation John Howard Yoder (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) pp 1048625-9830909830973Harold S Bender to John H Yoder August 1048625983088 10486259830971048628983096 983094 b1048628983090 Bender papers Mennonite
Church USA Archives Goshen IN4North American Mennonite mission executives visited Europe July 983090983097ndashAugust 10486251048628 1048625983097983093983088 to plan
or the next phase o ministry See Wilbert R Shenk An Experiment in Interagency Cooperation
(Elkhart IN Council o International Ministries 1048625983097983096983094) pp 983090-1048628
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983093
During this time Yoder and French Mennonite leaders were dis-
cussing possible collaboration between French and North American
Mennonites in new mission initiatives in France He reported to Men-nonite Board o Missions (MBM) that ldquothe social service program o
MCC is incomplete i it does not leadrdquo to evangelization But he cau-
tioned against any North American attempt to do evangelization alone1048629
His French interlocutors emphasized the importance o this being done
collaboratively with French leadership
Already in this early period Yoder was concerned with mission
strategy and theology Te spring o 9830899830979830931048628 he was part o a group hostedby the British Society o Friends While in Britain he and others visited
the Hutterian Wheathill Colony He reflected on this visit in an article
ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo contrasting the lack o attraction
o the typical church made up o nominal members with the evange-
listic appeal o a congregation characterized by dynamic koinōnia1048630
Te summer o 9830899830979830931048628 Yoder ended his service with MCC in order to
study church history and theology ull-time at the University o Basel
In early September however a major earthquake struck Orleacuteansville
Algeria killing a thousand people and causing widespread destruction1048631
For several years French Mennonites and American Mennonites
working in France had been discussing possible new ministry in Fran-
cophone North Arica Andreacute rocmeacute a French Reormed pastor and
the secretary o the International Fellowship o Reconciliation had an
interest in Islam and wanted to find practical ways o engaging with
Muslims He encouraged Mennonites to act
In response to this crisis Mennonite agencies agreed that MBM
would send a team o builders to Algeria French Mennonites also re-
cruited volunteers and helped provide oversight Yoder directed this
5John Howard Yoder to Mennonite Board o Missions ldquoReport on Mission Possibilities in
Francerdquo 983093 October 10486259830979830931048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-1048625983088 Box 983090 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN Special thanks to Colleen McFarland archivist who has been unail-
ingly helpul in locating materials6John Howard Yoder ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo Christian Ministry 983096 (JanuaryndashMarch
10486259830979830931048628) 983090983094-10486271048625 Republished in John Howard Yoder Radical Christian Discipleship ed John Nugent
Andy Alexis-Baker and Branson Parler (Harrisonburg VA Herald Press 9830909830881048625983090) pp 10486259830941048627-9830959830887Marian E Hostetler Algeria Where Mennonites and Muslims Met 983089983097852021852021ndash983089983097852023983096 (Elkhart IN np
9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048625-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1660
9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3060
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 10486251048628983088983088 Downers Grove IL 10486309830889830931048625983093-1048625104862810486261048630
World Wide Web wwwivpresscom
Email emailivpresscom
copy104862698308810486251048628 by Gayle Gerber Koontz and Andy Alexis-Baker
All rights reserved No part o this book may be reproduced in any orm without written permission rom
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division o InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement
o students and aculty active on campus at hundreds o universities colleges and schools o nursing in theUnited States o America and a member movement o the International Fellowship o Evangelical Students
For inormation about local and regional activities write Public Relations Dept InterVarsity Christian
FellowshipUSA 10486301048628983088983088 Schroeder Rd PO Box 98309510486321048633983093 Madison WI 983093852019983095983088983095-98309510486321048633983093 or visit the IVCF website at
wwwintervarsityorg
Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are rom the New Revised Standard Version o the Bible
copyright 1048625104863310486321048633 by the Division o Christian Education o the National Council o the Churches o Christ in
the USA Used by permission All rights reserved
Te Aferword ldquoAs You Gordquo by John Howard Yoder was originally published by Herald Press copy1048625104863310486301048625 Used
by permission
Cover design David Fassett
Interior design Beth Hagenberg
Images abstract painting Ordered by Ron Waddams Private Collection Te Bridgeman Art Library
Vintage labels copy aleksandar velaseviciStockphoto
ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486328520199830881048632-1048628983088852019852019-983093 (print)
ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486328520199830881048632-98309510486251048633852019-852019 (digital)
Printed in the United States o America infin
InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment and to the responsible use onatural resources As a member o Green Press Initiative we use recycled paper whenever possible o learn more about the Green Press Initiative visit wwwgreenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record or this book is available rom the Library o Congress
P 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 10486251048630 1048625983093 10486251048628 1048625852019 10486251048626 10486251048625 1048625983088 1048633 1048632 983095 1048630 983093 1048628 852019 1048626 1048625
Y 852019983088 10486261048633 10486261048632 1048626983095 10486261048630 1048626983093 10486261048628 1048626852019 10486261048626 10486261048625 1048626983088 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 10486251048630 1048625983093 10486251048628
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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CONTENTS
E983140983145983156983151983154983155rsquo P983154983141983142983137983139983141 983095
by Gayle Gerber Koontz and Andy Alexis-Baker
I983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983089983091
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Theology
Context and Contribution by Wilbert R Shenk
Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 I983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983156983151 983156983144983141 T983151983152983145983139 983091983093
983089 The Prophets 983092983097
Israel and the Nations
983090 Jesusrsquo Public Ministry and the Nations 983094983090
983091 The Great Commission and Acts 983095983093
983092 The Ministry of Paul in Salvation History 983097983089
983093 Other Texts and the New Testamentrsquos Theology of Mission 983089983089983093
983094 Mission and Systematic Theology 983089983090983097
983095 Church Types and Mission 983089983092983093
A Radical Reformation Perspective
983096 Pietist Perspective on Mission 983089983094983089
983097 The Church as Missionary 983089983096983090
983089983088 The Church as Responsible 983089983097983091
983089983089 The Church as Local 983090983089983089
983089983090 The Church as Laity 983090983090983096
983089983091 Ministry in a Missionary Context 983090983092983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983089983092 People Movements and the Free Church 983090983093983089
983089983093 Salvation Is Historical 983090983094983093
983089983094 Salvation Is for the World 983090983096983097
983089983095 Message and Medium 983091983089983088
Presence
983089983096 Message and Medium 983091983090983090
Servanthood
983089983097 Theology of Religions 983091983091983096
Particularity and Universalism
983090983088 Radical Reformation Perspectives on Religion 983091983093983090
983090983089 Christianity and Other Faiths 983091983094983090
983090983090 The Missionary Challenge of Non-Non-Christian Faiths 983091983095983093
983090983091 Judaism as a Non-Non-Christian Faith 983091983096983094
A983142983156983141983154983159983151983154983140 A983155 Y983151983157 G983151 983091983097983097
A983152983152983141983150983140983145983160 983092983090983091
S983157983138983146983141983139983156 I983150983140983141983160 983092983090983095
N983137983149983141 I983150983140983141983160 983092983091983089
S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141 I983150983140983141983160 983092983091983090
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EDITORSrsquo PREFACE
In the past hal century many Christians have become skeptical about
Christian missionary efforts Western missionary organizations are
struggling more than ever to meet their budgets as donations wane
Missiology programs have a hard time attracting North American
students Ask people what first comes to mind when they think o
missions and one is likely to hear words such as colonialism violence
and disrespect All o this is understandable For many years Christian
mission was intertwined with the march o Western empires across
the rest o the world Missionaries were sometimes the first wave o a
long process that undermined other cultures and peoples Scholarly
books document this process983089 Popular fiction such as Chinua
Achebersquos Tings Fall Apart vividly narrates the way Christian mis-
sionaries bulldozed their way through non-Western cultures and en-
vironments to bring people their Western understanding o God and
the church Te good news was too ofen intertwined with the violent
machines o conquest
Anyone concerned about peace and justice has to wrestle with the
legacy o missions in the long advance o Western imperialism No eth-
icist or theologian rom the Mennonite tradition can avoid it Although
John Howard Yoder is best known or his work on issues o war and
peace the topic o this bookmdashtheology o missionmdashpreoccupied him
1For example see Luis Rivera A Violent Evangelism Te Political and Religious Conquest o the
Americas (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983090) and Richard Fletcher Te Barbarian Con-
version From Paganism to Christianity (New York Henry Holt 1048625983097983097983095)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
as a scholar teacher missionary and ecumenical dialogue partner or
most o his lie He sought to articulate a theological basis or a ree
church or believers church approach to Christian mission in whichsharing the gospel message disentangled rom Western industry and
militarism could become a proound practice o Christian peacemaking
a vessel or Godrsquos saving work
A983138983151983157983156 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147
From 98308998309710486301048628 to 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder taught a course on theology o mission at As-
sociated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries (AMBS)1048626
In 9830899830979830951048627 the coursesessions were recorded onto reel-to-reel audiocassettes and then re-
corded again in 9830899830979830951048630 however we could find only nine lectures rom the
9830899830979830951048630 course Yoder planned to have the lectures transcribed printed and
used or course material as he did with his lectures or the course
ldquoChristian Attitudes to War Peace and Revolutionrdquo983091 As Yoder said in a
memo to Wilbert Shenk in February 9830899830979830961048627 ldquoWe already have a taped
transcription rom the last time the course was offered six years ago It
is proposed that this be typed off and reproduced so the students can
read it prior to class session Tis would enable the same class ormat
which I have used in two other subjects or years and would also acil-
itate the preparation o an inormal publication such as had been done
with two o my other coursesrdquo983092
Like the war peace and revolution lectures Yoder thought that the
theology o mission lectures might someday be edited or publication as
a book In one memo he wrote in 9830899830979830951048627 Yoder hinted that he might want
to revise the lectures or publication at a uture date saying an inormal
transcription would be ldquoa separate question rom whether a more pol-
ished version should be created which would be visible or commercial
2Te seminary was renamed Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 9830909830881048625983090 Yoderrsquos course
was titled ldquoTeology o Missionrdquo not ldquoTeology o Missionsrdquo Tis reflected the shif in termi-
nology beginning to be accepted in response to the conceptual development rom the 1048625983097983093983088s o
missio Dei as the true source o missionary action Yoder however neither reers to this term nordiscusses the concept
3Posthumously edited and published as John Howard Yoder Christian Attitudes to War Peace and
Revolution ed Andy Alexis-Baker and ed Koontz (Grand Rapids Brazos Press 983090983088983088983097)4John H Yoder to Wilbert Shenk 1048628 February 10486259830979830961048627 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss
1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 10486259830961048625 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
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Editorsrsquo Preace 983097
publication either as a unit or in small segmentsrdquo1048629 He went on to in-
dicate that i he could get a sabbatical rom teaching he would be willing
to work on writing a book on mission based on the lecturesIn 9830899830979830961048628 Yoder lef AMBS and began teaching ull time at Notre Dame
where he no longer had the opportunity to teach about mission Te
tapes were stored away in a cellar at AMBS and orgotten In 9830909830889830881048630 Gayle
began teaching a course on Yoderrsquos theological legacy Several years later
when Wilbert Shenk was invited to class to reflect on Yoderrsquos contribu-
tions to mission theology and practice Shenk mentioned that some
ormer students had told him how ormative Yoderrsquos course on theologyo mission had been in their lives and ministry Shenk thought there
might be tapes o the lectures somewhere Afer a number o months o
ruitless searching the director o the AMBS library finally discovered
the ldquolostrdquo tapes in a box in the basement o the seminary
Immediately afer finding the recordings Andy set to work tran-
scribing the lectures so the two o us could see whether they were worth
publishing in book ormat At the same time we contacted the Yoder
amily representative and the AMBS Institute o Mennonite Studies
both encouraged us to proceed with the project Once we had tran-
scripts in hand we consulted with several missiologists and mission
staff persons and were encouraged by the enthusiastic response we re-
ceived We set to work editing the chapters
W983144983137983156 W983141 H983137983158983141 D983151983150983141 983156983151 983156983144983141 T983141983160983156
We have edited the course lectures significantly Te transcriptions were
obviously a replica o the spoken orm in which Yoder delivered the
lectures Although we wanted to preserve the more inormal oral
quality o Yoderrsquos voice in the final manuscript we repaired awkward or
unclear syntax changed passive to active voice where possible attended
to consistency in verb tense and reorganized or clarity some o the
material that we believe Yoder himsel would have done in preparing a
manuscript or publication We also added a number o transitional sen-tences or phrases where we thought such things were needed in a written
5Ibid
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983089983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
manuscript Finally we reduced the length o these lectures by careully
removing repetitious or unnecessary paragraphs sentences phrases or
words and by removing most o the class discussion material that ol-lowed the lectures
Because these chapters were delivered as lectures over several days
Yoder usually summarized the previous dayrsquos lecture to remind stu-
dents what they had heard I these summaries were done well we
sometimes used them in place o something he said in his lecture
Usually however these summaries were not needed and interrupted
the flow o the written text these we deleted In addition Yoder beganmany class sessions with prayer We removed the prayers because in his
course notes he clearly stated that he believed prayers should be spoken
rather than written
Since these were class lectures we developed all the ootnotes Some
o the ootnotes emerged rom questions in which a student wanted
Yoder to clariy something he spoke about in a lecture In general when
we elt material rom class discussion should be included we either
added a ootnote or incorporated the comments into the lecture itsel
Occasionally Yoder included reerences or other side comments in his
course lecture notes We included most o those notations in ootnotes
at the appropriate places as well When we thought it was needed we
added supplemental editorial ootnotes
We also added headings Sometimes the course notes already had
headings so we simply added them to the text Other times we created
them or ease o reading based on Yoderrsquos own wording in the lecture
or something he wrote in his notes Wherever possible we used his
own words
A983157983140983145983141983150983139983141
We envision several audiences or this book Seminary students and
proessors who are studying the theology o Christian mission may find
that this book gives a particularly helpul perspective on an Anabaptist view o mission rom one o the leading ethicists o the twentieth century
Tis book could serve as a textbook in missiology or ecclesiology In ad-
dition those who have ollowed Yoderrsquos work over the years will find
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1260
983089983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
logian who helped many to engage the Christian gospel in resh ways In
troubling contrast he is remembered also or his long-term sexual ha-
rassment o womenWe recognize the tensions involved in presenting the past work o
someone who so passionately called Christians to reconciling lives and
yet used his position o power to abuse others At the time o this publi-
cation a new effort is underway in Yoderrsquos ecclesial and teaching institu-
tions to understand and speak truthully about what happened while he
was a part o these communities with a view to bringing healing to
those who still suffer rom the consequences o his actionsIt is our hope that those in the academy and others studying Yoderrsquos
work will not dismiss the complexity o these issues but continue to
evaluate appropriate and criticize Yoderrsquos work in the ull context o his
scholarly ecclesial and personal legacy
In this project we have tried to honestly and aithully preserve the
various nuances o Yoderrsquos perspective on Christian mission hoping
that as he might have said it will point readers beyond himsel toward
the astonishing reconciling mission o God through Jesus Christ
Gayle Gerber Koontz
Andy Alexis-Baker
Elkhart Indiana May 9830909830889830891048627
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INTRODUCTION
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Teology
Context and Contribution
by Wilbert R Shenk
John Howard Yoderrsquos missional engagements represent an important
dimension o his personal commitment and public ministry yet
scholars have largely overlooked his contribution to mission thought
and practice His Anabaptist heritage European theological edu-
cation and practical engagements in mission leadership permitted
him to develop a believers church understanding o mission that
uniquely integrated biblical insights historical perspectives and
commitment to Jesusrsquo way o peace ecclesiology and ethics983089 His ideas
ofen pointed to later developments in mission theology and con-
tinue to resonate strongly todayDuring the years 9830899830971048628983097ndash9830899830971048630983097 Yoder was directly involved in
mission program leadership Ater 9830899830971048630983097 he took on increased aca-
demic administrative and teaching duties but he continued to con-
tribute in both practical and theoretical ways through consulting
with mission agencies and personnel participating in conerences
and writing
1Yoder began using ldquobelievers churchrdquo in the mid-1048625983097983094983088s likely to indicate a deeper ecclesiology
than communicated by the traditional ldquoree churchrdquo nomenclature which tended to be tied
primarily to the churchstate relationship
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
983089983097983092983097ndash983089983097983093983095 P983154983151983143983154983137983149 A983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983151983154 M983141983150983150983151983150983145983156983141 C983141983150983156983154983137983148
C983151983149983149983145983156983156983141983141 E983157983154983151983152983141
Yoder lef or Europe the spring o 9830899830971048628983097 During World War II the Men-nonite Central Committee (MCC) began sending volunteers to help war
sufferers and reugees1048626 Tis effort grew greatly ollowing the warrsquos end As
part o this expanded program Yoder was assigned to a childrenrsquos home in
Alsace Eastern France Te other part o his commission was to promote
Christian witness to peace ldquoa new sort o missionary work one in which
little has as yet been done but which offers great opportunity or creative
workrdquo983091
Harold S Bender assistant secretary o MCC defined Yoderrsquos as-signment in the context o urgent spiritual questions that Europeans were
raising How can people have hope when they have experienced two dev-
astating wars resulting in widespread destruction and displacement all
within the space o thirty years Te oundations o Western civilization
were crumbling and it was insufficient to be concerned only about physical
and material needs983092 Te loss o hope had taken a heavy toll across Europe
Yoder was soon introduced to the International Mennonite PeaceCommittee and later the Puiduix Teological Conerence an ecu-
menical group that met regularly to study ldquoTe Lordship o Christ over
Church and Staterdquo He lived and worked among the French Mennonites
one o the oldest Mennonite conerences in Europe At this time they
were divided between traditionalists committed to preserving the past
and younger people eager or a more vital and spiritually satisying
Christian aith Yoder was asked to assist French Mennonites in recon-
necting with their historical and theological heritage hoping this might
help overcome division and oster renewal o congregational lie It was
characteristic o Yoder that he maintained close and ruitul relations
with the French Mennonites on the one hand and quickly orged an
extensive network o interchurch and ecumenical contacts on the other
2For a uller biography o Yoderrsquos lie see Mark Tiessen Nation John Howard Yoder (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) pp 1048625-9830909830973Harold S Bender to John H Yoder August 1048625983088 10486259830971048628983096 983094 b1048628983090 Bender papers Mennonite
Church USA Archives Goshen IN4North American Mennonite mission executives visited Europe July 983090983097ndashAugust 10486251048628 1048625983097983093983088 to plan
or the next phase o ministry See Wilbert R Shenk An Experiment in Interagency Cooperation
(Elkhart IN Council o International Ministries 1048625983097983096983094) pp 983090-1048628
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983093
During this time Yoder and French Mennonite leaders were dis-
cussing possible collaboration between French and North American
Mennonites in new mission initiatives in France He reported to Men-nonite Board o Missions (MBM) that ldquothe social service program o
MCC is incomplete i it does not leadrdquo to evangelization But he cau-
tioned against any North American attempt to do evangelization alone1048629
His French interlocutors emphasized the importance o this being done
collaboratively with French leadership
Already in this early period Yoder was concerned with mission
strategy and theology Te spring o 9830899830979830931048628 he was part o a group hostedby the British Society o Friends While in Britain he and others visited
the Hutterian Wheathill Colony He reflected on this visit in an article
ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo contrasting the lack o attraction
o the typical church made up o nominal members with the evange-
listic appeal o a congregation characterized by dynamic koinōnia1048630
Te summer o 9830899830979830931048628 Yoder ended his service with MCC in order to
study church history and theology ull-time at the University o Basel
In early September however a major earthquake struck Orleacuteansville
Algeria killing a thousand people and causing widespread destruction1048631
For several years French Mennonites and American Mennonites
working in France had been discussing possible new ministry in Fran-
cophone North Arica Andreacute rocmeacute a French Reormed pastor and
the secretary o the International Fellowship o Reconciliation had an
interest in Islam and wanted to find practical ways o engaging with
Muslims He encouraged Mennonites to act
In response to this crisis Mennonite agencies agreed that MBM
would send a team o builders to Algeria French Mennonites also re-
cruited volunteers and helped provide oversight Yoder directed this
5John Howard Yoder to Mennonite Board o Missions ldquoReport on Mission Possibilities in
Francerdquo 983093 October 10486259830979830931048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-1048625983088 Box 983090 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN Special thanks to Colleen McFarland archivist who has been unail-
ingly helpul in locating materials6John Howard Yoder ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo Christian Ministry 983096 (JanuaryndashMarch
10486259830979830931048628) 983090983094-10486271048625 Republished in John Howard Yoder Radical Christian Discipleship ed John Nugent
Andy Alexis-Baker and Branson Parler (Harrisonburg VA Herald Press 9830909830881048625983090) pp 10486259830941048627-9830959830887Marian E Hostetler Algeria Where Mennonites and Muslims Met 983089983097852021852021ndash983089983097852023983096 (Elkhart IN np
9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048625-983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1960
Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2660
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3060
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3160
Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 4560
10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5860
he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 460
InterVarsity Press
PO Box 10486251048628983088983088 Downers Grove IL 10486309830889830931048625983093-1048625104862810486261048630
World Wide Web wwwivpresscom
Email emailivpresscom
copy104862698308810486251048628 by Gayle Gerber Koontz and Andy Alexis-Baker
All rights reserved No part o this book may be reproduced in any orm without written permission rom
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division o InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement
o students and aculty active on campus at hundreds o universities colleges and schools o nursing in theUnited States o America and a member movement o the International Fellowship o Evangelical Students
For inormation about local and regional activities write Public Relations Dept InterVarsity Christian
FellowshipUSA 10486301048628983088983088 Schroeder Rd PO Box 98309510486321048633983093 Madison WI 983093852019983095983088983095-98309510486321048633983093 or visit the IVCF website at
wwwintervarsityorg
Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are rom the New Revised Standard Version o the Bible
copyright 1048625104863310486321048633 by the Division o Christian Education o the National Council o the Churches o Christ in
the USA Used by permission All rights reserved
Te Aferword ldquoAs You Gordquo by John Howard Yoder was originally published by Herald Press copy1048625104863310486301048625 Used
by permission
Cover design David Fassett
Interior design Beth Hagenberg
Images abstract painting Ordered by Ron Waddams Private Collection Te Bridgeman Art Library
Vintage labels copy aleksandar velaseviciStockphoto
ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486328520199830881048632-1048628983088852019852019-983093 (print)
ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486328520199830881048632-98309510486251048633852019-852019 (digital)
Printed in the United States o America infin
InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment and to the responsible use onatural resources As a member o Green Press Initiative we use recycled paper whenever possible o learn more about the Green Press Initiative visit wwwgreenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record or this book is available rom the Library o Congress
P 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 10486251048630 1048625983093 10486251048628 1048625852019 10486251048626 10486251048625 1048625983088 1048633 1048632 983095 1048630 983093 1048628 852019 1048626 1048625
Y 852019983088 10486261048633 10486261048632 1048626983095 10486261048630 1048626983093 10486261048628 1048626852019 10486261048626 10486261048625 1048626983088 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 10486251048630 1048625983093 10486251048628
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CONTENTS
E983140983145983156983151983154983155rsquo P983154983141983142983137983139983141 983095
by Gayle Gerber Koontz and Andy Alexis-Baker
I983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983089983091
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Theology
Context and Contribution by Wilbert R Shenk
Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 I983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983156983151 983156983144983141 T983151983152983145983139 983091983093
983089 The Prophets 983092983097
Israel and the Nations
983090 Jesusrsquo Public Ministry and the Nations 983094983090
983091 The Great Commission and Acts 983095983093
983092 The Ministry of Paul in Salvation History 983097983089
983093 Other Texts and the New Testamentrsquos Theology of Mission 983089983089983093
983094 Mission and Systematic Theology 983089983090983097
983095 Church Types and Mission 983089983092983093
A Radical Reformation Perspective
983096 Pietist Perspective on Mission 983089983094983089
983097 The Church as Missionary 983089983096983090
983089983088 The Church as Responsible 983089983097983091
983089983089 The Church as Local 983090983089983089
983089983090 The Church as Laity 983090983090983096
983089983091 Ministry in a Missionary Context 983090983092983088
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983089983092 People Movements and the Free Church 983090983093983089
983089983093 Salvation Is Historical 983090983094983093
983089983094 Salvation Is for the World 983090983096983097
983089983095 Message and Medium 983091983089983088
Presence
983089983096 Message and Medium 983091983090983090
Servanthood
983089983097 Theology of Religions 983091983091983096
Particularity and Universalism
983090983088 Radical Reformation Perspectives on Religion 983091983093983090
983090983089 Christianity and Other Faiths 983091983094983090
983090983090 The Missionary Challenge of Non-Non-Christian Faiths 983091983095983093
983090983091 Judaism as a Non-Non-Christian Faith 983091983096983094
A983142983156983141983154983159983151983154983140 A983155 Y983151983157 G983151 983091983097983097
A983152983152983141983150983140983145983160 983092983090983091
S983157983138983146983141983139983156 I983150983140983141983160 983092983090983095
N983137983149983141 I983150983140983141983160 983092983091983089
S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141 I983150983140983141983160 983092983091983090
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EDITORSrsquo PREFACE
In the past hal century many Christians have become skeptical about
Christian missionary efforts Western missionary organizations are
struggling more than ever to meet their budgets as donations wane
Missiology programs have a hard time attracting North American
students Ask people what first comes to mind when they think o
missions and one is likely to hear words such as colonialism violence
and disrespect All o this is understandable For many years Christian
mission was intertwined with the march o Western empires across
the rest o the world Missionaries were sometimes the first wave o a
long process that undermined other cultures and peoples Scholarly
books document this process983089 Popular fiction such as Chinua
Achebersquos Tings Fall Apart vividly narrates the way Christian mis-
sionaries bulldozed their way through non-Western cultures and en-
vironments to bring people their Western understanding o God and
the church Te good news was too ofen intertwined with the violent
machines o conquest
Anyone concerned about peace and justice has to wrestle with the
legacy o missions in the long advance o Western imperialism No eth-
icist or theologian rom the Mennonite tradition can avoid it Although
John Howard Yoder is best known or his work on issues o war and
peace the topic o this bookmdashtheology o missionmdashpreoccupied him
1For example see Luis Rivera A Violent Evangelism Te Political and Religious Conquest o the
Americas (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983090) and Richard Fletcher Te Barbarian Con-
version From Paganism to Christianity (New York Henry Holt 1048625983097983097983095)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
as a scholar teacher missionary and ecumenical dialogue partner or
most o his lie He sought to articulate a theological basis or a ree
church or believers church approach to Christian mission in whichsharing the gospel message disentangled rom Western industry and
militarism could become a proound practice o Christian peacemaking
a vessel or Godrsquos saving work
A983138983151983157983156 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147
From 98308998309710486301048628 to 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder taught a course on theology o mission at As-
sociated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries (AMBS)1048626
In 9830899830979830951048627 the coursesessions were recorded onto reel-to-reel audiocassettes and then re-
corded again in 9830899830979830951048630 however we could find only nine lectures rom the
9830899830979830951048630 course Yoder planned to have the lectures transcribed printed and
used or course material as he did with his lectures or the course
ldquoChristian Attitudes to War Peace and Revolutionrdquo983091 As Yoder said in a
memo to Wilbert Shenk in February 9830899830979830961048627 ldquoWe already have a taped
transcription rom the last time the course was offered six years ago It
is proposed that this be typed off and reproduced so the students can
read it prior to class session Tis would enable the same class ormat
which I have used in two other subjects or years and would also acil-
itate the preparation o an inormal publication such as had been done
with two o my other coursesrdquo983092
Like the war peace and revolution lectures Yoder thought that the
theology o mission lectures might someday be edited or publication as
a book In one memo he wrote in 9830899830979830951048627 Yoder hinted that he might want
to revise the lectures or publication at a uture date saying an inormal
transcription would be ldquoa separate question rom whether a more pol-
ished version should be created which would be visible or commercial
2Te seminary was renamed Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 9830909830881048625983090 Yoderrsquos course
was titled ldquoTeology o Missionrdquo not ldquoTeology o Missionsrdquo Tis reflected the shif in termi-
nology beginning to be accepted in response to the conceptual development rom the 1048625983097983093983088s o
missio Dei as the true source o missionary action Yoder however neither reers to this term nordiscusses the concept
3Posthumously edited and published as John Howard Yoder Christian Attitudes to War Peace and
Revolution ed Andy Alexis-Baker and ed Koontz (Grand Rapids Brazos Press 983090983088983088983097)4John H Yoder to Wilbert Shenk 1048628 February 10486259830979830961048627 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss
1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 10486259830961048625 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
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Editorsrsquo Preace 983097
publication either as a unit or in small segmentsrdquo1048629 He went on to in-
dicate that i he could get a sabbatical rom teaching he would be willing
to work on writing a book on mission based on the lecturesIn 9830899830979830961048628 Yoder lef AMBS and began teaching ull time at Notre Dame
where he no longer had the opportunity to teach about mission Te
tapes were stored away in a cellar at AMBS and orgotten In 9830909830889830881048630 Gayle
began teaching a course on Yoderrsquos theological legacy Several years later
when Wilbert Shenk was invited to class to reflect on Yoderrsquos contribu-
tions to mission theology and practice Shenk mentioned that some
ormer students had told him how ormative Yoderrsquos course on theologyo mission had been in their lives and ministry Shenk thought there
might be tapes o the lectures somewhere Afer a number o months o
ruitless searching the director o the AMBS library finally discovered
the ldquolostrdquo tapes in a box in the basement o the seminary
Immediately afer finding the recordings Andy set to work tran-
scribing the lectures so the two o us could see whether they were worth
publishing in book ormat At the same time we contacted the Yoder
amily representative and the AMBS Institute o Mennonite Studies
both encouraged us to proceed with the project Once we had tran-
scripts in hand we consulted with several missiologists and mission
staff persons and were encouraged by the enthusiastic response we re-
ceived We set to work editing the chapters
W983144983137983156 W983141 H983137983158983141 D983151983150983141 983156983151 983156983144983141 T983141983160983156
We have edited the course lectures significantly Te transcriptions were
obviously a replica o the spoken orm in which Yoder delivered the
lectures Although we wanted to preserve the more inormal oral
quality o Yoderrsquos voice in the final manuscript we repaired awkward or
unclear syntax changed passive to active voice where possible attended
to consistency in verb tense and reorganized or clarity some o the
material that we believe Yoder himsel would have done in preparing a
manuscript or publication We also added a number o transitional sen-tences or phrases where we thought such things were needed in a written
5Ibid
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983089983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
manuscript Finally we reduced the length o these lectures by careully
removing repetitious or unnecessary paragraphs sentences phrases or
words and by removing most o the class discussion material that ol-lowed the lectures
Because these chapters were delivered as lectures over several days
Yoder usually summarized the previous dayrsquos lecture to remind stu-
dents what they had heard I these summaries were done well we
sometimes used them in place o something he said in his lecture
Usually however these summaries were not needed and interrupted
the flow o the written text these we deleted In addition Yoder beganmany class sessions with prayer We removed the prayers because in his
course notes he clearly stated that he believed prayers should be spoken
rather than written
Since these were class lectures we developed all the ootnotes Some
o the ootnotes emerged rom questions in which a student wanted
Yoder to clariy something he spoke about in a lecture In general when
we elt material rom class discussion should be included we either
added a ootnote or incorporated the comments into the lecture itsel
Occasionally Yoder included reerences or other side comments in his
course lecture notes We included most o those notations in ootnotes
at the appropriate places as well When we thought it was needed we
added supplemental editorial ootnotes
We also added headings Sometimes the course notes already had
headings so we simply added them to the text Other times we created
them or ease o reading based on Yoderrsquos own wording in the lecture
or something he wrote in his notes Wherever possible we used his
own words
A983157983140983145983141983150983139983141
We envision several audiences or this book Seminary students and
proessors who are studying the theology o Christian mission may find
that this book gives a particularly helpul perspective on an Anabaptist view o mission rom one o the leading ethicists o the twentieth century
Tis book could serve as a textbook in missiology or ecclesiology In ad-
dition those who have ollowed Yoderrsquos work over the years will find
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1260
983089983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
logian who helped many to engage the Christian gospel in resh ways In
troubling contrast he is remembered also or his long-term sexual ha-
rassment o womenWe recognize the tensions involved in presenting the past work o
someone who so passionately called Christians to reconciling lives and
yet used his position o power to abuse others At the time o this publi-
cation a new effort is underway in Yoderrsquos ecclesial and teaching institu-
tions to understand and speak truthully about what happened while he
was a part o these communities with a view to bringing healing to
those who still suffer rom the consequences o his actionsIt is our hope that those in the academy and others studying Yoderrsquos
work will not dismiss the complexity o these issues but continue to
evaluate appropriate and criticize Yoderrsquos work in the ull context o his
scholarly ecclesial and personal legacy
In this project we have tried to honestly and aithully preserve the
various nuances o Yoderrsquos perspective on Christian mission hoping
that as he might have said it will point readers beyond himsel toward
the astonishing reconciling mission o God through Jesus Christ
Gayle Gerber Koontz
Andy Alexis-Baker
Elkhart Indiana May 9830909830889830891048627
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INTRODUCTION
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Teology
Context and Contribution
by Wilbert R Shenk
John Howard Yoderrsquos missional engagements represent an important
dimension o his personal commitment and public ministry yet
scholars have largely overlooked his contribution to mission thought
and practice His Anabaptist heritage European theological edu-
cation and practical engagements in mission leadership permitted
him to develop a believers church understanding o mission that
uniquely integrated biblical insights historical perspectives and
commitment to Jesusrsquo way o peace ecclesiology and ethics983089 His ideas
ofen pointed to later developments in mission theology and con-
tinue to resonate strongly todayDuring the years 9830899830971048628983097ndash9830899830971048630983097 Yoder was directly involved in
mission program leadership Ater 9830899830971048630983097 he took on increased aca-
demic administrative and teaching duties but he continued to con-
tribute in both practical and theoretical ways through consulting
with mission agencies and personnel participating in conerences
and writing
1Yoder began using ldquobelievers churchrdquo in the mid-1048625983097983094983088s likely to indicate a deeper ecclesiology
than communicated by the traditional ldquoree churchrdquo nomenclature which tended to be tied
primarily to the churchstate relationship
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
983089983097983092983097ndash983089983097983093983095 P983154983151983143983154983137983149 A983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983151983154 M983141983150983150983151983150983145983156983141 C983141983150983156983154983137983148
C983151983149983149983145983156983156983141983141 E983157983154983151983152983141
Yoder lef or Europe the spring o 9830899830971048628983097 During World War II the Men-nonite Central Committee (MCC) began sending volunteers to help war
sufferers and reugees1048626 Tis effort grew greatly ollowing the warrsquos end As
part o this expanded program Yoder was assigned to a childrenrsquos home in
Alsace Eastern France Te other part o his commission was to promote
Christian witness to peace ldquoa new sort o missionary work one in which
little has as yet been done but which offers great opportunity or creative
workrdquo983091
Harold S Bender assistant secretary o MCC defined Yoderrsquos as-signment in the context o urgent spiritual questions that Europeans were
raising How can people have hope when they have experienced two dev-
astating wars resulting in widespread destruction and displacement all
within the space o thirty years Te oundations o Western civilization
were crumbling and it was insufficient to be concerned only about physical
and material needs983092 Te loss o hope had taken a heavy toll across Europe
Yoder was soon introduced to the International Mennonite PeaceCommittee and later the Puiduix Teological Conerence an ecu-
menical group that met regularly to study ldquoTe Lordship o Christ over
Church and Staterdquo He lived and worked among the French Mennonites
one o the oldest Mennonite conerences in Europe At this time they
were divided between traditionalists committed to preserving the past
and younger people eager or a more vital and spiritually satisying
Christian aith Yoder was asked to assist French Mennonites in recon-
necting with their historical and theological heritage hoping this might
help overcome division and oster renewal o congregational lie It was
characteristic o Yoder that he maintained close and ruitul relations
with the French Mennonites on the one hand and quickly orged an
extensive network o interchurch and ecumenical contacts on the other
2For a uller biography o Yoderrsquos lie see Mark Tiessen Nation John Howard Yoder (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) pp 1048625-9830909830973Harold S Bender to John H Yoder August 1048625983088 10486259830971048628983096 983094 b1048628983090 Bender papers Mennonite
Church USA Archives Goshen IN4North American Mennonite mission executives visited Europe July 983090983097ndashAugust 10486251048628 1048625983097983093983088 to plan
or the next phase o ministry See Wilbert R Shenk An Experiment in Interagency Cooperation
(Elkhart IN Council o International Ministries 1048625983097983096983094) pp 983090-1048628
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Introduction 983089983093
During this time Yoder and French Mennonite leaders were dis-
cussing possible collaboration between French and North American
Mennonites in new mission initiatives in France He reported to Men-nonite Board o Missions (MBM) that ldquothe social service program o
MCC is incomplete i it does not leadrdquo to evangelization But he cau-
tioned against any North American attempt to do evangelization alone1048629
His French interlocutors emphasized the importance o this being done
collaboratively with French leadership
Already in this early period Yoder was concerned with mission
strategy and theology Te spring o 9830899830979830931048628 he was part o a group hostedby the British Society o Friends While in Britain he and others visited
the Hutterian Wheathill Colony He reflected on this visit in an article
ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo contrasting the lack o attraction
o the typical church made up o nominal members with the evange-
listic appeal o a congregation characterized by dynamic koinōnia1048630
Te summer o 9830899830979830931048628 Yoder ended his service with MCC in order to
study church history and theology ull-time at the University o Basel
In early September however a major earthquake struck Orleacuteansville
Algeria killing a thousand people and causing widespread destruction1048631
For several years French Mennonites and American Mennonites
working in France had been discussing possible new ministry in Fran-
cophone North Arica Andreacute rocmeacute a French Reormed pastor and
the secretary o the International Fellowship o Reconciliation had an
interest in Islam and wanted to find practical ways o engaging with
Muslims He encouraged Mennonites to act
In response to this crisis Mennonite agencies agreed that MBM
would send a team o builders to Algeria French Mennonites also re-
cruited volunteers and helped provide oversight Yoder directed this
5John Howard Yoder to Mennonite Board o Missions ldquoReport on Mission Possibilities in
Francerdquo 983093 October 10486259830979830931048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-1048625983088 Box 983090 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN Special thanks to Colleen McFarland archivist who has been unail-
ingly helpul in locating materials6John Howard Yoder ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo Christian Ministry 983096 (JanuaryndashMarch
10486259830979830931048628) 983090983094-10486271048625 Republished in John Howard Yoder Radical Christian Discipleship ed John Nugent
Andy Alexis-Baker and Branson Parler (Harrisonburg VA Herald Press 9830909830881048625983090) pp 10486259830941048627-9830959830887Marian E Hostetler Algeria Where Mennonites and Muslims Met 983089983097852021852021ndash983089983097852023983096 (Elkhart IN np
9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048625-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1960
Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2560
Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3760
1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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CONTENTS
E983140983145983156983151983154983155rsquo P983154983141983142983137983139983141 983095
by Gayle Gerber Koontz and Andy Alexis-Baker
I983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983089983091
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Theology
Context and Contribution by Wilbert R Shenk
Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 I983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983156983151 983156983144983141 T983151983152983145983139 983091983093
983089 The Prophets 983092983097
Israel and the Nations
983090 Jesusrsquo Public Ministry and the Nations 983094983090
983091 The Great Commission and Acts 983095983093
983092 The Ministry of Paul in Salvation History 983097983089
983093 Other Texts and the New Testamentrsquos Theology of Mission 983089983089983093
983094 Mission and Systematic Theology 983089983090983097
983095 Church Types and Mission 983089983092983093
A Radical Reformation Perspective
983096 Pietist Perspective on Mission 983089983094983089
983097 The Church as Missionary 983089983096983090
983089983088 The Church as Responsible 983089983097983091
983089983089 The Church as Local 983090983089983089
983089983090 The Church as Laity 983090983090983096
983089983091 Ministry in a Missionary Context 983090983092983088
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983089983092 People Movements and the Free Church 983090983093983089
983089983093 Salvation Is Historical 983090983094983093
983089983094 Salvation Is for the World 983090983096983097
983089983095 Message and Medium 983091983089983088
Presence
983089983096 Message and Medium 983091983090983090
Servanthood
983089983097 Theology of Religions 983091983091983096
Particularity and Universalism
983090983088 Radical Reformation Perspectives on Religion 983091983093983090
983090983089 Christianity and Other Faiths 983091983094983090
983090983090 The Missionary Challenge of Non-Non-Christian Faiths 983091983095983093
983090983091 Judaism as a Non-Non-Christian Faith 983091983096983094
A983142983156983141983154983159983151983154983140 A983155 Y983151983157 G983151 983091983097983097
A983152983152983141983150983140983145983160 983092983090983091
S983157983138983146983141983139983156 I983150983140983141983160 983092983090983095
N983137983149983141 I983150983140983141983160 983092983091983089
S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141 I983150983140983141983160 983092983091983090
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EDITORSrsquo PREFACE
In the past hal century many Christians have become skeptical about
Christian missionary efforts Western missionary organizations are
struggling more than ever to meet their budgets as donations wane
Missiology programs have a hard time attracting North American
students Ask people what first comes to mind when they think o
missions and one is likely to hear words such as colonialism violence
and disrespect All o this is understandable For many years Christian
mission was intertwined with the march o Western empires across
the rest o the world Missionaries were sometimes the first wave o a
long process that undermined other cultures and peoples Scholarly
books document this process983089 Popular fiction such as Chinua
Achebersquos Tings Fall Apart vividly narrates the way Christian mis-
sionaries bulldozed their way through non-Western cultures and en-
vironments to bring people their Western understanding o God and
the church Te good news was too ofen intertwined with the violent
machines o conquest
Anyone concerned about peace and justice has to wrestle with the
legacy o missions in the long advance o Western imperialism No eth-
icist or theologian rom the Mennonite tradition can avoid it Although
John Howard Yoder is best known or his work on issues o war and
peace the topic o this bookmdashtheology o missionmdashpreoccupied him
1For example see Luis Rivera A Violent Evangelism Te Political and Religious Conquest o the
Americas (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983090) and Richard Fletcher Te Barbarian Con-
version From Paganism to Christianity (New York Henry Holt 1048625983097983097983095)
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
as a scholar teacher missionary and ecumenical dialogue partner or
most o his lie He sought to articulate a theological basis or a ree
church or believers church approach to Christian mission in whichsharing the gospel message disentangled rom Western industry and
militarism could become a proound practice o Christian peacemaking
a vessel or Godrsquos saving work
A983138983151983157983156 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147
From 98308998309710486301048628 to 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder taught a course on theology o mission at As-
sociated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries (AMBS)1048626
In 9830899830979830951048627 the coursesessions were recorded onto reel-to-reel audiocassettes and then re-
corded again in 9830899830979830951048630 however we could find only nine lectures rom the
9830899830979830951048630 course Yoder planned to have the lectures transcribed printed and
used or course material as he did with his lectures or the course
ldquoChristian Attitudes to War Peace and Revolutionrdquo983091 As Yoder said in a
memo to Wilbert Shenk in February 9830899830979830961048627 ldquoWe already have a taped
transcription rom the last time the course was offered six years ago It
is proposed that this be typed off and reproduced so the students can
read it prior to class session Tis would enable the same class ormat
which I have used in two other subjects or years and would also acil-
itate the preparation o an inormal publication such as had been done
with two o my other coursesrdquo983092
Like the war peace and revolution lectures Yoder thought that the
theology o mission lectures might someday be edited or publication as
a book In one memo he wrote in 9830899830979830951048627 Yoder hinted that he might want
to revise the lectures or publication at a uture date saying an inormal
transcription would be ldquoa separate question rom whether a more pol-
ished version should be created which would be visible or commercial
2Te seminary was renamed Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 9830909830881048625983090 Yoderrsquos course
was titled ldquoTeology o Missionrdquo not ldquoTeology o Missionsrdquo Tis reflected the shif in termi-
nology beginning to be accepted in response to the conceptual development rom the 1048625983097983093983088s o
missio Dei as the true source o missionary action Yoder however neither reers to this term nordiscusses the concept
3Posthumously edited and published as John Howard Yoder Christian Attitudes to War Peace and
Revolution ed Andy Alexis-Baker and ed Koontz (Grand Rapids Brazos Press 983090983088983088983097)4John H Yoder to Wilbert Shenk 1048628 February 10486259830979830961048627 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss
1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 10486259830961048625 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
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Editorsrsquo Preace 983097
publication either as a unit or in small segmentsrdquo1048629 He went on to in-
dicate that i he could get a sabbatical rom teaching he would be willing
to work on writing a book on mission based on the lecturesIn 9830899830979830961048628 Yoder lef AMBS and began teaching ull time at Notre Dame
where he no longer had the opportunity to teach about mission Te
tapes were stored away in a cellar at AMBS and orgotten In 9830909830889830881048630 Gayle
began teaching a course on Yoderrsquos theological legacy Several years later
when Wilbert Shenk was invited to class to reflect on Yoderrsquos contribu-
tions to mission theology and practice Shenk mentioned that some
ormer students had told him how ormative Yoderrsquos course on theologyo mission had been in their lives and ministry Shenk thought there
might be tapes o the lectures somewhere Afer a number o months o
ruitless searching the director o the AMBS library finally discovered
the ldquolostrdquo tapes in a box in the basement o the seminary
Immediately afer finding the recordings Andy set to work tran-
scribing the lectures so the two o us could see whether they were worth
publishing in book ormat At the same time we contacted the Yoder
amily representative and the AMBS Institute o Mennonite Studies
both encouraged us to proceed with the project Once we had tran-
scripts in hand we consulted with several missiologists and mission
staff persons and were encouraged by the enthusiastic response we re-
ceived We set to work editing the chapters
W983144983137983156 W983141 H983137983158983141 D983151983150983141 983156983151 983156983144983141 T983141983160983156
We have edited the course lectures significantly Te transcriptions were
obviously a replica o the spoken orm in which Yoder delivered the
lectures Although we wanted to preserve the more inormal oral
quality o Yoderrsquos voice in the final manuscript we repaired awkward or
unclear syntax changed passive to active voice where possible attended
to consistency in verb tense and reorganized or clarity some o the
material that we believe Yoder himsel would have done in preparing a
manuscript or publication We also added a number o transitional sen-tences or phrases where we thought such things were needed in a written
5Ibid
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983089983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
manuscript Finally we reduced the length o these lectures by careully
removing repetitious or unnecessary paragraphs sentences phrases or
words and by removing most o the class discussion material that ol-lowed the lectures
Because these chapters were delivered as lectures over several days
Yoder usually summarized the previous dayrsquos lecture to remind stu-
dents what they had heard I these summaries were done well we
sometimes used them in place o something he said in his lecture
Usually however these summaries were not needed and interrupted
the flow o the written text these we deleted In addition Yoder beganmany class sessions with prayer We removed the prayers because in his
course notes he clearly stated that he believed prayers should be spoken
rather than written
Since these were class lectures we developed all the ootnotes Some
o the ootnotes emerged rom questions in which a student wanted
Yoder to clariy something he spoke about in a lecture In general when
we elt material rom class discussion should be included we either
added a ootnote or incorporated the comments into the lecture itsel
Occasionally Yoder included reerences or other side comments in his
course lecture notes We included most o those notations in ootnotes
at the appropriate places as well When we thought it was needed we
added supplemental editorial ootnotes
We also added headings Sometimes the course notes already had
headings so we simply added them to the text Other times we created
them or ease o reading based on Yoderrsquos own wording in the lecture
or something he wrote in his notes Wherever possible we used his
own words
A983157983140983145983141983150983139983141
We envision several audiences or this book Seminary students and
proessors who are studying the theology o Christian mission may find
that this book gives a particularly helpul perspective on an Anabaptist view o mission rom one o the leading ethicists o the twentieth century
Tis book could serve as a textbook in missiology or ecclesiology In ad-
dition those who have ollowed Yoderrsquos work over the years will find
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1260
983089983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
logian who helped many to engage the Christian gospel in resh ways In
troubling contrast he is remembered also or his long-term sexual ha-
rassment o womenWe recognize the tensions involved in presenting the past work o
someone who so passionately called Christians to reconciling lives and
yet used his position o power to abuse others At the time o this publi-
cation a new effort is underway in Yoderrsquos ecclesial and teaching institu-
tions to understand and speak truthully about what happened while he
was a part o these communities with a view to bringing healing to
those who still suffer rom the consequences o his actionsIt is our hope that those in the academy and others studying Yoderrsquos
work will not dismiss the complexity o these issues but continue to
evaluate appropriate and criticize Yoderrsquos work in the ull context o his
scholarly ecclesial and personal legacy
In this project we have tried to honestly and aithully preserve the
various nuances o Yoderrsquos perspective on Christian mission hoping
that as he might have said it will point readers beyond himsel toward
the astonishing reconciling mission o God through Jesus Christ
Gayle Gerber Koontz
Andy Alexis-Baker
Elkhart Indiana May 9830909830889830891048627
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INTRODUCTION
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Teology
Context and Contribution
by Wilbert R Shenk
John Howard Yoderrsquos missional engagements represent an important
dimension o his personal commitment and public ministry yet
scholars have largely overlooked his contribution to mission thought
and practice His Anabaptist heritage European theological edu-
cation and practical engagements in mission leadership permitted
him to develop a believers church understanding o mission that
uniquely integrated biblical insights historical perspectives and
commitment to Jesusrsquo way o peace ecclesiology and ethics983089 His ideas
ofen pointed to later developments in mission theology and con-
tinue to resonate strongly todayDuring the years 9830899830971048628983097ndash9830899830971048630983097 Yoder was directly involved in
mission program leadership Ater 9830899830971048630983097 he took on increased aca-
demic administrative and teaching duties but he continued to con-
tribute in both practical and theoretical ways through consulting
with mission agencies and personnel participating in conerences
and writing
1Yoder began using ldquobelievers churchrdquo in the mid-1048625983097983094983088s likely to indicate a deeper ecclesiology
than communicated by the traditional ldquoree churchrdquo nomenclature which tended to be tied
primarily to the churchstate relationship
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
983089983097983092983097ndash983089983097983093983095 P983154983151983143983154983137983149 A983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983151983154 M983141983150983150983151983150983145983156983141 C983141983150983156983154983137983148
C983151983149983149983145983156983156983141983141 E983157983154983151983152983141
Yoder lef or Europe the spring o 9830899830971048628983097 During World War II the Men-nonite Central Committee (MCC) began sending volunteers to help war
sufferers and reugees1048626 Tis effort grew greatly ollowing the warrsquos end As
part o this expanded program Yoder was assigned to a childrenrsquos home in
Alsace Eastern France Te other part o his commission was to promote
Christian witness to peace ldquoa new sort o missionary work one in which
little has as yet been done but which offers great opportunity or creative
workrdquo983091
Harold S Bender assistant secretary o MCC defined Yoderrsquos as-signment in the context o urgent spiritual questions that Europeans were
raising How can people have hope when they have experienced two dev-
astating wars resulting in widespread destruction and displacement all
within the space o thirty years Te oundations o Western civilization
were crumbling and it was insufficient to be concerned only about physical
and material needs983092 Te loss o hope had taken a heavy toll across Europe
Yoder was soon introduced to the International Mennonite PeaceCommittee and later the Puiduix Teological Conerence an ecu-
menical group that met regularly to study ldquoTe Lordship o Christ over
Church and Staterdquo He lived and worked among the French Mennonites
one o the oldest Mennonite conerences in Europe At this time they
were divided between traditionalists committed to preserving the past
and younger people eager or a more vital and spiritually satisying
Christian aith Yoder was asked to assist French Mennonites in recon-
necting with their historical and theological heritage hoping this might
help overcome division and oster renewal o congregational lie It was
characteristic o Yoder that he maintained close and ruitul relations
with the French Mennonites on the one hand and quickly orged an
extensive network o interchurch and ecumenical contacts on the other
2For a uller biography o Yoderrsquos lie see Mark Tiessen Nation John Howard Yoder (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) pp 1048625-9830909830973Harold S Bender to John H Yoder August 1048625983088 10486259830971048628983096 983094 b1048628983090 Bender papers Mennonite
Church USA Archives Goshen IN4North American Mennonite mission executives visited Europe July 983090983097ndashAugust 10486251048628 1048625983097983093983088 to plan
or the next phase o ministry See Wilbert R Shenk An Experiment in Interagency Cooperation
(Elkhart IN Council o International Ministries 1048625983097983096983094) pp 983090-1048628
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983093
During this time Yoder and French Mennonite leaders were dis-
cussing possible collaboration between French and North American
Mennonites in new mission initiatives in France He reported to Men-nonite Board o Missions (MBM) that ldquothe social service program o
MCC is incomplete i it does not leadrdquo to evangelization But he cau-
tioned against any North American attempt to do evangelization alone1048629
His French interlocutors emphasized the importance o this being done
collaboratively with French leadership
Already in this early period Yoder was concerned with mission
strategy and theology Te spring o 9830899830979830931048628 he was part o a group hostedby the British Society o Friends While in Britain he and others visited
the Hutterian Wheathill Colony He reflected on this visit in an article
ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo contrasting the lack o attraction
o the typical church made up o nominal members with the evange-
listic appeal o a congregation characterized by dynamic koinōnia1048630
Te summer o 9830899830979830931048628 Yoder ended his service with MCC in order to
study church history and theology ull-time at the University o Basel
In early September however a major earthquake struck Orleacuteansville
Algeria killing a thousand people and causing widespread destruction1048631
For several years French Mennonites and American Mennonites
working in France had been discussing possible new ministry in Fran-
cophone North Arica Andreacute rocmeacute a French Reormed pastor and
the secretary o the International Fellowship o Reconciliation had an
interest in Islam and wanted to find practical ways o engaging with
Muslims He encouraged Mennonites to act
In response to this crisis Mennonite agencies agreed that MBM
would send a team o builders to Algeria French Mennonites also re-
cruited volunteers and helped provide oversight Yoder directed this
5John Howard Yoder to Mennonite Board o Missions ldquoReport on Mission Possibilities in
Francerdquo 983093 October 10486259830979830931048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-1048625983088 Box 983090 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN Special thanks to Colleen McFarland archivist who has been unail-
ingly helpul in locating materials6John Howard Yoder ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo Christian Ministry 983096 (JanuaryndashMarch
10486259830979830931048628) 983090983094-10486271048625 Republished in John Howard Yoder Radical Christian Discipleship ed John Nugent
Andy Alexis-Baker and Branson Parler (Harrisonburg VA Herald Press 9830909830881048625983090) pp 10486259830941048627-9830959830887Marian E Hostetler Algeria Where Mennonites and Muslims Met 983089983097852021852021ndash983089983097852023983096 (Elkhart IN np
9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048625-983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2660
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3060
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3460
YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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983089983092 People Movements and the Free Church 983090983093983089
983089983093 Salvation Is Historical 983090983094983093
983089983094 Salvation Is for the World 983090983096983097
983089983095 Message and Medium 983091983089983088
Presence
983089983096 Message and Medium 983091983090983090
Servanthood
983089983097 Theology of Religions 983091983091983096
Particularity and Universalism
983090983088 Radical Reformation Perspectives on Religion 983091983093983090
983090983089 Christianity and Other Faiths 983091983094983090
983090983090 The Missionary Challenge of Non-Non-Christian Faiths 983091983095983093
983090983091 Judaism as a Non-Non-Christian Faith 983091983096983094
A983142983156983141983154983159983151983154983140 A983155 Y983151983157 G983151 983091983097983097
A983152983152983141983150983140983145983160 983092983090983091
S983157983138983146983141983139983156 I983150983140983141983160 983092983090983095
N983137983149983141 I983150983140983141983160 983092983091983089
S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141 I983150983140983141983160 983092983091983090
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EDITORSrsquo PREFACE
In the past hal century many Christians have become skeptical about
Christian missionary efforts Western missionary organizations are
struggling more than ever to meet their budgets as donations wane
Missiology programs have a hard time attracting North American
students Ask people what first comes to mind when they think o
missions and one is likely to hear words such as colonialism violence
and disrespect All o this is understandable For many years Christian
mission was intertwined with the march o Western empires across
the rest o the world Missionaries were sometimes the first wave o a
long process that undermined other cultures and peoples Scholarly
books document this process983089 Popular fiction such as Chinua
Achebersquos Tings Fall Apart vividly narrates the way Christian mis-
sionaries bulldozed their way through non-Western cultures and en-
vironments to bring people their Western understanding o God and
the church Te good news was too ofen intertwined with the violent
machines o conquest
Anyone concerned about peace and justice has to wrestle with the
legacy o missions in the long advance o Western imperialism No eth-
icist or theologian rom the Mennonite tradition can avoid it Although
John Howard Yoder is best known or his work on issues o war and
peace the topic o this bookmdashtheology o missionmdashpreoccupied him
1For example see Luis Rivera A Violent Evangelism Te Political and Religious Conquest o the
Americas (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983090) and Richard Fletcher Te Barbarian Con-
version From Paganism to Christianity (New York Henry Holt 1048625983097983097983095)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
as a scholar teacher missionary and ecumenical dialogue partner or
most o his lie He sought to articulate a theological basis or a ree
church or believers church approach to Christian mission in whichsharing the gospel message disentangled rom Western industry and
militarism could become a proound practice o Christian peacemaking
a vessel or Godrsquos saving work
A983138983151983157983156 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147
From 98308998309710486301048628 to 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder taught a course on theology o mission at As-
sociated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries (AMBS)1048626
In 9830899830979830951048627 the coursesessions were recorded onto reel-to-reel audiocassettes and then re-
corded again in 9830899830979830951048630 however we could find only nine lectures rom the
9830899830979830951048630 course Yoder planned to have the lectures transcribed printed and
used or course material as he did with his lectures or the course
ldquoChristian Attitudes to War Peace and Revolutionrdquo983091 As Yoder said in a
memo to Wilbert Shenk in February 9830899830979830961048627 ldquoWe already have a taped
transcription rom the last time the course was offered six years ago It
is proposed that this be typed off and reproduced so the students can
read it prior to class session Tis would enable the same class ormat
which I have used in two other subjects or years and would also acil-
itate the preparation o an inormal publication such as had been done
with two o my other coursesrdquo983092
Like the war peace and revolution lectures Yoder thought that the
theology o mission lectures might someday be edited or publication as
a book In one memo he wrote in 9830899830979830951048627 Yoder hinted that he might want
to revise the lectures or publication at a uture date saying an inormal
transcription would be ldquoa separate question rom whether a more pol-
ished version should be created which would be visible or commercial
2Te seminary was renamed Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 9830909830881048625983090 Yoderrsquos course
was titled ldquoTeology o Missionrdquo not ldquoTeology o Missionsrdquo Tis reflected the shif in termi-
nology beginning to be accepted in response to the conceptual development rom the 1048625983097983093983088s o
missio Dei as the true source o missionary action Yoder however neither reers to this term nordiscusses the concept
3Posthumously edited and published as John Howard Yoder Christian Attitudes to War Peace and
Revolution ed Andy Alexis-Baker and ed Koontz (Grand Rapids Brazos Press 983090983088983088983097)4John H Yoder to Wilbert Shenk 1048628 February 10486259830979830961048627 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss
1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 10486259830961048625 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Editorsrsquo Preace 983097
publication either as a unit or in small segmentsrdquo1048629 He went on to in-
dicate that i he could get a sabbatical rom teaching he would be willing
to work on writing a book on mission based on the lecturesIn 9830899830979830961048628 Yoder lef AMBS and began teaching ull time at Notre Dame
where he no longer had the opportunity to teach about mission Te
tapes were stored away in a cellar at AMBS and orgotten In 9830909830889830881048630 Gayle
began teaching a course on Yoderrsquos theological legacy Several years later
when Wilbert Shenk was invited to class to reflect on Yoderrsquos contribu-
tions to mission theology and practice Shenk mentioned that some
ormer students had told him how ormative Yoderrsquos course on theologyo mission had been in their lives and ministry Shenk thought there
might be tapes o the lectures somewhere Afer a number o months o
ruitless searching the director o the AMBS library finally discovered
the ldquolostrdquo tapes in a box in the basement o the seminary
Immediately afer finding the recordings Andy set to work tran-
scribing the lectures so the two o us could see whether they were worth
publishing in book ormat At the same time we contacted the Yoder
amily representative and the AMBS Institute o Mennonite Studies
both encouraged us to proceed with the project Once we had tran-
scripts in hand we consulted with several missiologists and mission
staff persons and were encouraged by the enthusiastic response we re-
ceived We set to work editing the chapters
W983144983137983156 W983141 H983137983158983141 D983151983150983141 983156983151 983156983144983141 T983141983160983156
We have edited the course lectures significantly Te transcriptions were
obviously a replica o the spoken orm in which Yoder delivered the
lectures Although we wanted to preserve the more inormal oral
quality o Yoderrsquos voice in the final manuscript we repaired awkward or
unclear syntax changed passive to active voice where possible attended
to consistency in verb tense and reorganized or clarity some o the
material that we believe Yoder himsel would have done in preparing a
manuscript or publication We also added a number o transitional sen-tences or phrases where we thought such things were needed in a written
5Ibid
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983089983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
manuscript Finally we reduced the length o these lectures by careully
removing repetitious or unnecessary paragraphs sentences phrases or
words and by removing most o the class discussion material that ol-lowed the lectures
Because these chapters were delivered as lectures over several days
Yoder usually summarized the previous dayrsquos lecture to remind stu-
dents what they had heard I these summaries were done well we
sometimes used them in place o something he said in his lecture
Usually however these summaries were not needed and interrupted
the flow o the written text these we deleted In addition Yoder beganmany class sessions with prayer We removed the prayers because in his
course notes he clearly stated that he believed prayers should be spoken
rather than written
Since these were class lectures we developed all the ootnotes Some
o the ootnotes emerged rom questions in which a student wanted
Yoder to clariy something he spoke about in a lecture In general when
we elt material rom class discussion should be included we either
added a ootnote or incorporated the comments into the lecture itsel
Occasionally Yoder included reerences or other side comments in his
course lecture notes We included most o those notations in ootnotes
at the appropriate places as well When we thought it was needed we
added supplemental editorial ootnotes
We also added headings Sometimes the course notes already had
headings so we simply added them to the text Other times we created
them or ease o reading based on Yoderrsquos own wording in the lecture
or something he wrote in his notes Wherever possible we used his
own words
A983157983140983145983141983150983139983141
We envision several audiences or this book Seminary students and
proessors who are studying the theology o Christian mission may find
that this book gives a particularly helpul perspective on an Anabaptist view o mission rom one o the leading ethicists o the twentieth century
Tis book could serve as a textbook in missiology or ecclesiology In ad-
dition those who have ollowed Yoderrsquos work over the years will find
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1260
983089983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
logian who helped many to engage the Christian gospel in resh ways In
troubling contrast he is remembered also or his long-term sexual ha-
rassment o womenWe recognize the tensions involved in presenting the past work o
someone who so passionately called Christians to reconciling lives and
yet used his position o power to abuse others At the time o this publi-
cation a new effort is underway in Yoderrsquos ecclesial and teaching institu-
tions to understand and speak truthully about what happened while he
was a part o these communities with a view to bringing healing to
those who still suffer rom the consequences o his actionsIt is our hope that those in the academy and others studying Yoderrsquos
work will not dismiss the complexity o these issues but continue to
evaluate appropriate and criticize Yoderrsquos work in the ull context o his
scholarly ecclesial and personal legacy
In this project we have tried to honestly and aithully preserve the
various nuances o Yoderrsquos perspective on Christian mission hoping
that as he might have said it will point readers beyond himsel toward
the astonishing reconciling mission o God through Jesus Christ
Gayle Gerber Koontz
Andy Alexis-Baker
Elkhart Indiana May 9830909830889830891048627
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INTRODUCTION
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Teology
Context and Contribution
by Wilbert R Shenk
John Howard Yoderrsquos missional engagements represent an important
dimension o his personal commitment and public ministry yet
scholars have largely overlooked his contribution to mission thought
and practice His Anabaptist heritage European theological edu-
cation and practical engagements in mission leadership permitted
him to develop a believers church understanding o mission that
uniquely integrated biblical insights historical perspectives and
commitment to Jesusrsquo way o peace ecclesiology and ethics983089 His ideas
ofen pointed to later developments in mission theology and con-
tinue to resonate strongly todayDuring the years 9830899830971048628983097ndash9830899830971048630983097 Yoder was directly involved in
mission program leadership Ater 9830899830971048630983097 he took on increased aca-
demic administrative and teaching duties but he continued to con-
tribute in both practical and theoretical ways through consulting
with mission agencies and personnel participating in conerences
and writing
1Yoder began using ldquobelievers churchrdquo in the mid-1048625983097983094983088s likely to indicate a deeper ecclesiology
than communicated by the traditional ldquoree churchrdquo nomenclature which tended to be tied
primarily to the churchstate relationship
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
983089983097983092983097ndash983089983097983093983095 P983154983151983143983154983137983149 A983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983151983154 M983141983150983150983151983150983145983156983141 C983141983150983156983154983137983148
C983151983149983149983145983156983156983141983141 E983157983154983151983152983141
Yoder lef or Europe the spring o 9830899830971048628983097 During World War II the Men-nonite Central Committee (MCC) began sending volunteers to help war
sufferers and reugees1048626 Tis effort grew greatly ollowing the warrsquos end As
part o this expanded program Yoder was assigned to a childrenrsquos home in
Alsace Eastern France Te other part o his commission was to promote
Christian witness to peace ldquoa new sort o missionary work one in which
little has as yet been done but which offers great opportunity or creative
workrdquo983091
Harold S Bender assistant secretary o MCC defined Yoderrsquos as-signment in the context o urgent spiritual questions that Europeans were
raising How can people have hope when they have experienced two dev-
astating wars resulting in widespread destruction and displacement all
within the space o thirty years Te oundations o Western civilization
were crumbling and it was insufficient to be concerned only about physical
and material needs983092 Te loss o hope had taken a heavy toll across Europe
Yoder was soon introduced to the International Mennonite PeaceCommittee and later the Puiduix Teological Conerence an ecu-
menical group that met regularly to study ldquoTe Lordship o Christ over
Church and Staterdquo He lived and worked among the French Mennonites
one o the oldest Mennonite conerences in Europe At this time they
were divided between traditionalists committed to preserving the past
and younger people eager or a more vital and spiritually satisying
Christian aith Yoder was asked to assist French Mennonites in recon-
necting with their historical and theological heritage hoping this might
help overcome division and oster renewal o congregational lie It was
characteristic o Yoder that he maintained close and ruitul relations
with the French Mennonites on the one hand and quickly orged an
extensive network o interchurch and ecumenical contacts on the other
2For a uller biography o Yoderrsquos lie see Mark Tiessen Nation John Howard Yoder (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) pp 1048625-9830909830973Harold S Bender to John H Yoder August 1048625983088 10486259830971048628983096 983094 b1048628983090 Bender papers Mennonite
Church USA Archives Goshen IN4North American Mennonite mission executives visited Europe July 983090983097ndashAugust 10486251048628 1048625983097983093983088 to plan
or the next phase o ministry See Wilbert R Shenk An Experiment in Interagency Cooperation
(Elkhart IN Council o International Ministries 1048625983097983096983094) pp 983090-1048628
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983093
During this time Yoder and French Mennonite leaders were dis-
cussing possible collaboration between French and North American
Mennonites in new mission initiatives in France He reported to Men-nonite Board o Missions (MBM) that ldquothe social service program o
MCC is incomplete i it does not leadrdquo to evangelization But he cau-
tioned against any North American attempt to do evangelization alone1048629
His French interlocutors emphasized the importance o this being done
collaboratively with French leadership
Already in this early period Yoder was concerned with mission
strategy and theology Te spring o 9830899830979830931048628 he was part o a group hostedby the British Society o Friends While in Britain he and others visited
the Hutterian Wheathill Colony He reflected on this visit in an article
ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo contrasting the lack o attraction
o the typical church made up o nominal members with the evange-
listic appeal o a congregation characterized by dynamic koinōnia1048630
Te summer o 9830899830979830931048628 Yoder ended his service with MCC in order to
study church history and theology ull-time at the University o Basel
In early September however a major earthquake struck Orleacuteansville
Algeria killing a thousand people and causing widespread destruction1048631
For several years French Mennonites and American Mennonites
working in France had been discussing possible new ministry in Fran-
cophone North Arica Andreacute rocmeacute a French Reormed pastor and
the secretary o the International Fellowship o Reconciliation had an
interest in Islam and wanted to find practical ways o engaging with
Muslims He encouraged Mennonites to act
In response to this crisis Mennonite agencies agreed that MBM
would send a team o builders to Algeria French Mennonites also re-
cruited volunteers and helped provide oversight Yoder directed this
5John Howard Yoder to Mennonite Board o Missions ldquoReport on Mission Possibilities in
Francerdquo 983093 October 10486259830979830931048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-1048625983088 Box 983090 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN Special thanks to Colleen McFarland archivist who has been unail-
ingly helpul in locating materials6John Howard Yoder ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo Christian Ministry 983096 (JanuaryndashMarch
10486259830979830931048628) 983090983094-10486271048625 Republished in John Howard Yoder Radical Christian Discipleship ed John Nugent
Andy Alexis-Baker and Branson Parler (Harrisonburg VA Herald Press 9830909830881048625983090) pp 10486259830941048627-9830959830887Marian E Hostetler Algeria Where Mennonites and Muslims Met 983089983097852021852021ndash983089983097852023983096 (Elkhart IN np
9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048625-983095
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9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2060
983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2460
9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2660
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3060
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3260
1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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EDITORSrsquo PREFACE
In the past hal century many Christians have become skeptical about
Christian missionary efforts Western missionary organizations are
struggling more than ever to meet their budgets as donations wane
Missiology programs have a hard time attracting North American
students Ask people what first comes to mind when they think o
missions and one is likely to hear words such as colonialism violence
and disrespect All o this is understandable For many years Christian
mission was intertwined with the march o Western empires across
the rest o the world Missionaries were sometimes the first wave o a
long process that undermined other cultures and peoples Scholarly
books document this process983089 Popular fiction such as Chinua
Achebersquos Tings Fall Apart vividly narrates the way Christian mis-
sionaries bulldozed their way through non-Western cultures and en-
vironments to bring people their Western understanding o God and
the church Te good news was too ofen intertwined with the violent
machines o conquest
Anyone concerned about peace and justice has to wrestle with the
legacy o missions in the long advance o Western imperialism No eth-
icist or theologian rom the Mennonite tradition can avoid it Although
John Howard Yoder is best known or his work on issues o war and
peace the topic o this bookmdashtheology o missionmdashpreoccupied him
1For example see Luis Rivera A Violent Evangelism Te Political and Religious Conquest o the
Americas (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983090) and Richard Fletcher Te Barbarian Con-
version From Paganism to Christianity (New York Henry Holt 1048625983097983097983095)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
as a scholar teacher missionary and ecumenical dialogue partner or
most o his lie He sought to articulate a theological basis or a ree
church or believers church approach to Christian mission in whichsharing the gospel message disentangled rom Western industry and
militarism could become a proound practice o Christian peacemaking
a vessel or Godrsquos saving work
A983138983151983157983156 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147
From 98308998309710486301048628 to 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder taught a course on theology o mission at As-
sociated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries (AMBS)1048626
In 9830899830979830951048627 the coursesessions were recorded onto reel-to-reel audiocassettes and then re-
corded again in 9830899830979830951048630 however we could find only nine lectures rom the
9830899830979830951048630 course Yoder planned to have the lectures transcribed printed and
used or course material as he did with his lectures or the course
ldquoChristian Attitudes to War Peace and Revolutionrdquo983091 As Yoder said in a
memo to Wilbert Shenk in February 9830899830979830961048627 ldquoWe already have a taped
transcription rom the last time the course was offered six years ago It
is proposed that this be typed off and reproduced so the students can
read it prior to class session Tis would enable the same class ormat
which I have used in two other subjects or years and would also acil-
itate the preparation o an inormal publication such as had been done
with two o my other coursesrdquo983092
Like the war peace and revolution lectures Yoder thought that the
theology o mission lectures might someday be edited or publication as
a book In one memo he wrote in 9830899830979830951048627 Yoder hinted that he might want
to revise the lectures or publication at a uture date saying an inormal
transcription would be ldquoa separate question rom whether a more pol-
ished version should be created which would be visible or commercial
2Te seminary was renamed Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 9830909830881048625983090 Yoderrsquos course
was titled ldquoTeology o Missionrdquo not ldquoTeology o Missionsrdquo Tis reflected the shif in termi-
nology beginning to be accepted in response to the conceptual development rom the 1048625983097983093983088s o
missio Dei as the true source o missionary action Yoder however neither reers to this term nordiscusses the concept
3Posthumously edited and published as John Howard Yoder Christian Attitudes to War Peace and
Revolution ed Andy Alexis-Baker and ed Koontz (Grand Rapids Brazos Press 983090983088983088983097)4John H Yoder to Wilbert Shenk 1048628 February 10486259830979830961048627 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss
1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 10486259830961048625 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Editorsrsquo Preace 983097
publication either as a unit or in small segmentsrdquo1048629 He went on to in-
dicate that i he could get a sabbatical rom teaching he would be willing
to work on writing a book on mission based on the lecturesIn 9830899830979830961048628 Yoder lef AMBS and began teaching ull time at Notre Dame
where he no longer had the opportunity to teach about mission Te
tapes were stored away in a cellar at AMBS and orgotten In 9830909830889830881048630 Gayle
began teaching a course on Yoderrsquos theological legacy Several years later
when Wilbert Shenk was invited to class to reflect on Yoderrsquos contribu-
tions to mission theology and practice Shenk mentioned that some
ormer students had told him how ormative Yoderrsquos course on theologyo mission had been in their lives and ministry Shenk thought there
might be tapes o the lectures somewhere Afer a number o months o
ruitless searching the director o the AMBS library finally discovered
the ldquolostrdquo tapes in a box in the basement o the seminary
Immediately afer finding the recordings Andy set to work tran-
scribing the lectures so the two o us could see whether they were worth
publishing in book ormat At the same time we contacted the Yoder
amily representative and the AMBS Institute o Mennonite Studies
both encouraged us to proceed with the project Once we had tran-
scripts in hand we consulted with several missiologists and mission
staff persons and were encouraged by the enthusiastic response we re-
ceived We set to work editing the chapters
W983144983137983156 W983141 H983137983158983141 D983151983150983141 983156983151 983156983144983141 T983141983160983156
We have edited the course lectures significantly Te transcriptions were
obviously a replica o the spoken orm in which Yoder delivered the
lectures Although we wanted to preserve the more inormal oral
quality o Yoderrsquos voice in the final manuscript we repaired awkward or
unclear syntax changed passive to active voice where possible attended
to consistency in verb tense and reorganized or clarity some o the
material that we believe Yoder himsel would have done in preparing a
manuscript or publication We also added a number o transitional sen-tences or phrases where we thought such things were needed in a written
5Ibid
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983089983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
manuscript Finally we reduced the length o these lectures by careully
removing repetitious or unnecessary paragraphs sentences phrases or
words and by removing most o the class discussion material that ol-lowed the lectures
Because these chapters were delivered as lectures over several days
Yoder usually summarized the previous dayrsquos lecture to remind stu-
dents what they had heard I these summaries were done well we
sometimes used them in place o something he said in his lecture
Usually however these summaries were not needed and interrupted
the flow o the written text these we deleted In addition Yoder beganmany class sessions with prayer We removed the prayers because in his
course notes he clearly stated that he believed prayers should be spoken
rather than written
Since these were class lectures we developed all the ootnotes Some
o the ootnotes emerged rom questions in which a student wanted
Yoder to clariy something he spoke about in a lecture In general when
we elt material rom class discussion should be included we either
added a ootnote or incorporated the comments into the lecture itsel
Occasionally Yoder included reerences or other side comments in his
course lecture notes We included most o those notations in ootnotes
at the appropriate places as well When we thought it was needed we
added supplemental editorial ootnotes
We also added headings Sometimes the course notes already had
headings so we simply added them to the text Other times we created
them or ease o reading based on Yoderrsquos own wording in the lecture
or something he wrote in his notes Wherever possible we used his
own words
A983157983140983145983141983150983139983141
We envision several audiences or this book Seminary students and
proessors who are studying the theology o Christian mission may find
that this book gives a particularly helpul perspective on an Anabaptist view o mission rom one o the leading ethicists o the twentieth century
Tis book could serve as a textbook in missiology or ecclesiology In ad-
dition those who have ollowed Yoderrsquos work over the years will find
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1160
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1260
983089983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
logian who helped many to engage the Christian gospel in resh ways In
troubling contrast he is remembered also or his long-term sexual ha-
rassment o womenWe recognize the tensions involved in presenting the past work o
someone who so passionately called Christians to reconciling lives and
yet used his position o power to abuse others At the time o this publi-
cation a new effort is underway in Yoderrsquos ecclesial and teaching institu-
tions to understand and speak truthully about what happened while he
was a part o these communities with a view to bringing healing to
those who still suffer rom the consequences o his actionsIt is our hope that those in the academy and others studying Yoderrsquos
work will not dismiss the complexity o these issues but continue to
evaluate appropriate and criticize Yoderrsquos work in the ull context o his
scholarly ecclesial and personal legacy
In this project we have tried to honestly and aithully preserve the
various nuances o Yoderrsquos perspective on Christian mission hoping
that as he might have said it will point readers beyond himsel toward
the astonishing reconciling mission o God through Jesus Christ
Gayle Gerber Koontz
Andy Alexis-Baker
Elkhart Indiana May 9830909830889830891048627
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INTRODUCTION
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Teology
Context and Contribution
by Wilbert R Shenk
John Howard Yoderrsquos missional engagements represent an important
dimension o his personal commitment and public ministry yet
scholars have largely overlooked his contribution to mission thought
and practice His Anabaptist heritage European theological edu-
cation and practical engagements in mission leadership permitted
him to develop a believers church understanding o mission that
uniquely integrated biblical insights historical perspectives and
commitment to Jesusrsquo way o peace ecclesiology and ethics983089 His ideas
ofen pointed to later developments in mission theology and con-
tinue to resonate strongly todayDuring the years 9830899830971048628983097ndash9830899830971048630983097 Yoder was directly involved in
mission program leadership Ater 9830899830971048630983097 he took on increased aca-
demic administrative and teaching duties but he continued to con-
tribute in both practical and theoretical ways through consulting
with mission agencies and personnel participating in conerences
and writing
1Yoder began using ldquobelievers churchrdquo in the mid-1048625983097983094983088s likely to indicate a deeper ecclesiology
than communicated by the traditional ldquoree churchrdquo nomenclature which tended to be tied
primarily to the churchstate relationship
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9830891048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
983089983097983092983097ndash983089983097983093983095 P983154983151983143983154983137983149 A983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983151983154 M983141983150983150983151983150983145983156983141 C983141983150983156983154983137983148
C983151983149983149983145983156983156983141983141 E983157983154983151983152983141
Yoder lef or Europe the spring o 9830899830971048628983097 During World War II the Men-nonite Central Committee (MCC) began sending volunteers to help war
sufferers and reugees1048626 Tis effort grew greatly ollowing the warrsquos end As
part o this expanded program Yoder was assigned to a childrenrsquos home in
Alsace Eastern France Te other part o his commission was to promote
Christian witness to peace ldquoa new sort o missionary work one in which
little has as yet been done but which offers great opportunity or creative
workrdquo983091
Harold S Bender assistant secretary o MCC defined Yoderrsquos as-signment in the context o urgent spiritual questions that Europeans were
raising How can people have hope when they have experienced two dev-
astating wars resulting in widespread destruction and displacement all
within the space o thirty years Te oundations o Western civilization
were crumbling and it was insufficient to be concerned only about physical
and material needs983092 Te loss o hope had taken a heavy toll across Europe
Yoder was soon introduced to the International Mennonite PeaceCommittee and later the Puiduix Teological Conerence an ecu-
menical group that met regularly to study ldquoTe Lordship o Christ over
Church and Staterdquo He lived and worked among the French Mennonites
one o the oldest Mennonite conerences in Europe At this time they
were divided between traditionalists committed to preserving the past
and younger people eager or a more vital and spiritually satisying
Christian aith Yoder was asked to assist French Mennonites in recon-
necting with their historical and theological heritage hoping this might
help overcome division and oster renewal o congregational lie It was
characteristic o Yoder that he maintained close and ruitul relations
with the French Mennonites on the one hand and quickly orged an
extensive network o interchurch and ecumenical contacts on the other
2For a uller biography o Yoderrsquos lie see Mark Tiessen Nation John Howard Yoder (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) pp 1048625-9830909830973Harold S Bender to John H Yoder August 1048625983088 10486259830971048628983096 983094 b1048628983090 Bender papers Mennonite
Church USA Archives Goshen IN4North American Mennonite mission executives visited Europe July 983090983097ndashAugust 10486251048628 1048625983097983093983088 to plan
or the next phase o ministry See Wilbert R Shenk An Experiment in Interagency Cooperation
(Elkhart IN Council o International Ministries 1048625983097983096983094) pp 983090-1048628
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Introduction 983089983093
During this time Yoder and French Mennonite leaders were dis-
cussing possible collaboration between French and North American
Mennonites in new mission initiatives in France He reported to Men-nonite Board o Missions (MBM) that ldquothe social service program o
MCC is incomplete i it does not leadrdquo to evangelization But he cau-
tioned against any North American attempt to do evangelization alone1048629
His French interlocutors emphasized the importance o this being done
collaboratively with French leadership
Already in this early period Yoder was concerned with mission
strategy and theology Te spring o 9830899830979830931048628 he was part o a group hostedby the British Society o Friends While in Britain he and others visited
the Hutterian Wheathill Colony He reflected on this visit in an article
ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo contrasting the lack o attraction
o the typical church made up o nominal members with the evange-
listic appeal o a congregation characterized by dynamic koinōnia1048630
Te summer o 9830899830979830931048628 Yoder ended his service with MCC in order to
study church history and theology ull-time at the University o Basel
In early September however a major earthquake struck Orleacuteansville
Algeria killing a thousand people and causing widespread destruction1048631
For several years French Mennonites and American Mennonites
working in France had been discussing possible new ministry in Fran-
cophone North Arica Andreacute rocmeacute a French Reormed pastor and
the secretary o the International Fellowship o Reconciliation had an
interest in Islam and wanted to find practical ways o engaging with
Muslims He encouraged Mennonites to act
In response to this crisis Mennonite agencies agreed that MBM
would send a team o builders to Algeria French Mennonites also re-
cruited volunteers and helped provide oversight Yoder directed this
5John Howard Yoder to Mennonite Board o Missions ldquoReport on Mission Possibilities in
Francerdquo 983093 October 10486259830979830931048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-1048625983088 Box 983090 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN Special thanks to Colleen McFarland archivist who has been unail-
ingly helpul in locating materials6John Howard Yoder ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo Christian Ministry 983096 (JanuaryndashMarch
10486259830979830931048628) 983090983094-10486271048625 Republished in John Howard Yoder Radical Christian Discipleship ed John Nugent
Andy Alexis-Baker and Branson Parler (Harrisonburg VA Herald Press 9830909830881048625983090) pp 10486259830941048627-9830959830887Marian E Hostetler Algeria Where Mennonites and Muslims Met 983089983097852021852021ndash983089983097852023983096 (Elkhart IN np
9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048625-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3160
Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 4160
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
as a scholar teacher missionary and ecumenical dialogue partner or
most o his lie He sought to articulate a theological basis or a ree
church or believers church approach to Christian mission in whichsharing the gospel message disentangled rom Western industry and
militarism could become a proound practice o Christian peacemaking
a vessel or Godrsquos saving work
A983138983151983157983156 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147
From 98308998309710486301048628 to 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder taught a course on theology o mission at As-
sociated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries (AMBS)1048626
In 9830899830979830951048627 the coursesessions were recorded onto reel-to-reel audiocassettes and then re-
corded again in 9830899830979830951048630 however we could find only nine lectures rom the
9830899830979830951048630 course Yoder planned to have the lectures transcribed printed and
used or course material as he did with his lectures or the course
ldquoChristian Attitudes to War Peace and Revolutionrdquo983091 As Yoder said in a
memo to Wilbert Shenk in February 9830899830979830961048627 ldquoWe already have a taped
transcription rom the last time the course was offered six years ago It
is proposed that this be typed off and reproduced so the students can
read it prior to class session Tis would enable the same class ormat
which I have used in two other subjects or years and would also acil-
itate the preparation o an inormal publication such as had been done
with two o my other coursesrdquo983092
Like the war peace and revolution lectures Yoder thought that the
theology o mission lectures might someday be edited or publication as
a book In one memo he wrote in 9830899830979830951048627 Yoder hinted that he might want
to revise the lectures or publication at a uture date saying an inormal
transcription would be ldquoa separate question rom whether a more pol-
ished version should be created which would be visible or commercial
2Te seminary was renamed Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 9830909830881048625983090 Yoderrsquos course
was titled ldquoTeology o Missionrdquo not ldquoTeology o Missionsrdquo Tis reflected the shif in termi-
nology beginning to be accepted in response to the conceptual development rom the 1048625983097983093983088s o
missio Dei as the true source o missionary action Yoder however neither reers to this term nordiscusses the concept
3Posthumously edited and published as John Howard Yoder Christian Attitudes to War Peace and
Revolution ed Andy Alexis-Baker and ed Koontz (Grand Rapids Brazos Press 983090983088983088983097)4John H Yoder to Wilbert Shenk 1048628 February 10486259830979830961048627 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss
1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 10486259830961048625 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
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Editorsrsquo Preace 983097
publication either as a unit or in small segmentsrdquo1048629 He went on to in-
dicate that i he could get a sabbatical rom teaching he would be willing
to work on writing a book on mission based on the lecturesIn 9830899830979830961048628 Yoder lef AMBS and began teaching ull time at Notre Dame
where he no longer had the opportunity to teach about mission Te
tapes were stored away in a cellar at AMBS and orgotten In 9830909830889830881048630 Gayle
began teaching a course on Yoderrsquos theological legacy Several years later
when Wilbert Shenk was invited to class to reflect on Yoderrsquos contribu-
tions to mission theology and practice Shenk mentioned that some
ormer students had told him how ormative Yoderrsquos course on theologyo mission had been in their lives and ministry Shenk thought there
might be tapes o the lectures somewhere Afer a number o months o
ruitless searching the director o the AMBS library finally discovered
the ldquolostrdquo tapes in a box in the basement o the seminary
Immediately afer finding the recordings Andy set to work tran-
scribing the lectures so the two o us could see whether they were worth
publishing in book ormat At the same time we contacted the Yoder
amily representative and the AMBS Institute o Mennonite Studies
both encouraged us to proceed with the project Once we had tran-
scripts in hand we consulted with several missiologists and mission
staff persons and were encouraged by the enthusiastic response we re-
ceived We set to work editing the chapters
W983144983137983156 W983141 H983137983158983141 D983151983150983141 983156983151 983156983144983141 T983141983160983156
We have edited the course lectures significantly Te transcriptions were
obviously a replica o the spoken orm in which Yoder delivered the
lectures Although we wanted to preserve the more inormal oral
quality o Yoderrsquos voice in the final manuscript we repaired awkward or
unclear syntax changed passive to active voice where possible attended
to consistency in verb tense and reorganized or clarity some o the
material that we believe Yoder himsel would have done in preparing a
manuscript or publication We also added a number o transitional sen-tences or phrases where we thought such things were needed in a written
5Ibid
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983089983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
manuscript Finally we reduced the length o these lectures by careully
removing repetitious or unnecessary paragraphs sentences phrases or
words and by removing most o the class discussion material that ol-lowed the lectures
Because these chapters were delivered as lectures over several days
Yoder usually summarized the previous dayrsquos lecture to remind stu-
dents what they had heard I these summaries were done well we
sometimes used them in place o something he said in his lecture
Usually however these summaries were not needed and interrupted
the flow o the written text these we deleted In addition Yoder beganmany class sessions with prayer We removed the prayers because in his
course notes he clearly stated that he believed prayers should be spoken
rather than written
Since these were class lectures we developed all the ootnotes Some
o the ootnotes emerged rom questions in which a student wanted
Yoder to clariy something he spoke about in a lecture In general when
we elt material rom class discussion should be included we either
added a ootnote or incorporated the comments into the lecture itsel
Occasionally Yoder included reerences or other side comments in his
course lecture notes We included most o those notations in ootnotes
at the appropriate places as well When we thought it was needed we
added supplemental editorial ootnotes
We also added headings Sometimes the course notes already had
headings so we simply added them to the text Other times we created
them or ease o reading based on Yoderrsquos own wording in the lecture
or something he wrote in his notes Wherever possible we used his
own words
A983157983140983145983141983150983139983141
We envision several audiences or this book Seminary students and
proessors who are studying the theology o Christian mission may find
that this book gives a particularly helpul perspective on an Anabaptist view o mission rom one o the leading ethicists o the twentieth century
Tis book could serve as a textbook in missiology or ecclesiology In ad-
dition those who have ollowed Yoderrsquos work over the years will find
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1260
983089983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
logian who helped many to engage the Christian gospel in resh ways In
troubling contrast he is remembered also or his long-term sexual ha-
rassment o womenWe recognize the tensions involved in presenting the past work o
someone who so passionately called Christians to reconciling lives and
yet used his position o power to abuse others At the time o this publi-
cation a new effort is underway in Yoderrsquos ecclesial and teaching institu-
tions to understand and speak truthully about what happened while he
was a part o these communities with a view to bringing healing to
those who still suffer rom the consequences o his actionsIt is our hope that those in the academy and others studying Yoderrsquos
work will not dismiss the complexity o these issues but continue to
evaluate appropriate and criticize Yoderrsquos work in the ull context o his
scholarly ecclesial and personal legacy
In this project we have tried to honestly and aithully preserve the
various nuances o Yoderrsquos perspective on Christian mission hoping
that as he might have said it will point readers beyond himsel toward
the astonishing reconciling mission o God through Jesus Christ
Gayle Gerber Koontz
Andy Alexis-Baker
Elkhart Indiana May 9830909830889830891048627
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INTRODUCTION
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Teology
Context and Contribution
by Wilbert R Shenk
John Howard Yoderrsquos missional engagements represent an important
dimension o his personal commitment and public ministry yet
scholars have largely overlooked his contribution to mission thought
and practice His Anabaptist heritage European theological edu-
cation and practical engagements in mission leadership permitted
him to develop a believers church understanding o mission that
uniquely integrated biblical insights historical perspectives and
commitment to Jesusrsquo way o peace ecclesiology and ethics983089 His ideas
ofen pointed to later developments in mission theology and con-
tinue to resonate strongly todayDuring the years 9830899830971048628983097ndash9830899830971048630983097 Yoder was directly involved in
mission program leadership Ater 9830899830971048630983097 he took on increased aca-
demic administrative and teaching duties but he continued to con-
tribute in both practical and theoretical ways through consulting
with mission agencies and personnel participating in conerences
and writing
1Yoder began using ldquobelievers churchrdquo in the mid-1048625983097983094983088s likely to indicate a deeper ecclesiology
than communicated by the traditional ldquoree churchrdquo nomenclature which tended to be tied
primarily to the churchstate relationship
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9830891048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
983089983097983092983097ndash983089983097983093983095 P983154983151983143983154983137983149 A983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983151983154 M983141983150983150983151983150983145983156983141 C983141983150983156983154983137983148
C983151983149983149983145983156983156983141983141 E983157983154983151983152983141
Yoder lef or Europe the spring o 9830899830971048628983097 During World War II the Men-nonite Central Committee (MCC) began sending volunteers to help war
sufferers and reugees1048626 Tis effort grew greatly ollowing the warrsquos end As
part o this expanded program Yoder was assigned to a childrenrsquos home in
Alsace Eastern France Te other part o his commission was to promote
Christian witness to peace ldquoa new sort o missionary work one in which
little has as yet been done but which offers great opportunity or creative
workrdquo983091
Harold S Bender assistant secretary o MCC defined Yoderrsquos as-signment in the context o urgent spiritual questions that Europeans were
raising How can people have hope when they have experienced two dev-
astating wars resulting in widespread destruction and displacement all
within the space o thirty years Te oundations o Western civilization
were crumbling and it was insufficient to be concerned only about physical
and material needs983092 Te loss o hope had taken a heavy toll across Europe
Yoder was soon introduced to the International Mennonite PeaceCommittee and later the Puiduix Teological Conerence an ecu-
menical group that met regularly to study ldquoTe Lordship o Christ over
Church and Staterdquo He lived and worked among the French Mennonites
one o the oldest Mennonite conerences in Europe At this time they
were divided between traditionalists committed to preserving the past
and younger people eager or a more vital and spiritually satisying
Christian aith Yoder was asked to assist French Mennonites in recon-
necting with their historical and theological heritage hoping this might
help overcome division and oster renewal o congregational lie It was
characteristic o Yoder that he maintained close and ruitul relations
with the French Mennonites on the one hand and quickly orged an
extensive network o interchurch and ecumenical contacts on the other
2For a uller biography o Yoderrsquos lie see Mark Tiessen Nation John Howard Yoder (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) pp 1048625-9830909830973Harold S Bender to John H Yoder August 1048625983088 10486259830971048628983096 983094 b1048628983090 Bender papers Mennonite
Church USA Archives Goshen IN4North American Mennonite mission executives visited Europe July 983090983097ndashAugust 10486251048628 1048625983097983093983088 to plan
or the next phase o ministry See Wilbert R Shenk An Experiment in Interagency Cooperation
(Elkhart IN Council o International Ministries 1048625983097983096983094) pp 983090-1048628
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983093
During this time Yoder and French Mennonite leaders were dis-
cussing possible collaboration between French and North American
Mennonites in new mission initiatives in France He reported to Men-nonite Board o Missions (MBM) that ldquothe social service program o
MCC is incomplete i it does not leadrdquo to evangelization But he cau-
tioned against any North American attempt to do evangelization alone1048629
His French interlocutors emphasized the importance o this being done
collaboratively with French leadership
Already in this early period Yoder was concerned with mission
strategy and theology Te spring o 9830899830979830931048628 he was part o a group hostedby the British Society o Friends While in Britain he and others visited
the Hutterian Wheathill Colony He reflected on this visit in an article
ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo contrasting the lack o attraction
o the typical church made up o nominal members with the evange-
listic appeal o a congregation characterized by dynamic koinōnia1048630
Te summer o 9830899830979830931048628 Yoder ended his service with MCC in order to
study church history and theology ull-time at the University o Basel
In early September however a major earthquake struck Orleacuteansville
Algeria killing a thousand people and causing widespread destruction1048631
For several years French Mennonites and American Mennonites
working in France had been discussing possible new ministry in Fran-
cophone North Arica Andreacute rocmeacute a French Reormed pastor and
the secretary o the International Fellowship o Reconciliation had an
interest in Islam and wanted to find practical ways o engaging with
Muslims He encouraged Mennonites to act
In response to this crisis Mennonite agencies agreed that MBM
would send a team o builders to Algeria French Mennonites also re-
cruited volunteers and helped provide oversight Yoder directed this
5John Howard Yoder to Mennonite Board o Missions ldquoReport on Mission Possibilities in
Francerdquo 983093 October 10486259830979830931048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-1048625983088 Box 983090 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN Special thanks to Colleen McFarland archivist who has been unail-
ingly helpul in locating materials6John Howard Yoder ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo Christian Ministry 983096 (JanuaryndashMarch
10486259830979830931048628) 983090983094-10486271048625 Republished in John Howard Yoder Radical Christian Discipleship ed John Nugent
Andy Alexis-Baker and Branson Parler (Harrisonburg VA Herald Press 9830909830881048625983090) pp 10486259830941048627-9830959830887Marian E Hostetler Algeria Where Mennonites and Muslims Met 983089983097852021852021ndash983089983097852023983096 (Elkhart IN np
9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048625-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1960
Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2660
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 4160
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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Editorsrsquo Preace 983097
publication either as a unit or in small segmentsrdquo1048629 He went on to in-
dicate that i he could get a sabbatical rom teaching he would be willing
to work on writing a book on mission based on the lecturesIn 9830899830979830961048628 Yoder lef AMBS and began teaching ull time at Notre Dame
where he no longer had the opportunity to teach about mission Te
tapes were stored away in a cellar at AMBS and orgotten In 9830909830889830881048630 Gayle
began teaching a course on Yoderrsquos theological legacy Several years later
when Wilbert Shenk was invited to class to reflect on Yoderrsquos contribu-
tions to mission theology and practice Shenk mentioned that some
ormer students had told him how ormative Yoderrsquos course on theologyo mission had been in their lives and ministry Shenk thought there
might be tapes o the lectures somewhere Afer a number o months o
ruitless searching the director o the AMBS library finally discovered
the ldquolostrdquo tapes in a box in the basement o the seminary
Immediately afer finding the recordings Andy set to work tran-
scribing the lectures so the two o us could see whether they were worth
publishing in book ormat At the same time we contacted the Yoder
amily representative and the AMBS Institute o Mennonite Studies
both encouraged us to proceed with the project Once we had tran-
scripts in hand we consulted with several missiologists and mission
staff persons and were encouraged by the enthusiastic response we re-
ceived We set to work editing the chapters
W983144983137983156 W983141 H983137983158983141 D983151983150983141 983156983151 983156983144983141 T983141983160983156
We have edited the course lectures significantly Te transcriptions were
obviously a replica o the spoken orm in which Yoder delivered the
lectures Although we wanted to preserve the more inormal oral
quality o Yoderrsquos voice in the final manuscript we repaired awkward or
unclear syntax changed passive to active voice where possible attended
to consistency in verb tense and reorganized or clarity some o the
material that we believe Yoder himsel would have done in preparing a
manuscript or publication We also added a number o transitional sen-tences or phrases where we thought such things were needed in a written
5Ibid
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983089983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
manuscript Finally we reduced the length o these lectures by careully
removing repetitious or unnecessary paragraphs sentences phrases or
words and by removing most o the class discussion material that ol-lowed the lectures
Because these chapters were delivered as lectures over several days
Yoder usually summarized the previous dayrsquos lecture to remind stu-
dents what they had heard I these summaries were done well we
sometimes used them in place o something he said in his lecture
Usually however these summaries were not needed and interrupted
the flow o the written text these we deleted In addition Yoder beganmany class sessions with prayer We removed the prayers because in his
course notes he clearly stated that he believed prayers should be spoken
rather than written
Since these were class lectures we developed all the ootnotes Some
o the ootnotes emerged rom questions in which a student wanted
Yoder to clariy something he spoke about in a lecture In general when
we elt material rom class discussion should be included we either
added a ootnote or incorporated the comments into the lecture itsel
Occasionally Yoder included reerences or other side comments in his
course lecture notes We included most o those notations in ootnotes
at the appropriate places as well When we thought it was needed we
added supplemental editorial ootnotes
We also added headings Sometimes the course notes already had
headings so we simply added them to the text Other times we created
them or ease o reading based on Yoderrsquos own wording in the lecture
or something he wrote in his notes Wherever possible we used his
own words
A983157983140983145983141983150983139983141
We envision several audiences or this book Seminary students and
proessors who are studying the theology o Christian mission may find
that this book gives a particularly helpul perspective on an Anabaptist view o mission rom one o the leading ethicists o the twentieth century
Tis book could serve as a textbook in missiology or ecclesiology In ad-
dition those who have ollowed Yoderrsquos work over the years will find
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1260
983089983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
logian who helped many to engage the Christian gospel in resh ways In
troubling contrast he is remembered also or his long-term sexual ha-
rassment o womenWe recognize the tensions involved in presenting the past work o
someone who so passionately called Christians to reconciling lives and
yet used his position o power to abuse others At the time o this publi-
cation a new effort is underway in Yoderrsquos ecclesial and teaching institu-
tions to understand and speak truthully about what happened while he
was a part o these communities with a view to bringing healing to
those who still suffer rom the consequences o his actionsIt is our hope that those in the academy and others studying Yoderrsquos
work will not dismiss the complexity o these issues but continue to
evaluate appropriate and criticize Yoderrsquos work in the ull context o his
scholarly ecclesial and personal legacy
In this project we have tried to honestly and aithully preserve the
various nuances o Yoderrsquos perspective on Christian mission hoping
that as he might have said it will point readers beyond himsel toward
the astonishing reconciling mission o God through Jesus Christ
Gayle Gerber Koontz
Andy Alexis-Baker
Elkhart Indiana May 9830909830889830891048627
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INTRODUCTION
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Teology
Context and Contribution
by Wilbert R Shenk
John Howard Yoderrsquos missional engagements represent an important
dimension o his personal commitment and public ministry yet
scholars have largely overlooked his contribution to mission thought
and practice His Anabaptist heritage European theological edu-
cation and practical engagements in mission leadership permitted
him to develop a believers church understanding o mission that
uniquely integrated biblical insights historical perspectives and
commitment to Jesusrsquo way o peace ecclesiology and ethics983089 His ideas
ofen pointed to later developments in mission theology and con-
tinue to resonate strongly todayDuring the years 9830899830971048628983097ndash9830899830971048630983097 Yoder was directly involved in
mission program leadership Ater 9830899830971048630983097 he took on increased aca-
demic administrative and teaching duties but he continued to con-
tribute in both practical and theoretical ways through consulting
with mission agencies and personnel participating in conerences
and writing
1Yoder began using ldquobelievers churchrdquo in the mid-1048625983097983094983088s likely to indicate a deeper ecclesiology
than communicated by the traditional ldquoree churchrdquo nomenclature which tended to be tied
primarily to the churchstate relationship
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
983089983097983092983097ndash983089983097983093983095 P983154983151983143983154983137983149 A983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983151983154 M983141983150983150983151983150983145983156983141 C983141983150983156983154983137983148
C983151983149983149983145983156983156983141983141 E983157983154983151983152983141
Yoder lef or Europe the spring o 9830899830971048628983097 During World War II the Men-nonite Central Committee (MCC) began sending volunteers to help war
sufferers and reugees1048626 Tis effort grew greatly ollowing the warrsquos end As
part o this expanded program Yoder was assigned to a childrenrsquos home in
Alsace Eastern France Te other part o his commission was to promote
Christian witness to peace ldquoa new sort o missionary work one in which
little has as yet been done but which offers great opportunity or creative
workrdquo983091
Harold S Bender assistant secretary o MCC defined Yoderrsquos as-signment in the context o urgent spiritual questions that Europeans were
raising How can people have hope when they have experienced two dev-
astating wars resulting in widespread destruction and displacement all
within the space o thirty years Te oundations o Western civilization
were crumbling and it was insufficient to be concerned only about physical
and material needs983092 Te loss o hope had taken a heavy toll across Europe
Yoder was soon introduced to the International Mennonite PeaceCommittee and later the Puiduix Teological Conerence an ecu-
menical group that met regularly to study ldquoTe Lordship o Christ over
Church and Staterdquo He lived and worked among the French Mennonites
one o the oldest Mennonite conerences in Europe At this time they
were divided between traditionalists committed to preserving the past
and younger people eager or a more vital and spiritually satisying
Christian aith Yoder was asked to assist French Mennonites in recon-
necting with their historical and theological heritage hoping this might
help overcome division and oster renewal o congregational lie It was
characteristic o Yoder that he maintained close and ruitul relations
with the French Mennonites on the one hand and quickly orged an
extensive network o interchurch and ecumenical contacts on the other
2For a uller biography o Yoderrsquos lie see Mark Tiessen Nation John Howard Yoder (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) pp 1048625-9830909830973Harold S Bender to John H Yoder August 1048625983088 10486259830971048628983096 983094 b1048628983090 Bender papers Mennonite
Church USA Archives Goshen IN4North American Mennonite mission executives visited Europe July 983090983097ndashAugust 10486251048628 1048625983097983093983088 to plan
or the next phase o ministry See Wilbert R Shenk An Experiment in Interagency Cooperation
(Elkhart IN Council o International Ministries 1048625983097983096983094) pp 983090-1048628
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983093
During this time Yoder and French Mennonite leaders were dis-
cussing possible collaboration between French and North American
Mennonites in new mission initiatives in France He reported to Men-nonite Board o Missions (MBM) that ldquothe social service program o
MCC is incomplete i it does not leadrdquo to evangelization But he cau-
tioned against any North American attempt to do evangelization alone1048629
His French interlocutors emphasized the importance o this being done
collaboratively with French leadership
Already in this early period Yoder was concerned with mission
strategy and theology Te spring o 9830899830979830931048628 he was part o a group hostedby the British Society o Friends While in Britain he and others visited
the Hutterian Wheathill Colony He reflected on this visit in an article
ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo contrasting the lack o attraction
o the typical church made up o nominal members with the evange-
listic appeal o a congregation characterized by dynamic koinōnia1048630
Te summer o 9830899830979830931048628 Yoder ended his service with MCC in order to
study church history and theology ull-time at the University o Basel
In early September however a major earthquake struck Orleacuteansville
Algeria killing a thousand people and causing widespread destruction1048631
For several years French Mennonites and American Mennonites
working in France had been discussing possible new ministry in Fran-
cophone North Arica Andreacute rocmeacute a French Reormed pastor and
the secretary o the International Fellowship o Reconciliation had an
interest in Islam and wanted to find practical ways o engaging with
Muslims He encouraged Mennonites to act
In response to this crisis Mennonite agencies agreed that MBM
would send a team o builders to Algeria French Mennonites also re-
cruited volunteers and helped provide oversight Yoder directed this
5John Howard Yoder to Mennonite Board o Missions ldquoReport on Mission Possibilities in
Francerdquo 983093 October 10486259830979830931048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-1048625983088 Box 983090 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN Special thanks to Colleen McFarland archivist who has been unail-
ingly helpul in locating materials6John Howard Yoder ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo Christian Ministry 983096 (JanuaryndashMarch
10486259830979830931048628) 983090983094-10486271048625 Republished in John Howard Yoder Radical Christian Discipleship ed John Nugent
Andy Alexis-Baker and Branson Parler (Harrisonburg VA Herald Press 9830909830881048625983090) pp 10486259830941048627-9830959830887Marian E Hostetler Algeria Where Mennonites and Muslims Met 983089983097852021852021ndash983089983097852023983096 (Elkhart IN np
9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048625-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1660
9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1960
Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2260
983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2660
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 4160
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5460
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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983089983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
manuscript Finally we reduced the length o these lectures by careully
removing repetitious or unnecessary paragraphs sentences phrases or
words and by removing most o the class discussion material that ol-lowed the lectures
Because these chapters were delivered as lectures over several days
Yoder usually summarized the previous dayrsquos lecture to remind stu-
dents what they had heard I these summaries were done well we
sometimes used them in place o something he said in his lecture
Usually however these summaries were not needed and interrupted
the flow o the written text these we deleted In addition Yoder beganmany class sessions with prayer We removed the prayers because in his
course notes he clearly stated that he believed prayers should be spoken
rather than written
Since these were class lectures we developed all the ootnotes Some
o the ootnotes emerged rom questions in which a student wanted
Yoder to clariy something he spoke about in a lecture In general when
we elt material rom class discussion should be included we either
added a ootnote or incorporated the comments into the lecture itsel
Occasionally Yoder included reerences or other side comments in his
course lecture notes We included most o those notations in ootnotes
at the appropriate places as well When we thought it was needed we
added supplemental editorial ootnotes
We also added headings Sometimes the course notes already had
headings so we simply added them to the text Other times we created
them or ease o reading based on Yoderrsquos own wording in the lecture
or something he wrote in his notes Wherever possible we used his
own words
A983157983140983145983141983150983139983141
We envision several audiences or this book Seminary students and
proessors who are studying the theology o Christian mission may find
that this book gives a particularly helpul perspective on an Anabaptist view o mission rom one o the leading ethicists o the twentieth century
Tis book could serve as a textbook in missiology or ecclesiology In ad-
dition those who have ollowed Yoderrsquos work over the years will find
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1260
983089983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
logian who helped many to engage the Christian gospel in resh ways In
troubling contrast he is remembered also or his long-term sexual ha-
rassment o womenWe recognize the tensions involved in presenting the past work o
someone who so passionately called Christians to reconciling lives and
yet used his position o power to abuse others At the time o this publi-
cation a new effort is underway in Yoderrsquos ecclesial and teaching institu-
tions to understand and speak truthully about what happened while he
was a part o these communities with a view to bringing healing to
those who still suffer rom the consequences o his actionsIt is our hope that those in the academy and others studying Yoderrsquos
work will not dismiss the complexity o these issues but continue to
evaluate appropriate and criticize Yoderrsquos work in the ull context o his
scholarly ecclesial and personal legacy
In this project we have tried to honestly and aithully preserve the
various nuances o Yoderrsquos perspective on Christian mission hoping
that as he might have said it will point readers beyond himsel toward
the astonishing reconciling mission o God through Jesus Christ
Gayle Gerber Koontz
Andy Alexis-Baker
Elkhart Indiana May 9830909830889830891048627
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INTRODUCTION
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Teology
Context and Contribution
by Wilbert R Shenk
John Howard Yoderrsquos missional engagements represent an important
dimension o his personal commitment and public ministry yet
scholars have largely overlooked his contribution to mission thought
and practice His Anabaptist heritage European theological edu-
cation and practical engagements in mission leadership permitted
him to develop a believers church understanding o mission that
uniquely integrated biblical insights historical perspectives and
commitment to Jesusrsquo way o peace ecclesiology and ethics983089 His ideas
ofen pointed to later developments in mission theology and con-
tinue to resonate strongly todayDuring the years 9830899830971048628983097ndash9830899830971048630983097 Yoder was directly involved in
mission program leadership Ater 9830899830971048630983097 he took on increased aca-
demic administrative and teaching duties but he continued to con-
tribute in both practical and theoretical ways through consulting
with mission agencies and personnel participating in conerences
and writing
1Yoder began using ldquobelievers churchrdquo in the mid-1048625983097983094983088s likely to indicate a deeper ecclesiology
than communicated by the traditional ldquoree churchrdquo nomenclature which tended to be tied
primarily to the churchstate relationship
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9830891048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
983089983097983092983097ndash983089983097983093983095 P983154983151983143983154983137983149 A983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983151983154 M983141983150983150983151983150983145983156983141 C983141983150983156983154983137983148
C983151983149983149983145983156983156983141983141 E983157983154983151983152983141
Yoder lef or Europe the spring o 9830899830971048628983097 During World War II the Men-nonite Central Committee (MCC) began sending volunteers to help war
sufferers and reugees1048626 Tis effort grew greatly ollowing the warrsquos end As
part o this expanded program Yoder was assigned to a childrenrsquos home in
Alsace Eastern France Te other part o his commission was to promote
Christian witness to peace ldquoa new sort o missionary work one in which
little has as yet been done but which offers great opportunity or creative
workrdquo983091
Harold S Bender assistant secretary o MCC defined Yoderrsquos as-signment in the context o urgent spiritual questions that Europeans were
raising How can people have hope when they have experienced two dev-
astating wars resulting in widespread destruction and displacement all
within the space o thirty years Te oundations o Western civilization
were crumbling and it was insufficient to be concerned only about physical
and material needs983092 Te loss o hope had taken a heavy toll across Europe
Yoder was soon introduced to the International Mennonite PeaceCommittee and later the Puiduix Teological Conerence an ecu-
menical group that met regularly to study ldquoTe Lordship o Christ over
Church and Staterdquo He lived and worked among the French Mennonites
one o the oldest Mennonite conerences in Europe At this time they
were divided between traditionalists committed to preserving the past
and younger people eager or a more vital and spiritually satisying
Christian aith Yoder was asked to assist French Mennonites in recon-
necting with their historical and theological heritage hoping this might
help overcome division and oster renewal o congregational lie It was
characteristic o Yoder that he maintained close and ruitul relations
with the French Mennonites on the one hand and quickly orged an
extensive network o interchurch and ecumenical contacts on the other
2For a uller biography o Yoderrsquos lie see Mark Tiessen Nation John Howard Yoder (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) pp 1048625-9830909830973Harold S Bender to John H Yoder August 1048625983088 10486259830971048628983096 983094 b1048628983090 Bender papers Mennonite
Church USA Archives Goshen IN4North American Mennonite mission executives visited Europe July 983090983097ndashAugust 10486251048628 1048625983097983093983088 to plan
or the next phase o ministry See Wilbert R Shenk An Experiment in Interagency Cooperation
(Elkhart IN Council o International Ministries 1048625983097983096983094) pp 983090-1048628
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Introduction 983089983093
During this time Yoder and French Mennonite leaders were dis-
cussing possible collaboration between French and North American
Mennonites in new mission initiatives in France He reported to Men-nonite Board o Missions (MBM) that ldquothe social service program o
MCC is incomplete i it does not leadrdquo to evangelization But he cau-
tioned against any North American attempt to do evangelization alone1048629
His French interlocutors emphasized the importance o this being done
collaboratively with French leadership
Already in this early period Yoder was concerned with mission
strategy and theology Te spring o 9830899830979830931048628 he was part o a group hostedby the British Society o Friends While in Britain he and others visited
the Hutterian Wheathill Colony He reflected on this visit in an article
ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo contrasting the lack o attraction
o the typical church made up o nominal members with the evange-
listic appeal o a congregation characterized by dynamic koinōnia1048630
Te summer o 9830899830979830931048628 Yoder ended his service with MCC in order to
study church history and theology ull-time at the University o Basel
In early September however a major earthquake struck Orleacuteansville
Algeria killing a thousand people and causing widespread destruction1048631
For several years French Mennonites and American Mennonites
working in France had been discussing possible new ministry in Fran-
cophone North Arica Andreacute rocmeacute a French Reormed pastor and
the secretary o the International Fellowship o Reconciliation had an
interest in Islam and wanted to find practical ways o engaging with
Muslims He encouraged Mennonites to act
In response to this crisis Mennonite agencies agreed that MBM
would send a team o builders to Algeria French Mennonites also re-
cruited volunteers and helped provide oversight Yoder directed this
5John Howard Yoder to Mennonite Board o Missions ldquoReport on Mission Possibilities in
Francerdquo 983093 October 10486259830979830931048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-1048625983088 Box 983090 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN Special thanks to Colleen McFarland archivist who has been unail-
ingly helpul in locating materials6John Howard Yoder ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo Christian Ministry 983096 (JanuaryndashMarch
10486259830979830931048628) 983090983094-10486271048625 Republished in John Howard Yoder Radical Christian Discipleship ed John Nugent
Andy Alexis-Baker and Branson Parler (Harrisonburg VA Herald Press 9830909830881048625983090) pp 10486259830941048627-9830959830887Marian E Hostetler Algeria Where Mennonites and Muslims Met 983089983097852021852021ndash983089983097852023983096 (Elkhart IN np
9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048625-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3060
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3160
Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 4160
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1260
983089983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
logian who helped many to engage the Christian gospel in resh ways In
troubling contrast he is remembered also or his long-term sexual ha-
rassment o womenWe recognize the tensions involved in presenting the past work o
someone who so passionately called Christians to reconciling lives and
yet used his position o power to abuse others At the time o this publi-
cation a new effort is underway in Yoderrsquos ecclesial and teaching institu-
tions to understand and speak truthully about what happened while he
was a part o these communities with a view to bringing healing to
those who still suffer rom the consequences o his actionsIt is our hope that those in the academy and others studying Yoderrsquos
work will not dismiss the complexity o these issues but continue to
evaluate appropriate and criticize Yoderrsquos work in the ull context o his
scholarly ecclesial and personal legacy
In this project we have tried to honestly and aithully preserve the
various nuances o Yoderrsquos perspective on Christian mission hoping
that as he might have said it will point readers beyond himsel toward
the astonishing reconciling mission o God through Jesus Christ
Gayle Gerber Koontz
Andy Alexis-Baker
Elkhart Indiana May 9830909830889830891048627
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INTRODUCTION
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Teology
Context and Contribution
by Wilbert R Shenk
John Howard Yoderrsquos missional engagements represent an important
dimension o his personal commitment and public ministry yet
scholars have largely overlooked his contribution to mission thought
and practice His Anabaptist heritage European theological edu-
cation and practical engagements in mission leadership permitted
him to develop a believers church understanding o mission that
uniquely integrated biblical insights historical perspectives and
commitment to Jesusrsquo way o peace ecclesiology and ethics983089 His ideas
ofen pointed to later developments in mission theology and con-
tinue to resonate strongly todayDuring the years 9830899830971048628983097ndash9830899830971048630983097 Yoder was directly involved in
mission program leadership Ater 9830899830971048630983097 he took on increased aca-
demic administrative and teaching duties but he continued to con-
tribute in both practical and theoretical ways through consulting
with mission agencies and personnel participating in conerences
and writing
1Yoder began using ldquobelievers churchrdquo in the mid-1048625983097983094983088s likely to indicate a deeper ecclesiology
than communicated by the traditional ldquoree churchrdquo nomenclature which tended to be tied
primarily to the churchstate relationship
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
983089983097983092983097ndash983089983097983093983095 P983154983151983143983154983137983149 A983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983151983154 M983141983150983150983151983150983145983156983141 C983141983150983156983154983137983148
C983151983149983149983145983156983156983141983141 E983157983154983151983152983141
Yoder lef or Europe the spring o 9830899830971048628983097 During World War II the Men-nonite Central Committee (MCC) began sending volunteers to help war
sufferers and reugees1048626 Tis effort grew greatly ollowing the warrsquos end As
part o this expanded program Yoder was assigned to a childrenrsquos home in
Alsace Eastern France Te other part o his commission was to promote
Christian witness to peace ldquoa new sort o missionary work one in which
little has as yet been done but which offers great opportunity or creative
workrdquo983091
Harold S Bender assistant secretary o MCC defined Yoderrsquos as-signment in the context o urgent spiritual questions that Europeans were
raising How can people have hope when they have experienced two dev-
astating wars resulting in widespread destruction and displacement all
within the space o thirty years Te oundations o Western civilization
were crumbling and it was insufficient to be concerned only about physical
and material needs983092 Te loss o hope had taken a heavy toll across Europe
Yoder was soon introduced to the International Mennonite PeaceCommittee and later the Puiduix Teological Conerence an ecu-
menical group that met regularly to study ldquoTe Lordship o Christ over
Church and Staterdquo He lived and worked among the French Mennonites
one o the oldest Mennonite conerences in Europe At this time they
were divided between traditionalists committed to preserving the past
and younger people eager or a more vital and spiritually satisying
Christian aith Yoder was asked to assist French Mennonites in recon-
necting with their historical and theological heritage hoping this might
help overcome division and oster renewal o congregational lie It was
characteristic o Yoder that he maintained close and ruitul relations
with the French Mennonites on the one hand and quickly orged an
extensive network o interchurch and ecumenical contacts on the other
2For a uller biography o Yoderrsquos lie see Mark Tiessen Nation John Howard Yoder (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) pp 1048625-9830909830973Harold S Bender to John H Yoder August 1048625983088 10486259830971048628983096 983094 b1048628983090 Bender papers Mennonite
Church USA Archives Goshen IN4North American Mennonite mission executives visited Europe July 983090983097ndashAugust 10486251048628 1048625983097983093983088 to plan
or the next phase o ministry See Wilbert R Shenk An Experiment in Interagency Cooperation
(Elkhart IN Council o International Ministries 1048625983097983096983094) pp 983090-1048628
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983093
During this time Yoder and French Mennonite leaders were dis-
cussing possible collaboration between French and North American
Mennonites in new mission initiatives in France He reported to Men-nonite Board o Missions (MBM) that ldquothe social service program o
MCC is incomplete i it does not leadrdquo to evangelization But he cau-
tioned against any North American attempt to do evangelization alone1048629
His French interlocutors emphasized the importance o this being done
collaboratively with French leadership
Already in this early period Yoder was concerned with mission
strategy and theology Te spring o 9830899830979830931048628 he was part o a group hostedby the British Society o Friends While in Britain he and others visited
the Hutterian Wheathill Colony He reflected on this visit in an article
ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo contrasting the lack o attraction
o the typical church made up o nominal members with the evange-
listic appeal o a congregation characterized by dynamic koinōnia1048630
Te summer o 9830899830979830931048628 Yoder ended his service with MCC in order to
study church history and theology ull-time at the University o Basel
In early September however a major earthquake struck Orleacuteansville
Algeria killing a thousand people and causing widespread destruction1048631
For several years French Mennonites and American Mennonites
working in France had been discussing possible new ministry in Fran-
cophone North Arica Andreacute rocmeacute a French Reormed pastor and
the secretary o the International Fellowship o Reconciliation had an
interest in Islam and wanted to find practical ways o engaging with
Muslims He encouraged Mennonites to act
In response to this crisis Mennonite agencies agreed that MBM
would send a team o builders to Algeria French Mennonites also re-
cruited volunteers and helped provide oversight Yoder directed this
5John Howard Yoder to Mennonite Board o Missions ldquoReport on Mission Possibilities in
Francerdquo 983093 October 10486259830979830931048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-1048625983088 Box 983090 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN Special thanks to Colleen McFarland archivist who has been unail-
ingly helpul in locating materials6John Howard Yoder ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo Christian Ministry 983096 (JanuaryndashMarch
10486259830979830931048628) 983090983094-10486271048625 Republished in John Howard Yoder Radical Christian Discipleship ed John Nugent
Andy Alexis-Baker and Branson Parler (Harrisonburg VA Herald Press 9830909830881048625983090) pp 10486259830941048627-9830959830887Marian E Hostetler Algeria Where Mennonites and Muslims Met 983089983097852021852021ndash983089983097852023983096 (Elkhart IN np
9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048625-983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1960
Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2660
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3060
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3160
Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 4560
10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983089983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
logian who helped many to engage the Christian gospel in resh ways In
troubling contrast he is remembered also or his long-term sexual ha-
rassment o womenWe recognize the tensions involved in presenting the past work o
someone who so passionately called Christians to reconciling lives and
yet used his position o power to abuse others At the time o this publi-
cation a new effort is underway in Yoderrsquos ecclesial and teaching institu-
tions to understand and speak truthully about what happened while he
was a part o these communities with a view to bringing healing to
those who still suffer rom the consequences o his actionsIt is our hope that those in the academy and others studying Yoderrsquos
work will not dismiss the complexity o these issues but continue to
evaluate appropriate and criticize Yoderrsquos work in the ull context o his
scholarly ecclesial and personal legacy
In this project we have tried to honestly and aithully preserve the
various nuances o Yoderrsquos perspective on Christian mission hoping
that as he might have said it will point readers beyond himsel toward
the astonishing reconciling mission o God through Jesus Christ
Gayle Gerber Koontz
Andy Alexis-Baker
Elkhart Indiana May 9830909830889830891048627
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INTRODUCTION
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Teology
Context and Contribution
by Wilbert R Shenk
John Howard Yoderrsquos missional engagements represent an important
dimension o his personal commitment and public ministry yet
scholars have largely overlooked his contribution to mission thought
and practice His Anabaptist heritage European theological edu-
cation and practical engagements in mission leadership permitted
him to develop a believers church understanding o mission that
uniquely integrated biblical insights historical perspectives and
commitment to Jesusrsquo way o peace ecclesiology and ethics983089 His ideas
ofen pointed to later developments in mission theology and con-
tinue to resonate strongly todayDuring the years 9830899830971048628983097ndash9830899830971048630983097 Yoder was directly involved in
mission program leadership Ater 9830899830971048630983097 he took on increased aca-
demic administrative and teaching duties but he continued to con-
tribute in both practical and theoretical ways through consulting
with mission agencies and personnel participating in conerences
and writing
1Yoder began using ldquobelievers churchrdquo in the mid-1048625983097983094983088s likely to indicate a deeper ecclesiology
than communicated by the traditional ldquoree churchrdquo nomenclature which tended to be tied
primarily to the churchstate relationship
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
983089983097983092983097ndash983089983097983093983095 P983154983151983143983154983137983149 A983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983151983154 M983141983150983150983151983150983145983156983141 C983141983150983156983154983137983148
C983151983149983149983145983156983156983141983141 E983157983154983151983152983141
Yoder lef or Europe the spring o 9830899830971048628983097 During World War II the Men-nonite Central Committee (MCC) began sending volunteers to help war
sufferers and reugees1048626 Tis effort grew greatly ollowing the warrsquos end As
part o this expanded program Yoder was assigned to a childrenrsquos home in
Alsace Eastern France Te other part o his commission was to promote
Christian witness to peace ldquoa new sort o missionary work one in which
little has as yet been done but which offers great opportunity or creative
workrdquo983091
Harold S Bender assistant secretary o MCC defined Yoderrsquos as-signment in the context o urgent spiritual questions that Europeans were
raising How can people have hope when they have experienced two dev-
astating wars resulting in widespread destruction and displacement all
within the space o thirty years Te oundations o Western civilization
were crumbling and it was insufficient to be concerned only about physical
and material needs983092 Te loss o hope had taken a heavy toll across Europe
Yoder was soon introduced to the International Mennonite PeaceCommittee and later the Puiduix Teological Conerence an ecu-
menical group that met regularly to study ldquoTe Lordship o Christ over
Church and Staterdquo He lived and worked among the French Mennonites
one o the oldest Mennonite conerences in Europe At this time they
were divided between traditionalists committed to preserving the past
and younger people eager or a more vital and spiritually satisying
Christian aith Yoder was asked to assist French Mennonites in recon-
necting with their historical and theological heritage hoping this might
help overcome division and oster renewal o congregational lie It was
characteristic o Yoder that he maintained close and ruitul relations
with the French Mennonites on the one hand and quickly orged an
extensive network o interchurch and ecumenical contacts on the other
2For a uller biography o Yoderrsquos lie see Mark Tiessen Nation John Howard Yoder (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) pp 1048625-9830909830973Harold S Bender to John H Yoder August 1048625983088 10486259830971048628983096 983094 b1048628983090 Bender papers Mennonite
Church USA Archives Goshen IN4North American Mennonite mission executives visited Europe July 983090983097ndashAugust 10486251048628 1048625983097983093983088 to plan
or the next phase o ministry See Wilbert R Shenk An Experiment in Interagency Cooperation
(Elkhart IN Council o International Ministries 1048625983097983096983094) pp 983090-1048628
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983093
During this time Yoder and French Mennonite leaders were dis-
cussing possible collaboration between French and North American
Mennonites in new mission initiatives in France He reported to Men-nonite Board o Missions (MBM) that ldquothe social service program o
MCC is incomplete i it does not leadrdquo to evangelization But he cau-
tioned against any North American attempt to do evangelization alone1048629
His French interlocutors emphasized the importance o this being done
collaboratively with French leadership
Already in this early period Yoder was concerned with mission
strategy and theology Te spring o 9830899830979830931048628 he was part o a group hostedby the British Society o Friends While in Britain he and others visited
the Hutterian Wheathill Colony He reflected on this visit in an article
ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo contrasting the lack o attraction
o the typical church made up o nominal members with the evange-
listic appeal o a congregation characterized by dynamic koinōnia1048630
Te summer o 9830899830979830931048628 Yoder ended his service with MCC in order to
study church history and theology ull-time at the University o Basel
In early September however a major earthquake struck Orleacuteansville
Algeria killing a thousand people and causing widespread destruction1048631
For several years French Mennonites and American Mennonites
working in France had been discussing possible new ministry in Fran-
cophone North Arica Andreacute rocmeacute a French Reormed pastor and
the secretary o the International Fellowship o Reconciliation had an
interest in Islam and wanted to find practical ways o engaging with
Muslims He encouraged Mennonites to act
In response to this crisis Mennonite agencies agreed that MBM
would send a team o builders to Algeria French Mennonites also re-
cruited volunteers and helped provide oversight Yoder directed this
5John Howard Yoder to Mennonite Board o Missions ldquoReport on Mission Possibilities in
Francerdquo 983093 October 10486259830979830931048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-1048625983088 Box 983090 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN Special thanks to Colleen McFarland archivist who has been unail-
ingly helpul in locating materials6John Howard Yoder ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo Christian Ministry 983096 (JanuaryndashMarch
10486259830979830931048628) 983090983094-10486271048625 Republished in John Howard Yoder Radical Christian Discipleship ed John Nugent
Andy Alexis-Baker and Branson Parler (Harrisonburg VA Herald Press 9830909830881048625983090) pp 10486259830941048627-9830959830887Marian E Hostetler Algeria Where Mennonites and Muslims Met 983089983097852021852021ndash983089983097852023983096 (Elkhart IN np
9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048625-983095
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9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2060
983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2160
Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2560
Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2660
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3060
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3160
Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3260
1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3360
Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1360
INTRODUCTION
John Howard Yoderrsquos Mission Teology
Context and Contribution
by Wilbert R Shenk
John Howard Yoderrsquos missional engagements represent an important
dimension o his personal commitment and public ministry yet
scholars have largely overlooked his contribution to mission thought
and practice His Anabaptist heritage European theological edu-
cation and practical engagements in mission leadership permitted
him to develop a believers church understanding o mission that
uniquely integrated biblical insights historical perspectives and
commitment to Jesusrsquo way o peace ecclesiology and ethics983089 His ideas
ofen pointed to later developments in mission theology and con-
tinue to resonate strongly todayDuring the years 9830899830971048628983097ndash9830899830971048630983097 Yoder was directly involved in
mission program leadership Ater 9830899830971048630983097 he took on increased aca-
demic administrative and teaching duties but he continued to con-
tribute in both practical and theoretical ways through consulting
with mission agencies and personnel participating in conerences
and writing
1Yoder began using ldquobelievers churchrdquo in the mid-1048625983097983094983088s likely to indicate a deeper ecclesiology
than communicated by the traditional ldquoree churchrdquo nomenclature which tended to be tied
primarily to the churchstate relationship
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
983089983097983092983097ndash983089983097983093983095 P983154983151983143983154983137983149 A983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983151983154 M983141983150983150983151983150983145983156983141 C983141983150983156983154983137983148
C983151983149983149983145983156983156983141983141 E983157983154983151983152983141
Yoder lef or Europe the spring o 9830899830971048628983097 During World War II the Men-nonite Central Committee (MCC) began sending volunteers to help war
sufferers and reugees1048626 Tis effort grew greatly ollowing the warrsquos end As
part o this expanded program Yoder was assigned to a childrenrsquos home in
Alsace Eastern France Te other part o his commission was to promote
Christian witness to peace ldquoa new sort o missionary work one in which
little has as yet been done but which offers great opportunity or creative
workrdquo983091
Harold S Bender assistant secretary o MCC defined Yoderrsquos as-signment in the context o urgent spiritual questions that Europeans were
raising How can people have hope when they have experienced two dev-
astating wars resulting in widespread destruction and displacement all
within the space o thirty years Te oundations o Western civilization
were crumbling and it was insufficient to be concerned only about physical
and material needs983092 Te loss o hope had taken a heavy toll across Europe
Yoder was soon introduced to the International Mennonite PeaceCommittee and later the Puiduix Teological Conerence an ecu-
menical group that met regularly to study ldquoTe Lordship o Christ over
Church and Staterdquo He lived and worked among the French Mennonites
one o the oldest Mennonite conerences in Europe At this time they
were divided between traditionalists committed to preserving the past
and younger people eager or a more vital and spiritually satisying
Christian aith Yoder was asked to assist French Mennonites in recon-
necting with their historical and theological heritage hoping this might
help overcome division and oster renewal o congregational lie It was
characteristic o Yoder that he maintained close and ruitul relations
with the French Mennonites on the one hand and quickly orged an
extensive network o interchurch and ecumenical contacts on the other
2For a uller biography o Yoderrsquos lie see Mark Tiessen Nation John Howard Yoder (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) pp 1048625-9830909830973Harold S Bender to John H Yoder August 1048625983088 10486259830971048628983096 983094 b1048628983090 Bender papers Mennonite
Church USA Archives Goshen IN4North American Mennonite mission executives visited Europe July 983090983097ndashAugust 10486251048628 1048625983097983093983088 to plan
or the next phase o ministry See Wilbert R Shenk An Experiment in Interagency Cooperation
(Elkhart IN Council o International Ministries 1048625983097983096983094) pp 983090-1048628
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983093
During this time Yoder and French Mennonite leaders were dis-
cussing possible collaboration between French and North American
Mennonites in new mission initiatives in France He reported to Men-nonite Board o Missions (MBM) that ldquothe social service program o
MCC is incomplete i it does not leadrdquo to evangelization But he cau-
tioned against any North American attempt to do evangelization alone1048629
His French interlocutors emphasized the importance o this being done
collaboratively with French leadership
Already in this early period Yoder was concerned with mission
strategy and theology Te spring o 9830899830979830931048628 he was part o a group hostedby the British Society o Friends While in Britain he and others visited
the Hutterian Wheathill Colony He reflected on this visit in an article
ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo contrasting the lack o attraction
o the typical church made up o nominal members with the evange-
listic appeal o a congregation characterized by dynamic koinōnia1048630
Te summer o 9830899830979830931048628 Yoder ended his service with MCC in order to
study church history and theology ull-time at the University o Basel
In early September however a major earthquake struck Orleacuteansville
Algeria killing a thousand people and causing widespread destruction1048631
For several years French Mennonites and American Mennonites
working in France had been discussing possible new ministry in Fran-
cophone North Arica Andreacute rocmeacute a French Reormed pastor and
the secretary o the International Fellowship o Reconciliation had an
interest in Islam and wanted to find practical ways o engaging with
Muslims He encouraged Mennonites to act
In response to this crisis Mennonite agencies agreed that MBM
would send a team o builders to Algeria French Mennonites also re-
cruited volunteers and helped provide oversight Yoder directed this
5John Howard Yoder to Mennonite Board o Missions ldquoReport on Mission Possibilities in
Francerdquo 983093 October 10486259830979830931048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-1048625983088 Box 983090 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN Special thanks to Colleen McFarland archivist who has been unail-
ingly helpul in locating materials6John Howard Yoder ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo Christian Ministry 983096 (JanuaryndashMarch
10486259830979830931048628) 983090983094-10486271048625 Republished in John Howard Yoder Radical Christian Discipleship ed John Nugent
Andy Alexis-Baker and Branson Parler (Harrisonburg VA Herald Press 9830909830881048625983090) pp 10486259830941048627-9830959830887Marian E Hostetler Algeria Where Mennonites and Muslims Met 983089983097852021852021ndash983089983097852023983096 (Elkhart IN np
9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048625-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
983089983097983092983097ndash983089983097983093983095 P983154983151983143983154983137983149 A983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983151983154 M983141983150983150983151983150983145983156983141 C983141983150983156983154983137983148
C983151983149983149983145983156983156983141983141 E983157983154983151983152983141
Yoder lef or Europe the spring o 9830899830971048628983097 During World War II the Men-nonite Central Committee (MCC) began sending volunteers to help war
sufferers and reugees1048626 Tis effort grew greatly ollowing the warrsquos end As
part o this expanded program Yoder was assigned to a childrenrsquos home in
Alsace Eastern France Te other part o his commission was to promote
Christian witness to peace ldquoa new sort o missionary work one in which
little has as yet been done but which offers great opportunity or creative
workrdquo983091
Harold S Bender assistant secretary o MCC defined Yoderrsquos as-signment in the context o urgent spiritual questions that Europeans were
raising How can people have hope when they have experienced two dev-
astating wars resulting in widespread destruction and displacement all
within the space o thirty years Te oundations o Western civilization
were crumbling and it was insufficient to be concerned only about physical
and material needs983092 Te loss o hope had taken a heavy toll across Europe
Yoder was soon introduced to the International Mennonite PeaceCommittee and later the Puiduix Teological Conerence an ecu-
menical group that met regularly to study ldquoTe Lordship o Christ over
Church and Staterdquo He lived and worked among the French Mennonites
one o the oldest Mennonite conerences in Europe At this time they
were divided between traditionalists committed to preserving the past
and younger people eager or a more vital and spiritually satisying
Christian aith Yoder was asked to assist French Mennonites in recon-
necting with their historical and theological heritage hoping this might
help overcome division and oster renewal o congregational lie It was
characteristic o Yoder that he maintained close and ruitul relations
with the French Mennonites on the one hand and quickly orged an
extensive network o interchurch and ecumenical contacts on the other
2For a uller biography o Yoderrsquos lie see Mark Tiessen Nation John Howard Yoder (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) pp 1048625-9830909830973Harold S Bender to John H Yoder August 1048625983088 10486259830971048628983096 983094 b1048628983090 Bender papers Mennonite
Church USA Archives Goshen IN4North American Mennonite mission executives visited Europe July 983090983097ndashAugust 10486251048628 1048625983097983093983088 to plan
or the next phase o ministry See Wilbert R Shenk An Experiment in Interagency Cooperation
(Elkhart IN Council o International Ministries 1048625983097983096983094) pp 983090-1048628
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983093
During this time Yoder and French Mennonite leaders were dis-
cussing possible collaboration between French and North American
Mennonites in new mission initiatives in France He reported to Men-nonite Board o Missions (MBM) that ldquothe social service program o
MCC is incomplete i it does not leadrdquo to evangelization But he cau-
tioned against any North American attempt to do evangelization alone1048629
His French interlocutors emphasized the importance o this being done
collaboratively with French leadership
Already in this early period Yoder was concerned with mission
strategy and theology Te spring o 9830899830979830931048628 he was part o a group hostedby the British Society o Friends While in Britain he and others visited
the Hutterian Wheathill Colony He reflected on this visit in an article
ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo contrasting the lack o attraction
o the typical church made up o nominal members with the evange-
listic appeal o a congregation characterized by dynamic koinōnia1048630
Te summer o 9830899830979830931048628 Yoder ended his service with MCC in order to
study church history and theology ull-time at the University o Basel
In early September however a major earthquake struck Orleacuteansville
Algeria killing a thousand people and causing widespread destruction1048631
For several years French Mennonites and American Mennonites
working in France had been discussing possible new ministry in Fran-
cophone North Arica Andreacute rocmeacute a French Reormed pastor and
the secretary o the International Fellowship o Reconciliation had an
interest in Islam and wanted to find practical ways o engaging with
Muslims He encouraged Mennonites to act
In response to this crisis Mennonite agencies agreed that MBM
would send a team o builders to Algeria French Mennonites also re-
cruited volunteers and helped provide oversight Yoder directed this
5John Howard Yoder to Mennonite Board o Missions ldquoReport on Mission Possibilities in
Francerdquo 983093 October 10486259830979830931048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-1048625983088 Box 983090 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN Special thanks to Colleen McFarland archivist who has been unail-
ingly helpul in locating materials6John Howard Yoder ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo Christian Ministry 983096 (JanuaryndashMarch
10486259830979830931048628) 983090983094-10486271048625 Republished in John Howard Yoder Radical Christian Discipleship ed John Nugent
Andy Alexis-Baker and Branson Parler (Harrisonburg VA Herald Press 9830909830881048625983090) pp 10486259830941048627-9830959830887Marian E Hostetler Algeria Where Mennonites and Muslims Met 983089983097852021852021ndash983089983097852023983096 (Elkhart IN np
9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048625-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1960
Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2560
Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3760
1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983093
During this time Yoder and French Mennonite leaders were dis-
cussing possible collaboration between French and North American
Mennonites in new mission initiatives in France He reported to Men-nonite Board o Missions (MBM) that ldquothe social service program o
MCC is incomplete i it does not leadrdquo to evangelization But he cau-
tioned against any North American attempt to do evangelization alone1048629
His French interlocutors emphasized the importance o this being done
collaboratively with French leadership
Already in this early period Yoder was concerned with mission
strategy and theology Te spring o 9830899830979830931048628 he was part o a group hostedby the British Society o Friends While in Britain he and others visited
the Hutterian Wheathill Colony He reflected on this visit in an article
ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo contrasting the lack o attraction
o the typical church made up o nominal members with the evange-
listic appeal o a congregation characterized by dynamic koinōnia1048630
Te summer o 9830899830979830931048628 Yoder ended his service with MCC in order to
study church history and theology ull-time at the University o Basel
In early September however a major earthquake struck Orleacuteansville
Algeria killing a thousand people and causing widespread destruction1048631
For several years French Mennonites and American Mennonites
working in France had been discussing possible new ministry in Fran-
cophone North Arica Andreacute rocmeacute a French Reormed pastor and
the secretary o the International Fellowship o Reconciliation had an
interest in Islam and wanted to find practical ways o engaging with
Muslims He encouraged Mennonites to act
In response to this crisis Mennonite agencies agreed that MBM
would send a team o builders to Algeria French Mennonites also re-
cruited volunteers and helped provide oversight Yoder directed this
5John Howard Yoder to Mennonite Board o Missions ldquoReport on Mission Possibilities in
Francerdquo 983093 October 10486259830979830931048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-1048625983088 Box 983090 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN Special thanks to Colleen McFarland archivist who has been unail-
ingly helpul in locating materials6John Howard Yoder ldquoDiscipleship as a Missionary Strategyrdquo Christian Ministry 983096 (JanuaryndashMarch
10486259830979830931048628) 983090983094-10486271048625 Republished in John Howard Yoder Radical Christian Discipleship ed John Nugent
Andy Alexis-Baker and Branson Parler (Harrisonburg VA Herald Press 9830909830881048625983090) pp 10486259830941048627-9830959830887Marian E Hostetler Algeria Where Mennonites and Muslims Met 983089983097852021852021ndash983089983097852023983096 (Elkhart IN np
9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048625-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2660
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3060
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 4160
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1660
9830891048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
emergency relie and reconstruction program which lasted rom 983089983097983093983093 to
983089983097983093983096 He reported later ldquoFrom the very beginning it was planned that a
permanent missionary or missionary couple be assigned to Algeriaboth to supervise the present work and to prepare or other kinds o
missionary activityrdquo1048632
During these years Yoder continued to develop his thinking about
the mission o the church He had become acquainted with Bishop
Lesslie Newbiginrsquos work Newbigin had served as a missionary to India
since 98308998309710486271048630 In 983089983097983093983090 he delivered a lecture series in Glasgow subsequently
published as Te Household o God a book widely acclaimed or its reshthinking about the nature and mission o the church Afer both New-
bigin and Yoder contributed essays to a symposium on ldquoTe Nature o
the Unity We Seekrdquo in the Spring 983089983097983093983095 issue o Religion in Lie Yoder
wrote to Newbigin ldquoEver since reading your Household o God Irsquove
been wanting to ask you some questions but didnrsquot eel I should bother
you Now that Irsquove been privileged to share with you the pages o Re-
ligion in Lie I eel better acquainted and encouraged to take the liberty
o writing yourdquo1048633 Yoder raised probing questions about the nature o the
local church and the role o the episcopacy in principle and in practice
in the Church o South India In January 983089983097983093983097 he received an apologetic
and long-delayed reply rom Newbigin now in transition rom India to
the International Missionary Council in London giving a hurried and
incomplete response to the issues Yoder raised Newbigin remarked
twenty years later ldquoJohn Yoder wrote the most searching critique o my
book that I received rom anyone And I have not yet answered himrdquo 9830891048624
Between December 983089983097983093983095 and April 983089983097983093983096 Gospel Herald published Yo-
derrsquos five-part series on ldquoIslamrsquos Special Challenge to Christian Missionsrdquo983089983089
8John Howard Yoder ldquoOur First Tree Years in Algeriardquo Gospel Herald February 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983095 10486259830939830979John Howard Yoder to Lesslie Newbigin 1048625983093 April 1048625983097983093983095 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist
Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 104862510486251048625983095 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN See Religion in Lie 983090983094
(Spring 1048625983097983093983095) or Newbigin and Yoder essays on ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo10Newbigin to Yoder 983090 January 1048625983097983093983097 John Howard Yoder Collection Hist Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box
104862510486251048625983093 Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Newbiginrsquos later remark was to WilbertShenk in 1048625983097983095983097
11itle o the first installment published December 10486271048625 1048625983097983093983095 104862510486251048628983090-10486281048627 Subsequent installments
were as ollows ldquoIslamrsquos Challenge to Mennonitesrdquo February 1048628 1048625983097983093983096 10486251048625983088-10486251048625 ldquoOur First Tree
Years in Algeriardquo April 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 1048625983093983096-983094983088 ldquoTe War in Algeriardquo March 1048625983096 1048625983097983093983096 9830909830931048628-983093983094 ldquoMis-
sion and Material Aid in Algeriardquo April 1048625 1048625983097983093983096 1048627983088983094-983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1960
Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2060
983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2460
9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5460
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1960
Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2660
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3060
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3160
Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 4560
10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1860
983089983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
sions Gustav Warneckrsquos pioneering five-volume Evangelische Mission-
slehre published in 983089983096983097983090ndash9830899830979830881048627 laid the oundation or the academic
study o missiology Warneck aimed to provide a theorymdashnot atheologymdasho mission aithul to the Christendom vision For him it was
axiomatic that Western theology was authoritative and accordingly
would be the basis or teaching and training on all continents At that
time seminaries and mission training schools offered no courses in
mission theology Indeed the development o mission theology as a
dedicated field in mission studies had to wait until the 983089983097983093983088s 983089983091 Te
urther step beyond mission theologymdashthat is contextual theologiesmdashemerged late in the twentieth century
Te International Missionary Council (IMC) played an indispensable
role in the development o mission theology through a series o interna-
tional assemblies between 983089983097983090983096 and 983089983097983093983096 In 983089983097983093983090 the IMC met at Will-
ingen Germany Although the assembly ailed to agree on a concluding
statement the assembly is regarded as a landmark event a catalyst to
uture developments in mission theology983089983092 In lieu o a conerence con-
sensus statement Wilhelm Andersen prepared an essay ldquoowards a
Teology o Missionrdquo which surveyed and summarized developments
rom 983089983097983089983088 to 9830899830979830939830909830891048629 Following Willingen the IMC Commission on Te-
ology o Mission sponsored research and writing projects that kept
these developments on track Te 983089983097983093983096 IMC Assembly in Accra Ghana
approved two new studies Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o
the Churchmdashwhich Yoder used as a textbook or his Teology o Mission
coursemdashand D Niles Upon the Earth9830891048630
Yoder entered the conversation during this creative time in the devel-
13We lack a comprehensive history o these developments throughout the twentieth century but see
Gerald H Anderson Te Teology o Missions 983089983097983090983096ndash983089983097852021983096 (Boston University PhD diss 1048625983097983094983088)
Gerald H Anderson ed Te Teology o the Christian Mission (New York McGraw Hill 10486259830979830941048625) and
Rodger C Bassham Mission Teology 983089983097983092983096ndash983089983097852023852021 (Pasadena CA William Carey Library 1048625983097983095983097)14See N Goodall ed Missions Under the Cross (London Edinburgh House Press 10486259830979830931048627) At the
time Willingen was declared a ailure Lesslie Newbigin later observed ldquoTirty years later one
can look back and say that it was one o the most creative in the long series o missionary con-erencesrdquo Unfinished Agenda rev ed (Edinburgh St Andrew Press 10486259830979830971048627) p 10486251048627983088
15Wilhelm Andersen owards a Teology o Mission International Missionary Council Research
Pamphlet No 1048626 (London SCM Press 1048625104863310486291048629)16Both published in New York by McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090 Nilesrsquo book was criticized especially by
evangelicals or universalistic tendencies
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2560
Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2660
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3760
1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5260
he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 1960
Introduction 983089983097
opment o mission theology During the 983089983097983093983097ndash9830899830971048630983088 winter term Yoder
gave a lecture at Drew University on ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo9830891048631
Tis brie but undamental statement o Yoderrsquos theological vision holdstogether missiological ecclesiological and ecumenical dimensions as
does his approach in this book Each dimension is essential to the in-
tegrity o the whole Te churchrsquos mission is to witness to the lordship o
Christ over all the powers calling men and women to give their alle-
giance to Jesus Christ
Yoderrsquos Anabaptist perspective and his doctoral study with Karl Barth
and Oscar Cullmann led him to trace deviations rom the biblical normover the centuries that resulted in a truncated ecclesiology He saw the
ldquoConstantinianrdquo shif that linked baptism and citizenship as paradigmatic
or the accommodations and compromises the church made repeatedly
with the powersmdasheconomic political social and moral While the New
estament maintains a clear distinction between ldquochurchrdquo and ldquoworldrdquo
between belie and unbelie too ofen the church heeded other voices and
succumbed to the temptation to blur the lines between them Te Con-
stantinian variety o mission notorious in its crusading and colonizing
orms contradicts the sel-giving love graciously offered by Jesus the
Messiah and his call to voluntarily ollow him Yoder argued that a com-
promised and conused church will not engage the world with the liber-
ating good news that Jesus Christ is Lord While the sixteenth-century
Reormation made some gains it reaffirmed the alliance between church
and state thus attempting to deend and maintain the territorial character
o the church an ecclesiology at odds with the New estament
In his 9830899830971048630983095 keynote address to the Believers Church Conerence at
Louisville Kentucky Yoder extended and elaborated his critique o
Christendom and proposed an alternative vision o the church as a mis-
sionary people in and to the world9830891048632 wo years later without changing
the substance he rephrased his argument ldquoTe Anabaptist vision calls
or a Believersrsquo Church With reerence to the outside this means that
17John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Otherness o the Churchrdquo Drew Gateway 1048627983088 (Spring 1048625983097983094983088) 10486259830931048625-983094983088
Republished in Te Royal Priesthood (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048628) pp 983090983090983088-104862798308818John Howard Yoder ldquoA People in the Worldrdquo in Te Concept o the Believersrsquo Church ed James
Leo Garrett Jr (Scottdale PA Herald Press 1048625983097983094983097) pp 983090983093983088-9830961048627 Republished in Royal Priesthood
pp 983094983093-10486259830881048625 See especially ldquoMission Compromisedrdquo pp 983096983097-10486259830881048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5460
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2060
983090983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the church is by definition missionary a church which invites [people]
into ellowship Men and women [are] not born into ellowship [but]
are invited to enter it by ree adult decision in response to the procla-mation o the love and suffering o God On the inside the Believersrsquo
Church means that the adhesion o a member is [by] personal respon-
sible conscious mature adult choicerdquo9830891048633 Tis churchrsquos inner lie will be
marked by uncoerced mutual care
In the 983089983097983090983088s and 9830899830971048627983088s IMC assemblies had grappled with the theme o
ecclesiology and mission Hendrik Kraemerrsquos Te Christian Message in a
Non-Christian World (9830899830971048627983096) marked the high point in this developmentAfer World War II a critique o ldquoecclesiocentrismrdquo emerged led by mis-
siologists such as J C Hoekendijk By 9830899830971048630983088 Hoekendijk was arguing that
the church was only an instrument or bringing Godrsquos shalom to the world
Based on a careul reading o Ephesians 1048627 and 983090 Corinthians 983093 Yoder
offered a different understanding that required a ldquobasic reorientation o
our thinking about missionrdquo He rejected the classical definition o the
church that is the church is ldquopresent where the sacraments are admin-
istered and the word o God is preached to the aithulrdquo because it
sunders the essential relationship between church and mission Further
to assert that church and mission are inseparable ldquois not simply an a-
firmative statement about the church it is also a radical questioning o
her missionary methodsrdquo10486261048624
Yoder was equally critical o evangelical and ecumenical Protestant
views o ecclesiology and missions Functionally both operated rom
the same Christendom model missions were initiatives taken inde-
pendent o ecclesial responsibility Lacking a robust ecclesiology evan-
gelicals were characterized by their preoccupation with personal piety
and they viewed mission as the work o a special society outside the
churchrsquos purview Mainstream Protestantism was associated with state
churches which had large nominal memberships since mission was not
integral to its ecclesiology the mission-minded among its membership
ormed independent mission societies
19John Howard Yoder ldquoAnabaptist Vision and Mennonite Realityrdquo in Consultation on Anabaptist
Mennonite Teology ed A J Klassen (Fresno CA Council o Mennonite Seminaries 1048625983097983095983088) p 104862820Ibid p 1048627983090
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Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2460
9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2560
Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2660
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3060
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3160
Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3260
1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2160
Introduction 983090983089
In addition to his ocus on ecclesiology Yoder brought another di-
mension to mission theology rom his study o Scripturemdasha oundation
or contextuality in mission Observing that ldquoin a very coarse-grainedway we can say that the New estament is the document o a transition
made by a message-bearing community rom one world to anotherrdquo he
cited five textsmdashJohn 983089983089-9830891048628 Philippians 983090983093-983089983089 Colossians 983089983089983093-9830901048627 He-
brews 983089ndash983090 and Revelation 1048628983089ndash983093983093mdashthat show apostolic writers entirely
independent o one another resorting to a common pattern o response
to an alien worldview1048626983089 For example the writers were completely a-
miliar with the language and thought o the host culture However theydid not fit Jesus and his message into the ready-made categories o the
host culture but presented Jesus as transcendent Lord Ostensibly Yo-
derrsquos purpose was to address the perplexing question o religious plu-
rality but in the process he provided a theological oundation or con-
textualization that has generally been lacking in missiological discussion
Mission and unity In 9830899830971048630983089 the International Missionary Council
(IMC) was ormally integrated into the World Council o Churches
(WCC) and its work continued as the Division (later Commission) on
World Mission and Evangelism Tat year Yoder was named a member
o the new divisionrsquos subcommission on theology o mission and he
participated in its July 983089ndash983089983088 meeting at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey
Switzerland10486261048626 Te integration o the IMC into the WCC however had
not been easy Te proposal or integration had stirred intense debate
that was carried on in study papers committee meetings correspon-
dence and periodicals or ten years While the IMC Assembly in Accra
Ghana approved the proposed integration in 983089983097983093983096 dissatisaction with
this decision continued to ester
Historically the IMC had attracted a wide spectrum o Protestants
and Anglicans Conservative evangelicals who otherwise remained
aloo to church union movements had been longtime members o IMC
Indeed the modern mission movement was essentially an evangelical
21John Howard Yoder Te Priestly Kingdom (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press
10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048628983097-983093104862722Tis was one o several WCC commissions o which he was either a member or theological
adviser over the next thirty years
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2460
9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2660
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3060
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3260
1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2260
983090983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
initiative or it was the evangelical wings o the major churches that
joined with believers church people in sponsoring Protestant missions
Te membership o the IMC reflected this act Both ecumenical andevangelical Protestants had argued against IMC-WCC integration pre-
cisely on the grounds that it would inevitably alienate a significant part
o the Protestant missionary movement that hitherto had worked har-
moniously with IMC and Christian Councils across the world
Tis experience stimulated not only Yoderrsquos theological writing but
also his behind-the-scenes relationship building among evangelical and
mainline Protestant mission leaders1048626983091
Further it influenced his ap-proach to Mennonite mission strategy
Yoder and mission strategy World War II was a watershed event or
missions It hastened the collapse o the old system o Western domi-
nation and with it the mission model o the previous 983089983093983088 years Christian
missions were at an epochal crossroads Donald McGavranmdashborn to
missionary parents in India and himsel a missionary to India rom 9830899830979830901048628
to 9830899830979830931048628mdashpublished his seminal work Te Bridges o God in 983089983097983093983093 Mc-
Gavran emerged as a leading strategic thinker with his axiom that the
key to church growth was to pay attention to the sociocultural bridges
by which people groups could be reached He argued that church growth
is the sine qua non o mission effectiveness
Yoder took a keen interest in the challenge o exploring mission strat-
egies appropriate in the emerging environment He acknowledged the
achievement o the modern mission movement and noted that ldquoChurch
historians are already recognizing the lsquoForeign Missions Movementrsquo as
probably the most significant development in church history since the
Reormationrdquo1048626983092 Yet Christian missions were defined by what Sri Lankan
Christian leader D Niles called the ldquoWesternity o the missionary
baserdquo10486261048629 Although missionaries were not direct agents o colonialism
modern missions could not be separated rom ldquoa still broader cultural
and economic tiderdquo10486261048630 Te modern mission model was borrowed directly
23On this see Gayle Gerber Koontz ldquoUnity with Integrityrdquo in Radical Ecumenicity ed John Nu-
gent (Abilene X Abilene Christian Unity Press 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983093983095-983096104862824John Howard Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo Christian Living 983096 (August 10486259830979830941048625) 104862598309025D Niles Upon the Earth p 104862598309798309326Yoder ldquoChristian Missions at the Endrdquo p 1048625983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2660
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3060
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3160
Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3260
1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2360
Introduction 9830901048627
rom the secular realm like colonial officials who administered Western
colonies across the world the missionary was sent rom the West sup-
ported financially rom the West and ollowing service would return tothe West Tis era was now ending Newly independent countries were
taking steps to restrict or even curtail the work o oreign missionaries
Yoder put the modern mission movement in historical perspective by
viewing it within the whole o Christian experience For most o the past
nineteen centuries the expansion o the church happened through the
migration o committed lay Christians amilies or groups went to new
regions where they settled earned their livelihood and cast their lotwith their adopted community10486261048631 No mission society provided financial
and moral support and there were no fixed length o terms or provision
or returning home to retire In this respect the modern mission
movement is a historical anomaly In searching or new strategies in the
late twentieth century earlier historical patterns can be instructive
In 9830899830971048630983089 Yoder published a pamphlet titled As You Go Te Old Mission
in a New Day His textual premise was the amiliar Matthew 983090983096983089983097 which
he retranslated ldquoAs you are going rdquo Te thrust o the Great Com-
mission is not finding new geography but being alert to needs and op-
portunities or witness wherever the Christian is Yoder grounded his
presentation in historical experience From this standpoint the modern
proessional missionary does not represent the whole o Christian
history On the contrary
[What] we call the ldquooreign missionary movementrdquo is a relatively recentphenomenon in the history o the church beginning about 983089983096983088983088 It
would be wrong to limit our thinking about the uture o missions to one
particular concept Troughout the history o Godrsquos people the
Gospel has been brought to new parts o the world primarily by mi-
gration o financially independent Christians [who] were dispersed
sometimes because o commercial or amily interests more ofen be-
cause o persecution Where they went they took their aith with them
and new Christian cells were planted10486261048632
27Yoder makes the same arguments more succinctly in ldquoAfer Foreign MissionsmdashWhatrdquo Chris-
tianity oday 983094 (March 1048627983088 10486259830979830941048625) 1048625983090-1048625104862728John Howard Yoder As You Go Focal Pamphlet No 983093 (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830941048625)
pp 10486251048625-1048625983090 See aferword below p 10486289830881048628 Subsequent reerences to aferword in parentheses
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2660
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3060
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3160
Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3260
1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3360
Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 4660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2460
9830901048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Yoder called or cadres o people ready to experiment and take risks in
order to discover resh patterns o missionary obedience Rather than
understanding Christian mission as a program this was a challenge to venture orth as witnesses o the gospel in neglected places both at
home and across the world Tis bold resh strategic thinking struck a
responsive chord with younger people
J D Graber sent a copy o the pamphlet to McGavran or evaluation
and comment McGavran responded with a five-page review He com-
mented that ldquo lsquomigration evangelismrsquo is a terrifically appealing ideardquo ob-
serving that this was the way Islam was spreading10486261048633
McGavranrsquos concernhowever was that a mission board be mindul o the tendencies o mi-
grant communities to become insular and accordingly take steps to
insure that the main goal be church planting
Yoderrsquos proposal attracted considerable interest and resulted in sus-
tained experiments in Japan Brazil and Bolivia But in the postcolonial
world except or countries o North and South America and Europe mi-
gration with a view to obtaining citizenship has been virtually impossible9830911048624
In addition to his resh proposals about mission by migration Yoder
was deeply involved in strategic thinking about the role o Western mis-
sions and the churches they planted in relation to Arican Indigenous
Churches (AICs)983091983089 Shortly beore Yoder joined MBM administrative staff
in 983089983097983093983096 a group o churches in Nigeria contacted the Board asking to be
recognized as Mennonites Afer some conusion it gradually became
clear that longstanding Western mission policies had produced extensive
unintended consequences that is hundreds o indigenous churches had
sprung up across Arica One such group in Southeastern Nigeria learned
about Mennonites through an international radio broadcast Tey re-
29J D Graber to D McGavran 983097 November 10486259830979830941048625 D McGavran to J D Graber 1048625983090 December
10486259830979830941048625 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627-9830889830901048625983097983093983094-1048625983097983094983093 Box 9830961048627983093 Mennonite Church
USA Archives Goshen IN30Te nearest anyone came to writing up an evaluation o these ldquoexperimentsrdquo was Marvin J
Miller Te Case or a entmaking Ministry (Elkhart IN Mennonite Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983096)
One Mennonite missionary couple tried or 1048627983088 years to get citizenship in India to no avail31Descriptors or this phenomenon have evolved ldquobreakaway churchesrdquo ldquoseparatist churchesrdquo
Arican Independent Churches Arican Initiated Churches and recently Arican Indigenous
Churches Changing terminology reflects growing understanding and respect on the part o
scholars and mission-related churches Te earlier terms are now regarded as pejorative Pre-
erred usage now is the acronym AIC
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Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3060
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3460
YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2560
Introduction 983090983093
quested recognition and resources rom MBM Te crucial question was
what kind o relationship was appropriate Yoder was assigned adminis-
trative responsibility or this new venture He helped shape the strategyand theological rationale or a new kind o missional partnership9830911048626
In late 983089983097983093983097 MBM sent Edwin and Irene Weaver who had already
served in India or two decades to Nigeria to get acquainted with these
churches and determine what kind o cooperation might be appro-
priate983091983091 Te Weavers soon discovered that southeastern Nigeria could
not be considered an ldquounworkedrdquo mission field Indeed major Western
denominationsmdashRoman Catholic Anglican Methodist Presbyterianand the independent Qua Iboe Missionmdashhad sponsored missions to
this region since the late 983089983096983088983088s and had well-established churches
schools hospitals and clinics throughout the region A second group o
Protestant missions comprised o those who had arrived more recently
rejected the comity system ollowed by the older Protestant missions In
addition there were numerous Arican indigenous churches inter-
spersed among the ldquomissionrdquo churches Relations between the mission
churches and the indigenous churches were hostile Most o the senior
missionaries bluntly advised the Weavers to leave A ew elt the situ-
ation ought to be addressed and urged the Weavers to stay
Shortly afer arriving Edwin Weaver reported to Yoder some o his
and his wiersquos first impressions In short they elt overwhelmed Re-
sponding to Weaverrsquos ldquostimulating and disquieting letterrdquo Yoder offered
what proved to be prescient counsel ldquothis is more an ecumenical than a
missionary task i those two concepts can be separatedrdquo He counseled
that the main task is to ldquodecrease the conusionrdquo983091983092 Beore Weaver had
received Yoderrsquos December 983089983096 983089983097983093983097 reply he sent a sequel9830911048629 Soon afer
32Wilbert R Shenk ldquoGo Slow Trough Uyordquo in Fullness o Lie or All ed Inus Daneel et al (Am-
sterdam Rodopi 9830909830889830881048627) pp 1048627983090983097-1048628983088 David A Shank ldquoJohn Howard Yoder Strategistrdquo Mission
Focus Annual Review 1048625983093 (9830909830881048625983088) 1048625983097983093-983090104862598309533See the firsthand account by Edwin and Irene Weaver Te Uyo Story (Elkhart IN Mennonite
Board o Missions 1048625983097983095983088)34Edwin I Weaver to Yoder 983097 December 1048625983097983093983097 Yoder to Weaver 1048625983096 December 1048625983097983093983097 both in E
Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627 Mennonite Church USA Archives
Goshen IN35Weaver to Yoder 10486251048628 December 1048625983097983093983097 E Weaver 1048625983097983093983097 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2960
Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3160
Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3760
1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5260
he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5360
9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3160
Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2760
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5460
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 2860
983090983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
supplied and paid two teachers983092983089 In the process o setting orth MBMrsquos
understanding o cooperation with the Church o the Lord (Aladura)
Yoder drafed a seven-page statement that included a rationale or Men-nonite cooperation with AICs9830921048626 Te essential elements o Yoderrsquos theo-
logical and theoretical ramework or his strategic thinking in relation
to the churchrsquos mission in West Arica first expressed in the 983089983097983093983096 publi-
cation Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church were urther
developed in the essay ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seekrdquo983092983091 Te mis-
sionary shape o the church and the call or Christian unity were inter-
woven in Yoderrsquos theology and practice o mission
983089983097983095983088983155ndash983089983097983096983088983155 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 P983154983151983142983141983155983155983151983154 983137983150983140 M983141983150983156983151983154
By the 983089983097983095983088s renewal movements were calling insistently or recovery o
the ldquowholerdquo gospel Christian base communities in Latin America liber-
ation theologies Christian communes and liberation movements such as
the antiapartheid campaign in South Aricamdashall were seeking to address
proound ethical challenges with the resources o the gospel During those
years Yoder mentored through his writings and relationships a number o
young evangelicals in their ldquoradicalrdquo attempts to connect mission theology
and ethics Te Yoder amily spent the 983089983097983095983088ndash983089983097983095983089 academic year in Buenos
Aires Argentina He lectured in seminaries and developed a network o
relationships especially among emerging young evangelical theologians
He encouraged them to challenge current mission theology and strategy983092983092
In the United States he served as a resource to Evangelicals or Social
Action and to the Sojourners community and magazine
41Te Teological Education Fund was established in 1048625983097983093983095 by the IMC Under the WCCrsquos Com-
mission on World Mission and Evangelism it continued providing grants to seminaries in Asia
Arica and Latin America or upgrading theological education updating libraries providing
scholarships or advanced training o aculty and offering students stipends to study in semi-
naries and Bible schools in their own countries 42Yoder to W R Shenk memo Policy o Mennonite Missions and Service Agencies oward
Arican Independent Churches 10486251048628 February 1048625983097983095983088 Mennonite Board o Missions IV-1048625983096-10486251048627
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN43John Howard Yoder Te Ecumenical Movement and the Faithul Church (Scottdale PA Men-
nonite Publishing House 1048625983097983093983096) and ldquoTe Nature o the Unity We Seek A Historic Free Church
Viewrdquo in Te Royal Priesthood pp 9830909830901048625-104862798308844See John Howard Yoder Revolutionary Christianity Te 983089983097983094983094 South American Lectures ed Paul
Martens Mark Tiessen Nation Matthew Porter and Myles Werntz (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3160
Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 4160
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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Introduction 983090983097
At the first International Congress on World Evangelization Yoder
played a behind-the-scenes role advising and encouraging young theo-
logians Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andheld at Lausanne Switzerland July 9830891048630ndash983090983093 9830899830979830951048628 this event brought to-
gether more than three thousand delegates and observers wo o the
plenary speakers C Reneacute Padilla and Samuel Escobar whom Yoder had
met in Latin America represented a new generation o evangelicals in
Latin America Tey called or a vision o ldquoradical discipleshiprdquo and
commitment to a gospel that embraced all o human reality Contesting
the old dichotomy between evangelization and social action they chal-lenged the evangelical status quo
During the Congress these ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo caucused in oppo-
sition to the official statement the Lausanne Covenant Yoder was one
o several o their counselors Tey argued that the Congress ought to
take a more radical position on the issues o poverty and injustice that
blighted the lives o millions o people in the less developed countries
Tey declined to sign the Lausanne Covenant insisting that it was too
passive in the ace o the desperate conditions in Latin America Arica
and Asia9830921048629 Following the Lausanne gathering this group published Te
New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lau-
sanne Covenant in which they developed their position in fifeen
chapters o commentary9830921048630
Yoder and the church-growth debate In 9830899830971048630983093 Donald McGavran
became ounding dean o the School o World Mission and Institute o
Church Growth at Fuller Teological Seminary His ideas were widely
embraced among evangelical mission agencies that began sending their
mid-career missionaries or retooling under McGavranrsquos tutelage Mc-
Gavran argued that church growth was the key indicator o mission e-
ectiveness He amassed case studies rom around the world o how
45Congress leaders tried to accommodate the group Te ldquoradical evangelicalsrdquo drafed a state-
ment ldquoTeology and Implications o Radical Discipleshiprdquo which was included in the official
congress proceedings See J D Douglas ed Let the Earth Hear His Voice (Minneapolis WorldWide Publications 1048625983097983095983093) pp 10486259830909830971048628-983097983093
46C Reneacute Padilla ed Te New Face o Evangelicalism An International Symposium on the Lausanne
Covenant (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983095983094) Senior Western evangelical leaders
insisted this diverted attention rom evangelism ldquothe highest priorityrdquo Tis debate would con-
tinue well into the 1048625983097983096983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5460
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3060
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
churches grew or stagnated and coined special vocabulary to describe
his ideas Te key to McGavranrsquos theory was the homogeneous unit
principle ldquo[People] like to become Christians without crossing raciallinguistic or class barriersrdquo9830921048631 But could this claim based solely on em-
pirical evidence be validated on biblical and theological grounds
While McGavranrsquos ideas were attracting an enthusiastic ollowing
others were not persuaded9830921048632 Te Civil Rights movement in the United
States was gaining in strength Asians Aricans and Latin Americans
were alarmed by a mission strategy that could readily be used to give
legitimacy to continuing unjust divisions in societies based on casteclass and ethnic differences Tese issues were especially problematic or
missiologists in situations such as apartheid South Arica While Mc-
Gavran vigorously decried these criticisms people remained uneasy He
was a pragmatic strategist not a theologian
In February 9830899830979830951048627 the Mennonite Missionary Study Fellowship met to
study ldquoTe Challenge o Church Growthrdquo Te purpose was to evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses o McGavranrsquos theory and offer con-
structive critique Yoder gave the major paper ldquoChurch Growth Issues
in Teological Perspectiverdquo He approached his topic careully and re-
spectully Much o his critique centered on McGavranrsquos idiosyncratic
definitions o key terms in Matthew 983090983096983089983097-983090983088 discipling and perecting
Yoder argued that McGavranrsquos use o the Great Commission could not
be supported exegetically9830921048633 Te papers presented at the consultation
were subsequently published as a small book 10486291048624
Yoder was invited to a consultation our years later on the homoge-
47Donald McGavran Understanding Church Growth 983090nd ed (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) p
9830909830901048627 McGavran first ormulated and introduced his insights in Te Bridges o God (London
World Dominion Press 1048625983097983093983093)48Already in 1048625983097983094983090 Victor Hayward CWME Study Department (WCC) confided to Yoder that he
was interested in McGavranrsquos ideas but was meeting considerable criticism Victor Hayward to
John Howard Yoder 10486251048628 November 1048625983097983094983090 John Howard Yoder Historical Mss 1048625ndash1048628983096 Box 9830969830931048627983095
Mennonite Church USA Archives Goshen IN Subsequently Hayward did convene the Iber-
ville (Quebec) Consultation on Church Growth which issued the ldquoIberville Statement onChurch Growthrdquo But it did not quell the disquiet
49See David Bosch ldquoTe Structure o Mission An Exposition o Matthew 1048625983094ndash983090983088rdquo in Exploring
Church Growth ed Wilbert R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 9830901048625983096-1048628983096 a magiste-
rial study showing that McGavranrsquos interpretation was indeensible on exegetical grounds50Wilbert R Shenk ed Te Challenge o Church Growth (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830951048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 4560
10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5860
he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3160
Introduction 1048627983089
neous unit principle a consultation sponsored by the Lausanne Te-
ology and Education group chaired by John Stott Tirty-five people
gathered in Pasadena Caliornia May 1048627983089ndashJune 983090 983089983097983095983095 Five acultymembers o Fullerrsquos School o World Mission prepared papers on meth-
odological anthropological historical ethical and theological dimen-
sions o the homogenous principle Five scholars prepared written re-
sponses to the position papers and another twenty-five persons
participated in the discussion Yoder responded to Peter Wagnerrsquos paper
ldquoHow Ethical Is the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo but Yoderrsquos response
was never published1048629983089
Yoderrsquos last contribution to the church growth debate was an essay
ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth Tis
makes clear the substantial difference in ecclesiological vision that stood
between McGavran and Wagner on one side and Yoder and C Reneacute
Padilla among numerous other thinkers on the other10486291048626 But the ground
was shifing In a 9830899830979830961048630 reflection rom an insiderrsquos vantage point Arthur
F Glasser acknowledged that interaction with critics had changed the
church growth movement in important ways He noted that ldquo[Mc-
Gavran] no longer uses Homogenous Unit Principle in his writings but
reers instead to the lsquomosaic o peoplesrsquo rdquo1048629983091
Ethics and missionary practice In his speaking and writing over the
years Yoder called American missionaries to deeper cultural and ethical
awareness Because most American missionaries were reared in a reli-
gious culture that prescribed appropriate behavior they were inexperi-
enced in ethical discernment Te way one behaved was not a conse-
51See consultation statement ldquoTe Pasadena Statement on the Homogeneous Unit Principlerdquo
Lausanne Occasional Papers No 1048625 London Lausanne Committee or World Evangelization
and World Evangelical Fellowship 1048625983097983095983095 and Making Christ Known ed John Stott (Grand Rap-
ids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983094) pp 983093983095-983095983090 Wagnerrsquos paper was published in Occasional Bulletin 9830901048625
(1048625983097983095983096) 1048625983090-1048625983097 Yoderrsquos response ldquoTe Homogenous Unit Concept in Ethical Perspectiverdquo is
available in the conerence compendium held in the Fuller Teological Seminary Library and
in the John Howard Yoder Digital Library hosted in Elkhart County Indiana httpreplica
palnieducdmlandingpagecollectionp1048625983093983095983088983093coll104862598309652John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Social Shape o the Gospelrdquo in Exploring Church Growth ed Wilbert
R Shenk (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830961048627) pp 983090983095983095-9830961048628 Padillarsquos response to one o the Fuller
aculty papers was also published in this collection C Reneacute Padilla ldquoTe Unity o the Churchrdquo
in ibid pp 983090983096983093-1048627983088104862753Arthur F Glasser ldquoChurch Growth at Fullerrdquo Missiology 10486251048628 no 1048628 (October 1048625983097983096983094) 10486281048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3560
10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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1048627983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
quence o conversion but o ollowing the practices o onersquos ldquoChristianrdquo
culture Missionaries who had never questioned the common dualism
between evangelism and social action were unprepared to come toterms with the ldquowhole gospelrdquo vision that emerged globally in the 983089983097983095983088s
In June 9830899830979830961048627 Yoder addressed the annual meeting o the Association
o Proessors o Mission on ldquoEthical Issues or raining or Cross-
Cultural Missionsrdquo He argued that American evangelical missionaries
operate with binary patterns ldquoCertain components o the Anglo-Saxon
evangelical experience have predisposed many o us and many o those
who come to our schools to trust binary patterns o analysis which spe-cifically tend to relegate matters o ethical concern to secondary or de-
rivative statusrdquo1048629983092 Examples include nominal versus real Christianity
outer versus inner ormal versus existential and spiritual versus ma-
terial Tese pairs are separated into prior and secondary Obviously a
secondary item is less important than what is prior Yoder observed that
the ethical is ldquoroutinely in the second categoryrdquo10486291048629
Yoder believed it was inexcusable in crosscultural situations to treat
ethical thinking as a ldquosecondaryrdquo matter to be set aside either by habit o
mind or by arbitrary decision raining missionaries or crosscultural
ministry must include attending to ethics or the ethical vision o Jesus
can only be understood as constitutive o the gospel In the lie ministry
death and resurrection o Jesus the Messiah we have seen and received
the whole gospel
Yoder also pressed the indissoluble link between ethics and evangeli-
zation in his ecumenical interactions Te theme o the Sixth Assembly
o the WCC in Vancouver BC July 9830901048628ndashAugust 983089983088 9830899830979830961048627 was ldquoJesus
Christmdashthe Lie o the Worldrdquo the evangelistic task o the church In a
compelling statement he asserted that evangelization is the test o our
ethical vocation Citing John 983089983095 and the Sermon on the Mount he
stressed the integral relationship between visible unity and the dis-
tinctive liestyle o discipleshipmdashsalt light city on a hill Jesus connects
this to the practice o enemy love as displayed supremely in Godrsquos action
54John Howard Yoder ldquoTe Experiential Etiology o Evangelical Dualismrdquo Missiology 10486251048625 no 1048628
(October 10486259830979830961048627) 1048628104862898309755Ibid p 10486289830931048625
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5260
he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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Introduction 10486271048627
Jesus Christ made peace between hostile peoples by the blood o his
cross (Eph 983090) and gave us the ministry o reconciliation10486291048630 Ethics and
mission cannot be separated
C983151983150983156983145983150983157983145983150983143 C983144983137983148983148983141983150983143983141983155 983151983142 Y983151983140983141983154rsquo983155 M983145983155983155983145983151983150 T983144983151983157983143983144983156
Yoder consistently worked against the grain o conventional taken-or-
granted renderings o biblical interpretation church history and con-
temporary practice From his radically Christocentric ocus he called
ellow pilgrims to deeper and more complete obedience to our crucified
and reigning Messiah As demonstrated in the early chapters o thisbook he insisted on a rigorous reading and openness to the scriptural
text He was ever alert to the ways Christians in every age have over-
adapted to their culture thereby compromising their witness Protes-
tants have clustered into ecumenical and evangelical blocs with each
group clinging to a lopsided gospel Te underlying issue generally un-
acknowledged and unaddressed is the Christendom ecclesiology that
orces a choice between a church without mission and a mission without
church Tese insights and commitments are representative o the chal-
lenges Yoderrsquos mission thought continues to pose today
56John Howard Yoder ldquoA Comment Evangelization Is the est o Our Ethical Vocationrdquo Interna-
tional Review o Mission 983095983090 (10486259830979830961048627) 9830941048627983088
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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YODERrsquoS INTRODUCTION
TO THE TOPIC
What is the target and unction o this work Te title could be written
more than one way so we need to meditate on what Teology o Mission
does and does not mean983089
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147We could ocus on the place o theology as a discipline related to the mis-
sionary task Tat is to say that the missionary witness in a new cultural
context as a church comes into being will ace questions not answered
elsewhere o ace those new questions there will have to be a theolo-
gizing process distinguishing between right and wrong adaptations to
the new host culture checking translation o the Scriptures to insure
clarity and accuracy In a new church context there will need to be cul-turally appropriate articulations or catechism church order and lead-
ership training
In that new situation interchurch relations will pose new challenges
Te missionary representatives o earlier Christianity will have brought
with them their denominational or other identities but there will be a
new theological passing on and relating o traditions in the host country
1[Compare David J Bosch ransorming Mission (Maryknoll NY Orbis 10486259830979830971048625) pp 1048625-10486251048625 J A B
Jongeneel ldquoMission Teology in the wentieth Centuryrdquo in Dictionary o Mission Teology ed
John Corrie (Nottingham Inter-Varsity Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830901048627983095-10486281048628 C E Van Engen ldquoMission
Teology ordquo in Global Dictionary o Teology ed W A Dyrness and V-M Kaumlrkkaumlinen (Down-
ers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983096) pp 983093983093983088-983094983090 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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10486271048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Te question will arise as to what kind o theologian or what kind o
theologizing process is needed to help the church in its missionary
calling Tat would be important and we cannot avoid touching on thetheological process itsel but that is not the ocus o this book
Te topic is narrower with several sides One is to ask what issues in
theology are especially important or the light they throw on the mis-
sionary nature o the church It might be that there are things Western
theologians have debated at great length that throw no light on the
church as missionary We do not have to deal with those subjects Other
issues subject to theological debate may become more meaningul orimportant when we think o the church in the missionary mood rather
than the church as established
Second what aspects o the missionary enterprise call or theological
analysis and illumination What does it mean or somebody to send
missionaries or to go as missionaries What does it mean to be a sending
church or a receiving church
Finally i there is such a thing as the churchrsquos missionary enterprise a
notion that developed in Christendom does that reality or mandate
throw any corrective light on or does it complement the nonmissionary
theology o the nonmissionary churches o the West Does the mis-
sionary concern offer a new perspective on Western theology
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983137983150983155 983137983150983140 983156983144983141 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 T983137983155983147
One o the major figures in the field o mission theology Johannes
Hoekendijk wrote that theologians ldquohave been in the past among the
most unconquerable saboteurs o evangelismrdquo1048626 By this he meant that
the aculties o theology in European universities and the state-church
structures have generally not been supportive o or have even attacked
critiqued or undercut concern or what Hoekendijk called ldquoevangelismrdquo
but could also be called ldquomissionrdquo What are the reasons or that Doing
theology as an educational enterprise in Western Europe was in a non-
missionary context Europe thought o itsel as a Christian culture andwhatever could be called ldquomissionsrdquo belonged in some other part o the
2[Johannes Hoekendijk ldquoTe Call to Evangelismrdquo International Review o Mission 1048627983097 (1048625983097983093983088) 1048625983094983090
mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5260
he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983095
world Since the context itsel did not raise the missionary question it
was natural that theology did not deal with it I you look through Eu-
ropean systematic or practical theology texts the theme o mission isabsent in most o the texts and even in the presuppositions with which
most o the texts were written
Part o the reason university theologians were hard on the missionary
enterprise was that the wrong kinds o people were interested in it
Mission work was usually done by Pietists and separatists people who
were not representative o the established churches and their theological
practice Moreover that work was ofen done by simple people who notonly had minority positions but ofen did not think about those posi-
tions very careully
In European Christianity the agencies that carried out the sending
process were not the church Te church was a sociological agency
responsible or governing pastors and placing them in pulpits and
handling the denominationrsquos internal affairs in any given country Te
organizations that sent missionaries were missionary societies that were
created spontaneously by voluntary membership who then created their
own structures A theologian in a European Protestant university (or an
American Ivy League university) did not eel that the missionary enter-
prise was something or which his or her church was responsible Te-
ology had to do with domestic church management
Early in the twentieth century this classic polarity between the mis-
sionary and theologian shifed partly because o the modern ecumenical
movement that arose out o the missionary movementrsquos success Te
missionary movement was an agent o developing churches around the
world When it became visible that there was a worldwide Christian
community that took expression in different orms in interchurch rela-
tions Western academic theology could no longer avoid the act that
the worldwide church must be accepted related to and given meaning
Te act that it is a subject being dealt with however does not mean that
the kind o critique o missions that Hoekendijk reerred to is no longerpresent In act critique can become sharper It used to be that the estab-
lished theologians did not talk about evangelism and missions now
they talk about missions and evangelism critically
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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1048627983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
Pietist emphases in missions is one o the standard theological cri-
tiques Te rootage o the missionary enterprise in Pietism has had two
effects that contemporary theology criticizes One is the concentrationon conversion as an individual phenomenon or both the missionary
and the convert Tis is subject to some criticism rom both biblical and
realistic perspectives Te other effect that is criticized is the ocus on a
particularmdashsometimes called moralisticmdashcultural style that calls or
conormity to the cultural patterns o the sending churches or instance
orbidding use o alcohol and dancing While the previous generation o
missionaries was concerned to export the patterns o aithulness thathad been ound necessary at home theologians would say alcohol and
dancing are not necessarily the most important points
Still another critique has to do with perceived narrowness in theo-
logical understanding One o the currents o thought in Western the-
ology sometimes called ldquoneo-universalismrdquo argues that Godrsquos love must
be effective beyond the borders o the visible church Teologians who
hold this view suggest there must be ways to be objects o Godrsquos love and
to be reconciled with God or to trust in Godrsquos goodness without joining
a Western organization Tey question missionaries who go to the rest
o the world with the Christian message thinking that i they donrsquot reach
people with the message those people will be lost But what does ldquolostrdquo
mean Te missionaries defined salvation in terms o European se-
mantics European experience and European concepts o what it means
to be human to be saved and thereore to be lost Teologians asked
can we think this way anymore Isnrsquot Godrsquos purpose broader than the
perdition o everybody who has not heard and joined our movement
Tis cuts across the traditional missionary motivation the lostness o all
people outside the Christian message
Another critical perspective on mission comes rom cultural anthro-
pology In our time there has arisen a much greater capacity to analyze
the uniqueness o every culture and there is greater awareness that
meaningmdashincluding religious meaningmdashis dependent on the shape o agiven culture We cannot simply translate words and know that in an-
other culture we are saying the same thing because the meaning o a
statement is always conditioned by that culture It is ofen argued that the
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048627983097
simple anthropologically untrained missionary has been saying things
in other countries that were meaningless or that did not mean what they
thought they said Tis is another orm o the ldquosimple peoplerdquo reproachwith which the theologians previously critiqued or ignored missions
Such criticisms o Christian mission criticisms that are still present
encourage proessional theologyrsquos low view o missions
W983144983137983156 I983155 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983103
But what do we mean by theology o mission as distinguishable rom
other things we might say about missions How is theology distin-guishable rom missionary method and principles
For some people theology means collecting and collating proposi-
tions or truths Tey think that we have a certain number o Christian
truths We can state them at greater length with more propositions or
more simply in a creed Tose affirmations stated in the best possible
language are what we believe Teology is simply a matter o inter-
preting the propositions clariying them checking the definitions
keeping them straight and deending them
Teology starts on the level o catechism What ideas must a believer
believe in order to be accepted or baptism How much does someone
have to know One o the meanings o catechism is ldquowhat you have to
know in order to be recognized by the rest o the Christian community as
a ellow believer and to be ready or incorporation into the community
through baptism or confirmationrdquo Beyond that minimal instruction one
soon discovers that we do not all teach the same theology Catholics and
Lutherans differ so we have to give reasons or choosing this or that
answer to one o the big questions Controversy comes afer catechism
Afer controversy comes systematic thought In systematic thought
we ask how it all hangs together What assumptions are more unda-
mental than others Which reasoning processes are valid and which do
not make sense or are not convincing Systematic theology is sel-
conscious It turns in on itsel and asks ldquoHow are we thinkingrdquo notsimply ldquoWhat do we thinkrdquo It asks ldquoWhy do they think differentlyrdquo
and ldquoHow do we think properlyrdquo Systematic theology comes at the end
o an evolution in theological thought within Christian history It comes
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 3960
1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
afer catechetical instruction and afer controversy In church history we
see this development taking place over the centuries Systematic the-
ology has also tended to become hardened as definitive in the thoughto the church and to be taught or its own sake
While or some people theology is organizing traditional truths sys-
tematically or other people theology is simply a realm o talking about
God In that realm individuals can have their own new ideas which are
legitimate theology too In this view one can even be an atheist and do
theology as long as the person thinks careully about the act that God
does not exist Teology is just another word or thinking careully aboutwhat matters the most Given this spirit which puts a premium on tol-
erance variety and individual authenticity there arises a new criticism
o the whole missionary package it is arrogant Te missionary under-
taking does not let other people have their own theology It tries to
impose a better one even across cultural borders
In the last century and a hal these two schools o thoughtmdashone that
held that theology means everybody doing their own critical thinking
rom scratch and the other that theology is an authoritative body o
truths everybody should believemdashdebated one another Te debates
were mostly about whether to believe the Bible and what authority the
Bible has Many assumed that those in avor o propositional theology
were the ones who ldquobelieved the Biblerdquo because they got their proposi-
tions rom it and the other people were the ones who did not Tis
turned out on later analysis to be simplistic because most propositions
in systematic theology draw rom sources beyond the Bible Systematic
theology uses contemporary terms It translates and paraphrases It se-
lects It borrows later agendas It debates issues that only arose in the
Middle Ages or in the Reormation Much o what it takes to make the-
ology systematic is borrowed rom other places and debates
I suggest we back away rom those classical ways o understanding
what theology thinks it is doing We should not assume that we are dealing
with a total body o knowledge that is to be firmly organized once and orall which we then unold Teological material always comes rom history
and it is always an arbitrary selection On the other hand theology is not
a simple transposition o biblical statements into an outline as i one can
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5260
he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983089
take the whole Bible put every line on a card and then reorganize the
cards in a more logical way than they were in the written Bible Tat is
what some people think systematic theology is But every transpositionevery translation every selection changes something
o avoid both arbitrariness in our own theological selection and the
idea o theology as a settled rigid set o answers letrsquos look at theology as
a reasoning process in the lie o the church Tis process needs to be
done careully responsibly in the ellowship o the church subject to
the authority o Scripture but not in the wooden way o the past
thinking that all we are doing is rearranging biblical thinkingI we examine this process rom a sociological perspective we can ask
what the Christian church as a group o people has to talk about to-
gether One is our common convictions or catechism a minimum
common knowledge that a new member o the community ought to be
aware o to be acceptable as a member Naming this may not take much
theological conversation (although in some churches it takes more than
in others) A second thing that we do with language is liturgy We have
ways o praying and we break bread together and we have ways o ex-
plaining what is going on when we do these things Tat is also theology
It may ocus on the same subject matter as the catechism and it may not
A third thing that we do with words in the church is to argue Tere is
wrong doctrine Tere is also good diversity in expression o convic-
tions But to distinguish between diversity that is good because it is
complementary and values a variety o gifs and situations and diversity
that is wrong the church has to think and argue Te technical term or
that is polemics an argumentative kind o theology
Yet another unction o theology we call apologetics which simply
means that we are trying to express ourselves in the language o the people
we are trying to talk to We donrsquot tell them in our language how our po-
sition hangs together but we try to adopt their language and speak to them
in a way that will win them or at least make sense to them in their terms
Each o these approaches has a different set o ground rules I you aredoing catechetics then you will ask i this conviction is indispensable Can
you get along without it I you are doing polemics you will have a di-
erent set o questions You will ask ldquoWhere does error beginrdquo ldquoWhat is
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5960
1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5260
he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 10486281048627
missionsrdquo is what the church does in her own culture ldquoEvangelismrdquo is
what the church does in her own neighborhood ldquoForeign missionsrdquo is
what the church does when sending people overseasOur increasing awareness o the commonality o situations in one
part o the world and another makes that distinction too simple Tose
o us who live in North America or Europe would find that there are
parts o our own countries so different rom our own that we would eel
as i we were in a oreign country i we lived there Tere are also parts
o the ldquooverseasrdquo world that are highly Westernized In act we are not ar
rom having state churches in some Arican countries and South Pacificislands Te problem o religious establishment is not limited to Europe
or North America
While it used to be taken or granted that Europe and North America
were Christian and other continents were ldquothe non-Christian worldrdquo
that is no longer possible to assume Tis is partly because o the growth
o the church around the world and partly because there is increasing
awareness that Europe and North America are not simply ldquoChristianrdquo
We cannot assume the home country is a Christian country and all we
have to do is evangelize (that is get individuals to join the church in the
Christian country) or to work in certain ringe areas (that is with im-
migrants or Native Americans or slum dwellers) and call that home mis-
sions Tat picture is not helpul in understanding the breadth o the
missionary concern
A urther issue arises over the EastWest divide in Christianity o
think that there is an East that never was Christian and a West that used
to be Christian oversimplifies in numerous important ways Eastern
Christianity used to be the name or the Russian Orthodox the Greek
Orthodox the Syrian Orthodox and the Coptic people Is that West or
East It is not quite either Ten there is the act that neither Arica nor
Latin America alls under the East-West polarization So some people
have begun talking about North and South Te North is the developed
world and the South is the poor world which means Latin AmericaArica and southern Asia No one o these efforts to get handles on the
problem will work but we cannot work without handles either
In spite o the difficulties we will consider the ldquooverseas modelrdquo as
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 6060
he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 4360
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
typical or raising the issues we will examine We want to put our ques-
tions in the context o the widest cultural legal and physical differ-
ences we canmdashbut without assuming that crossing distant culturalboundaries is categorically different rom crossing cultural bound-
aries in some given homeland However looking at mission in relation
to more distant places and cultures may give us samples more repre-
sentative and revealing
M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 M983141983156983144983151983140983155 983137983150983140 P983154983145983150983139983145983152983148983141983155
Our ocus on theologizing in the context o mission needs to be distin-guished rom the kinds o concerns that would be raised i our title were
ldquomissionary methodsrdquo or ldquomissionary principlesrdquo In that case we would
give more attention to the actual procedures o the missionary agency or
the proessional missionary person We cannot ignore those questions
because they have theological implications But neither can we ocus
on them because not all o them are strictly theological We will touch
only incidentally on items that would be dealt with in a book on prin-
ciples or methods
Missionary agency management Some questions regarding prin-
ciples or methods have to do with the missionary agency as an insti-
tution a board a mission society a sending office Tis kind o agency
needs management and support policies It needs to define its rela-
tionship to a constituency It must also address the question o the status
o the missionary person as an employee o the mission institution
What constitutes candidacy call ordination and tenure
Mission agencies also need to determine their priorities What is and
should be the place o schools hospitals community development or
other service agencies which do things other than create congrega-
tions How are service and mission related as concepts as unctions and
as agencies
Another question is the status o field management structures and
their relation to the church in that country What does it mean to haveconcern or ldquoindigenous methodsrdquo Does this mean that missionaries in
a given overseas context will consider themselves regular members o
the local church Should they transer their membership rom North
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5460
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983093
America serve the church in leadership roles only i they are elected and
give their tithes to a local congregational budget Or is that precisely
backwards because that warps the genuinely indigenous nature o thelocal church Should they keep out o the way o the local church as part
o their presence and offering to avoid the danger o domination Tat
is a theological issue but it is also an issue o agency management It is
another issue we cannot ocus on
Focus of the missionary effort Another set o questions that we
cannot avoid but that we will not deal with directly has to do with pri-
orities in the ocus o the missionary effort Should the mission effortconcentrate on trying to reach everybody Should it rather try to reach
elite policy makers and cultural leaders because they will influence
many others Should it ocus on trying to reach the poor because Jesus
was in avor o the poor Or should it ocus on reaching whoever will be
most likely to respond Tose are significantly different approaches
Tose are elements we will not deal with in this book
Cultural adaptation Further decisions have to do with what is ap-
propriate or inappropriate cultural adaptation in a mission setting I
people in the non-Christian religious culture meet under tents should
Christians meet under tents too Should the mission effort adapt as
much as possible in superficial visible ways to the surrounding religious
culture so as to be identified as also religious Or should the Christians
make the point that they are Christian by not using the same kinds o
buildings shrines and meeting times as the religious establishment
Should missionaries work to have large congregations so they can
have a preacher and a budget as their sending churches do or should
they work with house churches so that new Christians have an intimate
point where they can be brought into community and catechized Is the
primary goal a maximum number o converts or a maximum spread o
Christian values which might be done best by not insisting on con-
verting people Is it more important to go to the cities because that is
where more people are Or to go to tribal areas where the Christianmessage has not reached because the gospel is supposed to reach ldquoall
tonguesrdquo and every city already has some type o church present All
these questions are theologically relevant We cannot avoid touching on
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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10486281048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
them and using related illustrations but they would be dealt with more
ully and careully in a book on missionary methods and principles
Believers church concerns Under the heading o principles or methodswe could ocus on some specific concerns that those in the believers
church and historic peace church traditions hold and how they ought to
be expressed in mission work i they ought to be expressed at all For ex-
ample because o the shape o established Christianity in Europe in the
sixteenth century Anabaptist Mennonites have ocused on the impor-
tance o believers baptism in contrast to inant baptism Should mission-
aries insist in a country where other people baptize their babies that in-ants are not to be baptized and that the decision to become a member o
the church must be a mature personal decision What does the concen-
tration on individual decision mean in a culture where individuals ollow
amily or clan decisions rather than make their own What does believers
baptism mean where there is no established church that collapses citi-
zenship and baptism Does the same obligation remain to make an issue
o inant baptism Is there more o an obligation to ocus on this practice
because the church is in a missionary situation or perhaps less because it
is a more serious matter to press an issue that could divide Christians in
some other part o the world than it seems to be in our part o the world
In North America we have a pluralistic way o getting along on many o
these issues Disagreement and division are more difficult when Chris-
tians are a disadvantaged minority in an unriendly culture
Another question is how mission work should deal with the church-
state relationship given that it has a different orm in every part o the
world o what extent should Europeans or Americans carry to other
parts o the world the patterns or convictions developed in the relatively
tolerant relatively democratic West Or should pacifist Christians
promote an ethic o nonresistance and raise the whole set o questions
around violence the state and the military983091 Minimally missionaries
3[Yoder used the term nonresistance which had a particular resonance or Mennonite seminarystudents at the time We have retained his usage or historical integrity and or the peaceable
spirit the term connotes even though the term is easily misunderstood In our current context
a term such as ldquononviolent resistance to evilrdquo better communicates Yoderrsquos intention or he
consistently argued against those who assumed that nonresistance meant passivity withdrawal
or reusal to respond to the suffering o neighbors See Leo Driedger and Donald B Kraybill
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 4660
Yoderrsquos Introductionto the opic 1048628983095
should eel as ree about preaching the moral conviction that war and
killing are wrong as they do about preaching other aspects o the gospel
Perhaps a message that includes nonresistance in act clarifies the natureo Godrsquos love or the nature o Christian lie
Further what would it mean or those who see peace as integral to
the gospel to let the churchrsquos pacifist stance be a part o missionary
identity and procedures What would that mean in countries where a
military government careully supervises especially the activities o or-
eigners but also the activities o its own citizens Perhaps nonresistance
is not only a message but a way o doing mission Are there violent andnonviolent nationalistic and nonnationalistic ways o carrying out the
mission o the church I so nonresistance would not only be part o the
content o the message but would also shape missionary procedures
We will be obligated to dip into these areas or samples or guidelines
but I will make no effort to cover them systematically
G983154983151983159983156983144 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 S983156983157983140983161
In recent years there has been sizeable growth in the field o missiology
I earlier reerred to this in terms o ecumenical theology Until the late
983089983097983093983088s you would not have ound in the average seminary library a subject
heading or books on ldquotheology o missionrdquo Tat observation however
should not be overdone as i I were suggesting that nobody ever thought
about mission theologically beore But it seems that the nature o the
churchrsquos mission was not a central issue and was not dealt with in the
same way as the doctrine o humanity the doctrine o sin or the the-
ology o sacraments had been trying to illuminate it rom the Bible and
rom other theological resources trying to build it into the theological
discipline and get academic theologians to recognize it
A landmark in the development o mission theology was a meeting in
983089983097983093983090 in Willingen Germany o the International Missionary Council
(IMC) who asked or a study o the theology o mission983092 Tat request
Mennonite Peacemaking From Quietism to Activism (Scottdale PA Herald Press 10486259830979830971048628) who
trace changes in ways Mennonites have articulated their peace commitment since the 10486259830971048627983088s and
10486259830971048628983088s mdashEd]4On this see Willhelm Andersen ldquoFurther oward a Teology o Missionrdquo in Te Teology o the
Christian Mission ed Gerald Anderson (New York McGraw-Hill 10486259830979830941048625) pp 1048627983088983088-104862710486251048627
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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1048628983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
gave visibility to the missionary concern in interchurch thought From
then on one can ollow meetings reports rom study conerences and
other kinds o documents on the topic Afer 9830899830971048630983089 when the IMC wasormally incorporated into the World Council o Churches devel-
opment o mission theology continued to be encouraged by the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
Tis rapid survey o developments in the field o missiology helps
identiy the agenda we will try to address in a rather obvious sequence
o topics in the rest o this book
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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1
THE PROPHETS
Israel and the Nations
Generally when interpreters o the Bible look or its ldquomissionary
messagerdquo especially in the Old estament they identiy such a message
wherever there is reerence to ldquothe nationsrdquo Tere is implicit reerence
to the nations whenever Yahwehrsquos sovereignty is affirmed as reaching
beyond Godrsquos care or the Israelites Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 places all o worldhistory in a context o creationallprovidence under a sovereign who
at the same time is specifically the caring and covenantal Lord who
calls Israel
More directly the call o Abraham is related to Godrsquos saving purposes
or all the nations Some interpreters have taken this to mean that
Abraham was a missionary because he leaves and goes out to receive
some promise that is not defined but which has to do with being ablessing to the world Max Warren or example maintains that ldquoTe
Apostolic church came into being when God called Abraham out o Ur
o the Chaldees and bade him go out into a land he did not know and
Abraham obeyed When the grace o God in choosing Abraham was
met by the aith o Abraham in accepting the choice the Church was
bornrdquo983089 Tus the meaning o electionmdashbeing selected outmdashdoes not
mean a selfish privilege but an assignment to be a mediator or a repre-sentative between the electing God and the nations
1[See Max Warren Te Calling o God Four Essays in Missionary History (London Lutterworth
Press 10486259830971048628983093) p 1048628983093 mdashEd]
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
A third implicitly missionary dimension o Old estament aith is the
nonexistence or the impotence o the other gods or o idols Whenever
this polemic against idols is proclaimed there is intrinsically a messageto the people serving those gods even though the context in which we
find anti-idolatry literature is the internal discipline o the Israelites
On quite another level the prophetic vision o the nations coming to
Jerusalem to learn the law has a missionary impact Te most amiliar
passage is Micah 1048628983089-1048628 parallel to Isaiah 983090983089-1048628 but it is ound as well in
Psalm 10486281048630 Ezekiel 983090983096983090983093-9830901048630 and Zechariah 983096983090983088-9830901048627 In this vision Jeru-
salem is the center o the world which represents a statement about theworld as well as about Jerusalem (Jer 1048627983089983095 9830891048630983089983097) Te nations will come
to Jerusalem bringing tribute (Is 983089983096983095) Tey will recognize Yahweh
Tey will recognize Israelrsquos election Tey will learn the law (Ps 1048630983095) and
civilization will be restored Te word or such civilization is peace
which is spelled out in terms o economics ldquoTey shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not
lif up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more but
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and
no one shall make them araid or the mouth o the L983151983154983140 o hosts has
spokenrdquo (Mic 10486281048627-1048628)1048626
Tis restoration may be seen with or without Yahwehrsquos direct inter-
vention to ldquojudge the nationsrdquo in the sense o exercising political sover-
eignty It may be envisaged with or without an explicit relationship to
the cult or the temple at Jerusalem Tere is not such a relationship in
most o the above texts It is not said that there will be Bible reading or
circumcision in all o the nations or that there will be no more eating o
pigs Yet the Jews would have to think that the nations would be still better
2Te common picture o people coming to the city could be spoken o as salvation Tey come to
the true God Tey recognize where God has spoken and who Godrsquos chosen people have been
Tey accept Godrsquos law Tey go home and make peace and everybody has his or her own gar-
den What more would they want by way o salvation In one sense we can say that the uture
salvation that is expected or the nations is that they do not become Jews But then what is themeaning o peoplehood What is the place o sacrifice o having the correct Scriptures o the
lawrsquos details and o the way o lie that God wants people to live Tere is a remaining ambiguity
at that point I we bring in the New estament meaning o salvation there are parts that are not
in this Old estament picture I we ask on the basis o the text it is hard to say what additional
benefits the nations would want once that prediction o Micah and Isaiah is ulfilled
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5860
he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
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he Prophets 983093983089
i they not only heard the law and went back and had peace but i they
started doing without pork observing the Sabbath bringing sacrifices
and observing the lawA ew texts speak directly about the possibility that Yahweh might be
known and praised by the nations Most direct is Psalm 1048630983095 ldquoLet the
peoples praise you O God let all the peoples praise you Let the nations
be glad and sing or joy or you judge the peoples with equity and guide
the nations upon earthrdquo (Ps 10486309830951048627-1048628)
Te songs o the Suffering Servant also have missionary implica-
tions983091
In Isaiah 1048628983090983089-1048628 we read that the spirit o Yahweh has been placedupon the Servant and that he shall ldquobring orth justice to the nationsrdquo (Is
1048628983090983089) Harold Rowley a Baptist Old estament scholar says this mis-
sionary implication ollows logically rom the dogma o monotheism I
there is only one God then that God must be God or all people and that
the election o a particular human group to know this one true God
automatically calls them to become Godrsquos proclaimers983092 He also reers
to Isaiah 1048628983090983090-1048627mdashldquoHe will not cry or lif up his voice or make it heard in
the street a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he
will not quench he will aithully bring orth justicerdquomdashwhich is signi-
icant or the judgment it expresses on later missionary understandings
that the means o this proclamation to bring justice to the Gentiles shall
not be ordinary kinds o power
In Isaiah 1048628983097 we read that the Servantrsquos assignment is not simply ldquoto
raise up the tribes o Jacob and to restore the survivors o Israelrdquo (Is
10486289830971048630) but to be made a light or the Gentiles Isaiah 9830939830881048628-983097 adds the el-
ement o suffering to this ministry to the Gentiles and then the crowning
passage Isaiah 9830939830909830891048627ndash9830931048627983089983090 adds the element o the Suffering Servantrsquos
vindication when it is seen that his suffering was as a ransom or ldquomanyrdquo
Rather than deciding that this passage had to do exclusively with the
prophet or with some other person in his time or with some uture
figure or with a community all o these elements probably belong Te
Servant is perhaps at the same time Israel in its various shades o
3See Harold Henry Rowley ldquoTe Servant Mission Te Servant Songs and Evangelismrdquo Interpre-
tation 983096 no 1048627 (July 10486259830979830931048628) 983090983093983097-9830959830904[Ibid p 983090983094983094 mdashEd]
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983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
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9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5460
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5960
1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 6060
he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5160
983093983090 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
meaning a aithul remnant within Israel a man within that aithul
remnant a man yet to come in the uture In any case i that is the kind
o purpose God has avowed then Israelrsquos witness to Yahweh must beone o corporate servanthood or the sake o the Gentiles
Tus there is justification or the claim that the oreign missionary
enterprise is rooted in all o Scripture and not simply in the New es-
tament Yet it is more important or our guidance to be clear about the
ways in which this Old estament vision is different rom what we mean
in modern times by missions
Israel takes no action toward bringing in the nations We do have amodest openness on the part o the Israelites to integrate into their
number persons o other tribes Te Mosaic legislation provides or the
rights o strangers and the stories o Joshua and Judges support the
urther elaboration o archeologists and historians who believe that as
the Hebrews infiltrated Canaan many who dwelt already in the land
must have joined their amily ederation1048629 More than we realize rom
the ordinary introductory reading o the story Israel was made up o a
composite population with a nucleus o people who could reach back to
the Abraham story Israelrsquos identity was built around the Abraham story
but all along they were incorporating other people into that story Even
on the way out o Egyptmdashwhen you would think that the group would
be made up o only the true descendants o the Hebrews (because who
else would want to belong to those people)mdashthere are still a ew reer-
ences to some who do not seem to be ully ethnically part o the Hebrew
group but who simply have tagged along
wo different terms describe these people At the beginning o the
exodus rom Egypt Exodus 9830899830901048627983096 says ldquoA mixed crowd also went up
with themrdquo What is a ldquomixed crowdrdquo Te Hebrew term or thismdash
ʿ ērebmdashonly appears twice in the Old estament But the other place it
occurs is Nehemiah 98308910486271048627 where it very obviously means nonethnic
people it means the Samaritans o the extent that we can compare
texts rom one book to another or rom one period o Hebrew liter-ature to the next it would seem that this term (with some indication
5For example see George Mendenhall ldquoHebrew Conquest o Palestinerdquo Biblical Archaeologist 983090983093
no 1048627 (1048625983097983094983090) 983094983094-983096983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5360
9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5460
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
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he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5960
1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 6060
he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5260
he Prophets 9830931048627
o reaching beyond ethnic identity) was already there1048630
Tere is also another term which makes this same point but less
clearly It would not carry much weight i it were not or the ldquomixedmultituderdquo reerence ldquoTe rabble among them had a strong craving and
the Israelites also wept again and said lsquoI only we had meat to eat We
remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt or nothing the cucumbers
the melons the leeks the onions and the garlic but now our strength is
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look atrsquo rdquo (Num
9830899830891048628-1048630 italics added) Te idea o being unsatisfied with the ood came to
the Israelites rom ldquothe rabblerdquo Who was the rabble Maybe it was someo the Israelites Perhaps not Te text is not clear
What is clear is that once the Israelite people were established in
Palestine the ultimate makeup o that nation included great numbers
o people who were not Abrahamrsquos biological descendants who were
taken into the covenant along the way Tis means that although it was
not a very strong part o Israelrsquos sel-understanding it was part o Is-
raelrsquos lived experience Godrsquos people add others Godrsquos people are open
to membership1048631
But that is not a missionary witness to the nations Nor is it a witness
to the nations when in Isaiah a ew prophecies are directed to Cyrus or
when in Amos words o condemnation are directed to all the neighbor
nations Te literary orm o an address to that other nation or ruler
6O course when a term was not used very ofen we cannot be absolutely sure about its exact
meaning7Te question arises as to how the Old estamentrsquos war stories relate to the theme o incorporat-
ing outsiders I we read Joshua and Judges superficially we have the impression that the Israel-
ites came into the land and took over the whole place right away by killing everybody But i we
look more careully at some o the texts it clearly does not say that Both books repeatedly talk
about people they had not exterminated and that the Israelites then incorporated Despite the
impression in Joshua o a finished battle hal o Jerusalem still belongs to the other people So
there was a long period o infiltration
Moreover the holy war was more o a guiding symbolic vision than it was a technique or
becoming a people Americans are taught in high school to think that their nation became a
nation because o a revolutionary war In reality the war was an episode in a long history o
becoming more loosely related to Britain the real elements o nationhood came beore andafer Similarly the peoplehood o Israel was less dependent on those holy wars than a superfi-
cial reading o Joshua and Judges makes one think
Yet these stories also mark a point at which Israelrsquos sel-understanding did not include an
affirmation o other people In terms o mission however as long as we are ready to destroy any
other people we cannot be missionary Tat is sel-evident
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5360
9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5460
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5660
he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5760
983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5860
he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5960
1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 6060
he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5360
9830931048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
does not actually mean that the prophet ever took the message there
and the impact o the message is clearly directed at a Hebrew audience
Jonah took a message to Nineveh but that was not the proclamation oGodrsquos law When the Ninevites repented there is no indication that they
began bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem or stopped eating pork Johannes
Blauw makes this point when he says that the attitude toward the Gen-
tiles in the Old estament is ldquocentripetalrdquo that although the Israelitersquos
vision is universal in that it affirmed that there is only one God o the
whole world their universality is not missionary1048632
Even i we look at the vision o the nations coming to Jerusalemwhich as we saw above is the most dramatic and widely used image
what convinces the nations is Israelrsquos restoration by an act o Yahweh
Te nations are not brought in because missionaries are sent to them
either with a Jewish message or with a wider than Jewish message about
Godrsquos sovereignty Te part that Israel has to play in ulfilling the promise
that the nations will come is simply to wait and keep the law even at the
cost o suffering Harold Rowley represents the typical view that con-
verting Gentiles to Israelrsquos religious practice is not a strong concern in
the Old estament ldquoTey are not missionaries seeking to win the na-
tions to the aith o Jehovah but rather men who are so moved with
gratitude to God or all His goodness to them that they can think o no
worthier way o acknowledging His goodness than to tell all men about
him But this was born o their sense o what they owe to God rather
than any compassion or the Gentilesrdquo1048633 Even when the vision is the
most affirmative as in Isaiah 983090 and Micah 1048628 what people come to learn
is Godrsquos law or the nations not the aith o Israel Tey do not adopt the
cult temple sacrifice circumcision or even Sabbath observance what
they do is go home to live in peace
Tis Old estament imagery shows no thought about the lostness o
8See Johannes Blauw Te Missionary Nature o the Church A Survey o the Biblical Teology o Mis-
sion (New York McGraw-Hill 1048625983097983094983090) pp 1048627983096-10486281048625 [For Blauw the Old estament has a centripetal view o mission in that the nations and aithul Jews come to Jerusalem to experience God With
Jesus a directional change occurs in that his disciples go rom Jerusalem to the nations what
Blauw calls centriugal mission mdashEd]9[Harold Henry Rowley Te Missionary Message o the Old estament (London Te Carey Press
10486259830971048628983093) p 1048627983094 mdashEd]
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5460
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5660
he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5760
983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5860
he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5960
1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 6060
he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5460
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5660
he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5760
983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5860
he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5960
1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 6060
he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5560
9830931048630 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
B983154983151983137983140983141983154 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 T983144983141983149983141983155
So ar we have been looking or a missionary thrust in the Old es-
tament text itsel and have noted a narrowing and modesty about whatthe Old estament says and does not say about mission compared to
some contemporary missionary interpretations Tere are some general
theological affirmations in the Old estament that are probably more
important or missions than what we have been looking at ones that
reaffirm ideas we have touched along the way What does the Old es-
tament message as a whole mean or the missionary imperative
No other gods One o the omnipresent themes noticeable especiallyin the last hal o the Old estament period is the struggle o the true
God versus alse gods It is said that those gods do not exist Tey are not
true gods they are vanities and emptiness But we still have to fight with
them Te prophetic message is not the same thing as a modern cultural
enlightenment message in which we tell people ldquoTe gods are not really
there so you do not have to think about themrdquo Rather there is a struggle
with the power o idolatry and the struggle is something other thaneducating people about the act that these gods do not exist It is more
than that because they have a hold on people How can something that
does not exist have a hold on people
In the modern context we think o religion versus nonreligion
theism versus atheism and people who practice religion versus people
who do not practice religion We think that the missionary task is an
apologetic task or the task o convincing people that they need the reli-
gious or transcendent dimension or religious practice Persuading
people that there was a transcendent God was not a problem in the Old
estament Te question was whether they could recognize the di-
erence between the true God and alse gods Te issue was the identity
o the God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Lord o Hosts For Israel
Godrsquos identity was reflected in ethics community process politics
amily and work Tis involved religious practices but in a narrow sense
that is in specific ceremonies like temple sacrifices Te real difference
was that Israel had a God who had a different name and a different per-
sonality than the alse gods people were to live differently in covenant
with that God
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5660
he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5760
983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5860
he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5960
1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 6060
he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5660
he Prophets 983093983095
Creation and covenant Another observation rom the Old es-
tament witness has to do with the relation o three concepts creation
providence and election Te texts affirm God as Creator o the universeTen there is the course o history and we speak o God as providence
as Lord o history as sovereign Finally there is election Te way the
story is told it happened in this order
But the way it happened in Israelrsquos experience was the other way
around First o all there was the event o covenant and then it was
possible to say that the God with whom we are in covenant had been
running history Ten it was meaningul to say that God is the soleCreator Tis universe did not create itsel As we observe the or-
mation o the Old estament literature we can see a moving out rom
the concrete historical experience o covenant into the less concrete
affirmation o providence over all history and creation Now when we
tell the story the story starts with creation But the affirmation o cre-
ation is not something that stands by itsel It is the conession o the
people who first experience covenant and then wrote world history in
light o the covenant
Godrsquos sovereignty Another general observation about Old estament
theology is the vision o divine sovereignty as continuing not only back
to Genesis 983089ndash983089983089 but as encompassing the entire world Divine sover-
eignty is expressed through other nations as well as through Israel Godrsquos
governing o history is in some sense in avor o Israel on Israelrsquos behal
Sometimes it is in order to use Israel to bless the nations But God uses
Assyria (Is 983089983088) Cyrus (Is 1048628983093) Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 1048628983090983089983089-983089983090) or other em-
perors or Godrsquos own purposes
Te first task of Israel is to be Israel Finally the first task o Israel is
to be Israel to live up to the identity o the covenant 983089983089 Tat emphasis
still may throw light on what we should be doing today Maybe the first
task o the church in mission is to be the church Abrahamrsquos aith his
readiness to be mobile and the willingness o his ollowers to be a pe-
culiar people were prior to anything else that God could do with themWhatever they did later by spinoff by accident or by urther vision the
11I accentuate this argument in ldquoA Light to the Nationsrdquo Concern 983097 (10486259830979830941048625) 10486251048628-1048625983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5760
983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5860
he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5960
1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 6060
he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5760
983093983096 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
first thing they were supposed to do was to be aithul Anything else
that they could be used or was dependent on that vision Distinctness
was the first call not out o pride but out o the awareness o the natureo the God who called
Numbers 983090983090ndash9830901048628 tells the story o King Balakrsquos effort to hire a prophet
to curse the Israelites Tis is part o the prophet Balaamrsquos message
ldquoHow can I curse whom God has not cursed How can I denounce those
whom the L983151983154983140 has not denounced For rom the top o the crags I see
him rom the hills I behold him Here is a people living alone and not
reckoning itsel among the nationsrdquo (Num 9830901048627983096-983097) Tat kind o pro-phetic aloneness that willingness to be different is the first requirement
or Israel
Israel is to live up to the covenant Tere shall be no idolatry Te Old
estament reflects a continuing critique o settling into nationhood
kingship and statehood and o orgetting Godrsquos ways In the exile the
texts evidence a continuing hope in covenantal promises despite the
loss o nationhood and statehood Tere is trust o the Servantmdashthat his
servanthood is nonviolent and that his submissiveness will be the tool o
election An understanding o peoplehood has emerged that can lay the
groundwork or something new to happen in the New estament
I983150983156983141983154983156983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156983137983148 M983145983155983155983145983151983150983137983154983161 A983139983156983145983158983145983156983161
During what we call the intertestamental period the Israelites in the
dispersion became more and more effective convinced and sel-aware
about being a missionary people or about what we call making prose-
lytes In the later Jewish Diaspora afer EzraNehemiah and afer the
Maccabees there was no opposition to incorporating into the believing
community as ull members people who were not born into Israel Tis
ollowed rom Jewish conviction that other gods were not true gods
that their own law was the true law and that there would be a time when
all the nations would be brought in I one is looking orward to that
time and i somebody wants in already then what grounds does onehave not to let that person in So the community developed a clear mis-
sionary method in the intertestamental period or letting people in who
already saw the superiority o Jewish aith Te rabbinic tradition ex-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5860
he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5960
1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 6060
he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5860
he Prophets 983093983097
plained the rules or incorporating non-Israelites into the synagogue
ellowship Te New estament testifies clearly that Jews were accepting
proselytes all over the place
T983144983141 O983148983140 T983141983155983156983137983149983141983150983156 983145983150 N983151983150-W983141983155983156983141983154983150 C983157983148983156983157983154983141
One other theme we must address beore moving to the New estament
is the place o the Old estament today in the church in non-Western
cultures Should a missionary to India Arica or Japan take along the
Hebrew story and those old patriarchs and battles Cannot the mis-
sionary simply preach Jesus and orget about the Old estamentSome people argue that just as Jesus ulfilled Jewish expectations so
he ulfills the expectations o people in any other culture I missionaries
go to a new culture they should find out what the people expectmdashwhat
ulfillment they are looking ormdashand say how Jesus ulfills that hope A
missionary in India should find out what is the expectation or longing
in Hindu Scriptures and find a way o saying that Christ meets that
longing Indian Christians can then put Jesus on whatever pedestal they
have Te apostle Paul put Jesus on the pedestal o the Old estament
or Jesus first appeared in Paulrsquos Jewish world Ten Paul went to Athens
and he started relating Jesus to the expectations and the worship o ldquoan
unknown godrdquo (Acts 983089983095983089983093-10486271048628) When this is the method it is conusing
to bring along all those Hebrew ancestors Why not let others keep
whatever patriarchs or expectations they have and let them be ulfilled
in Jesus
What is there to be said on the other side A uller treatment will have
to wait or chapters 1048628 and 983093 but here I will make a brie one-sided case
or taking the whole Bible with us to other parts o the world and to
other periods o time o understand the New estament as a culmi-
nation o the Old makes it clearmdashas it needs to be made clear in a mis-
sionary contextmdashthat the Christian message is a story o God acting in
history to achieve something or humanity Te proper way to talk about
an action o God is to report it Te proper way to talk about an idea isto argue it and explain why it makes sense but the proper thing to do
about an event is to tell about it
Godrsquos actions are not simply proos o Godrsquos truths Godrsquos actions are
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5960
1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 6060
he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 5960
1048630983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 983151983142 M983145983155983155983145983151983150
the salvation that we now talk about Te Old estament story sae-
guards this biblical quality o aith and corrects the modern under-
standing that the religious task is to prove the validity o theism overagainst atheism monotheism over against polytheism or the reality o
the supernatural over against a flat view o nature Te Old estament
story is not just another set o religious insights I Jesus does not ulfill
the Jewish expectation or the whole world then he is just another guru
or prophet in religious literature I what a Christian brings to a Hindu
is ldquoLook at my guru beside your gururdquo the Hindu will believe his
prophet has more wisdom I what a Christian brings to a Muslim isldquoLook at my prophet beside your prophetrdquo her prophet will have come
later than Jesus and thereore will be better Unless there is the claim to
be standing on the shoulders o Hebrew history the character o the
message itsel is distorted by the expectations o the culture to which we
try to take it
As a subpoint o this the Old estament story clarifies the difference
between a aith based on Godrsquos actions in history and a nature aith or
a ertility aith A constant characteristic o human cultures is that we
explain in terms o gods the natural cycles o summer and winter or
rainy and dry seasons In amily lie we celebrate with the gods mar-
riage childbirth adolescence and death Cultures give religious
meaning to the lie cycle and the nature cycle Te biblical message in
its struggle with Baalism and with national religion already lays the
groundwork or clariying that biblical aith is not a nature aith Tat
does not mean that there is no relation between the God in the Bible
and nature But there are different ways to know God and it makes a
difference which way we take I we seek to know God through knowing
nature then we are ldquogropingrdquo afer God (Acts 983089983095983090983095) Tat is the word
that Paul uses at the Areopagus Te result o looking or a god in
nature is slavery to the stars I we look or God in nature in ertility in
the regularities o the stars the result is slavery to the cyclical and the
nonhistorical to meaninglessnessTe true God is the God o nature too But the way to know God is
through Godrsquos deeds Godrsquos sel-imparting in the covenant It is the pe-
culiarity o the covenant or o Godrsquos historical working that it cannot be
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8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 6060
he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith
8132019 Theology of Mission by John Howard Yoder
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-of-mission-by-john-howard-yoder 6060
he Prophets 1048630983089
a message without being concrete Tat is we cannot say God is pur-
poseul unless we know Godrsquos name We cannot say God is a God who
acts unless we can say when and where God acts One o the pecu-liarities o modern existentialism is to try to say one without the other
We keep on talking about a God who is personal but we no longer
know Godrsquos name so we talk about being personal as a shape o the
human experience Or we talk about God acting in history but we do
not want to name any times and places as i this is true because it
might be disproven
We cannot affirm history without talking about times and places TeOld estamentrsquos claim that God acts in history is only pegged down i
missionaries can say what that history is beore they describe God Jesus
was embedded in that history Tereore the message o Jesus is not the
real message unless missionaries take the Old estament with them
What happens when we overlook or reject the Old estament has been
demonstrated very clearly in the second century by Marcion who
thought it would help to make Christianity more acceptable i we would
amputate the first nine-tenths o the Bible9830891048626 Te interim experience has
clarified again the structural importance o seeing the New estament
as patterned with the Old estament
Tis has been a brie oray into material that we will come back to in
later chapters Te peculiarity or particularity o Christian aith is really
the particularity o Jewish aith