Changing Landscapes of Mission: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

The changing geographic and demographic of Christianity has created the imperative in the new century to rethink and reshape mission discourse and practice. Ecclesial communities, academia, and mission practitioners have been challenged to identify the challenges and opportunities brought by what Dana L. Robert calls the shifting southward of (1) Global/world Christianity thus, in principle, is the emerging face of southern Christianity that demands a new way of perceiving the as the context that is shaping the new contours of Christianity. The terms global and world are used interchangeably to refer both to the ubiquitous presence of Christianity and to the various forms of Christian practices that shape the worldwide presence of pluriform Christianity. The perception of Christianity as a Western religion--and, by implication, of mission as a Western agenda--is being deconstructed by southern Christianity in a way that mirrors the pluriformity of the Christianity of the new century. The mainstreaming of Pentecostalism shows a form of religious globalization that brings with it the voices of the undertow--the marginalized, women, laypeople, the poor, and the untouchable--who have been denied access to structural power and institutionalized religions. New ways of looking at the role of the Spirit as the transforming power that gives voice to the voiceless and power to the powerless are regaining space in the development of theological discourse. The role of the Spirit is being used to characterize Christianity as a people's movement (2) that reflects the grassroots dimension of the spread of Christianity. The new phenomenon of human networking--developed through migration, tourism, and trafficking--along with the most massive progress in information and technology that has ever been witnessed in human history are not only relocating the geography of Christianity but, even more, changing the way Christianity functions in the world. The collapse of national political boundaries and the rise of new economic powers, moreover, have preceded the recognition of the need to rethink a new practice of connecting spirituality and politics. Here, Christianity plays a crucial role in shaping the discourse on religion and politics, particularly on the new power-relation between politics and religion. The question, however, arises: Does the Christian response mirror the hope for peace and justice, regardless of the blatant realities of religious and political violence and discrimination today? Aiming to add insight to the discussion on the Changing Landscapes of Mission: Challenges and Opportunities, this article reflects on the mission of the Spirit by demonstrating how the mission of the Spirit contributes to the church's missional understanding and practice today. I will conclude this article with an outline of two models of mission to illustrate the ways in which the mission of the Spirit bears a transformative and dynamic power of witnessing to the possibility of life in the midst of the persistence of suffering and violence in our today. Landscapes of empire vis-a-vis landscapes of the Spirit The image of landscape is used to depict the site of the Spirit--from within which mission is constructed and practised--and the political location of Empire--as it is manifested in different religious and political powers in ways that discriminate, violate, and marginalize. Both landscapes create new challenges and opportunities for mission. As an inclusive framework, pneumatology provides a fresh basis for Christian responses to the challenges of religious pluralism, including the collapse of national--political boundaries intertwined with the rise of new nationalism as nations reclaim their power in the political of power and the continuing challenges of ecological disaster. On the one hand, the return to the Spirit--the reclaiming of a pneumatological framework for mission discourse--shows an emerging theological response to the changing landscapes of Christianity. …