Abstract

In this article, it is argued that we must take seriously the missional invitation of the Triune God to communion and fellowship. Further, it is argued that it is this invitation which informs, shapes and forms the nature of our understanding of the <i>missio Dei</i>. The expression of the <i>missio Dei</i> is most clearly and visibly demonstrated in terms of the metaphor of the kingdom, the reign of God. It is the reality of the reign, the kingdom of God that creates a community, the <i>ecclesia</i>, the church. If we are to take seriously the link between the nature of God and the <i>missio Dei</i> and the link between the <i>missio Dei</i> and the kingdom, and the link between the kingdom and the community that the kingdom calls into being, then we must ask ourselves what the nature of that community should be. Ultimately, the community that derives its nature from the Trinitarian nature of God should have a specific shape and form and act in a certain way and it can be expected that those who act as leaders in this community should act in a certain way.

Highlights

  • As this article seeks to connect the implications of the coming of the reign of God and its implications for missionality, and the faith community, it is important to begin by examining how the concept of the missio Dei relates to the metaphor of the kingdom of God

  • As shall be pointed out below, while there might be some dispute about what the kingdom meant – and means – what is not in dispute is that when John the Baptist first appeared, he preached that the kingdom of God was at hand and when Jesus began his ministry he preached that the time was fulfilled and that the kingdom of God was at hand

  • Newbigin (1988:34-36) states that the church is a foretaste of the kingdom because it celebrates as a reality that which the world calls an illusion; it is an instrument of the kingdom because it is the means by which God’s will for justice, peace and freedom is demonstrated in the world and it is a sign of the kingdom because it points people toward that unseen reality

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Summary

Introduction

As this article seeks to connect the implications of the coming of the reign of God and its implications for missionality, and the faith community, it is important to begin by examining how the concept of the missio Dei relates to the metaphor of the kingdom of God. Thereafter some of the implications that the reality of the kingdom-among-us has for the shape of the faith community, the community that is formed by the reality of the kingdom-. Much more modest and much more exciting – and more urgent It is more modest because we realize that the mission is not ours but God’s; it is much more exciting because it is about. Modelled after mission in Christ’s way of humility and self-emptying and bold proclamation of God’s ‘already’

The nature of God and the missio Dei
The link between the missio Dei and the kingdom of God
The kingdom of God
Jesus and the kingdom of God
Fulfilment without consummation
The goal and purpose of history has been realized
A new age of salvation
Satan decisively defeated
The kingdom creates a new community
Koinonia as the basis of the kingdom community
The shape and form of missional communities
A journey into missional leadership and transformational leaders
Conclusion
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