Mission and Its Three Pillars

Abstract

AbstractThe missionary movement in the 20th century started with the Edinburgh World Missionary Conference in 1910. At that time the aim was to evangelize the world in that generation. Examining the next Conferences on World Mission and Evangelism, especially Willingen (1952), reveals a paradigm shift in the understanding of mission. Mission is not about conversion, but about the three Ts: translation, transmission, and transformation. Since Arusha (2018) it has become even more obvious that mission theology needs to translate the gospel – also figuratively – into different contexts and cultures, including subcultures in our own culture and in secular contexts. It needs to transmit the gospel. Being witnesses of Christ in our world by being able to speak about our own faith is crucial when we consider the Western contexts and the distancing of the younger generation. The third T defining mission is transformation – a far more radical term than we may have wished, as it is about “turning the world upside down” (Acts 17.6). By focusing on these three Ts, mission becomes “a way of life” (Together towards Life 29).