Abstract
The historic reformed confessions are sometimes blamed for the apparent lack of missionary zeal among churches of the RCSA, and called an embarrassment to the church. This article investigates these allegations and attempts a missionary read- ing of the confessions. Because of the specific focus of the con- fessions, they should not be expected to give guidance on the whole life of the church. However, careful reading of the creeds does offer a surprisingly abundant missionary harvest. They offer both the foundations and the limits for mission, and in defining the identity of Christians, also define the missionary identity of the church. As the community of fellowship with Christ, the church is both a unique instrument in the “missio Dei” and the end objective of mission (mission as church plant- ing). Creeds offer beautiful expositions of the loving, fellowship- seeking heart of God who has not given up on fallen humanity, but who continues to call people to fellowship with Him in his self-revelation in creation, Scripture and the incarnation of the Son. Surprisingly, it is the Canons of Dordt (2.5) which offers the only explicit call to mission in the three creeds!
Highlights
During the past few years, we have seen a growing discussion within the RCSA1 on the missionary calling of our churches – or rather: the perceived lack of missionary consciousness and activity.2 In discussions, some people have tried to blame this on the doctrinal teaching of the church, on the reformed confessions, and the doctrine of divine predestination
The confessions contain nothing that would inspire members or congregations to participate in mission, neither do they contribute to the formation of a missionary RCSA
Right at the beginning of the Canons of Dordt, under the first main point of doctrine regarding divine election and reprobation, we find a beautiful introduction with a truly evangelical heart (1:1-39): yes, it is true that all people have sinned and have come under the curse of death, destroying all comfort for mankind, but the love of God is not satisfied with this
Summary
During the past few years, we have seen a growing discussion within the RCSA1 on the missionary calling of our churches – or rather: the perceived lack of missionary consciousness and activity. In discussions, some people have tried to blame this on the doctrinal teaching of the church, on the reformed confessions, and the doctrine of divine predestination (cf. Van der Merwe, 1960:2). Some people have tried to blame this on the doctrinal teaching of the church, on the reformed confessions, and the doctrine of divine predestination (cf Van der Merwe, 1960:2). In their opinion, the confessions contain nothing that would inspire members or congregations to participate in mission, neither do they contribute to the formation of a missionary RCSA. In speaking of the missionary calling of reformed churches, the question is whether the confessions really deserve to be the embarrassment they are to some Do they deserve to take the blame for the perceived lack of missionary zeal of our churches? Due to constraints of space, only a relatively small selection out of the total wealth of the confessions can be offered
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