World Christianity and Christian Mission: Are They Compatible? Insights from the Asian Churches

Abstract

There are two terms in the title of my address that seem to cancel each other out and therefore prompt the question about their theological and pastoral compatibility. If Christianity is already a world religion, is there still the need for mission and evangelism? And if there still is, how should Christian mission be carried out in the context of world Christianity? These two questions are made all the more complex and hence, the answers controversial, by the fact that both ‘world Christianity’ and ‘Christian mission’ are today highly contested concepts. To throw some light on these issues I begin with a discussion of what is meant by ‘world Christianity’ and ‘Christian mission.’ Next, I highlight some of the ways in which they seem to be mutually conflictive and then attempt to answer, on the basis of the experiences and teachings of the Asian Catholic Churches, the questions of whether Christian mission is still mandatory today, and if so, how it should be done.