I find this second to the last book that I am reading now very interesting. The book's title is Korean Church, God's Mission, Global Christianity. The book was edited by Wonsuk Ma and Kyo Seong Ahn.

The two articles that caught my attention are Mission in the Public Field: A Case from Romania by Hong Key Chung and The Challenge of Secularization: A Self-Reflection by a British Economist Theologian written by Andy Hartropp.

Differences Between the Two Missiologists

What caught my attention is their unconventional way of doing theology and writing their articles about mission. Though their perspectives are different, both missiologists talk about the need for Christian witness in the public square. One is pro- free market and the other is not, but both claim to be biblical. They cannot be both right. The other writer relies heavily on Os Guinness' book, The Last Christian On Earth. This reminds me of Herbert Schlossberg's book Idols for Destruction. Thinking of using this latter book in my reflection later as I conclude this article.

Moreover, one seems to be more discerning when it comes to the status of freedom in his social context and the other appears to be hostile to the kind of liberty that he observes prevalent in the market space. Of course, my own inclination plays a significant role in my evaluation of these two missiologists.

Reading Hartropp's article, I am glad to have stumbled upon an unfamiliar book written by John Stott. Though it was published in 1984, the book is completely new for me. I didn't know that Stott wrote on such contemporary issues. I searched for a free electronic copy of the book in the web but I could not find it. I will look for it tomorrow in our library. The book's title is Issues Facing Christians Today. An interesting blurb that I saw in the web got my attention. Stott admitted that there has been half a century of neglect on the part of Christian intellectuals in dealing with the pressing issues in our time. He wrote the book as part of his contribution to catch up with what's going on.

Finally, to conclude this preliminary talk, this article is about the reflections of the mentioned two missiologists in their respective fields. One is in Romania and the other is in the United Kingdom. The goal is to glean lessons and insights for the Korean Church.

A Kuyperian Missiologist

The first missiologist follows Abraham Kuyper, the Dutch theologian who popularized the idea of "sphere sovereignty". This concept of sovereignty affirms that the diverse spheres of human activity such as the family, education, business, science, art, etc. . . in short, the public space derive their existence from the law of God the Creator. Hence, Chung lived out his theology in the public arena and he shared his story in this article.

Hartropp as his article shows is an economist and theologian, two academic fields that interest me the most.

Mission of a Gospel Minister

Chung's article started with a reflection about his wife's question concerning his calling in life. His wife seems having a difficulty to reconcile his current influence "in international policy-making in Romania" (p. 311) and her traditional view of a pastor's role. After such a brief reflection, he narrated the nature of his ministry in Romania that includes organizing politically involved Christians to apply Christian values in public sphere, his activity in the academe, and his effort to coordinate Christian business leaders to motivate them to live out their faith in the marketplace.

Working as missionary in Romania in 1993, Chung realized that his previous training did not prepare him enough to face the reality in the mission field. As years passed, his understanding grew about the struggles people are facing and noteworthy among them is economic:

When basic survival is at stake, people had little room for spiritual or religious matters (pp. 315-316).

This is the exact opposite of what Hartropp said where he sees prosperity as a threat to spiritual life.

Furthermore, note how Chung describes his lack of preparation:

. . . when I witnessed and grieved over injustice, illness, corruption, and social disorder, my understanding of missions was seriously challenged (p. 316).

The Need for Community Support

I underwent a similar crisis where conventional answers are no longer applicable. Of course, a huge part in this crisis is personal and combined with a realization of the kind of world we live in and the seeming cluelessness and inattention of the majority. This kind of situation, if one cannot find an explanation that makes sense would tend to fall into despondency and disillusionment. I am glad to have found blockchain technology and a community like Hive.

If I found such motivation and support in a community of blockchain and crypto enthusiasts, Chung found his in the community of evangelical leaders in the Netherlands. With such partnership, they were able to organize a series of conference focusing on the theme "Christianity and Society" (p. 317).

Another source of support for Chung is his academic community. His education at the Oxford Center for Mission Studies (OCMS) helped him realized the beauty of holistic missions that made him commit his life "to embrace transformation as the heart of missions" (p. 319). Recalling what I have been studying so far, I now came up with eight different interpretations about the essence of mission: humanization, development, liberation, revolution, contextualization, reconstruction, gracious revolution, and now transformation. Perhaps, these are just different words referring to the same thing or there is some overlapping among them. It is also possible that each of these words has their own unique meaning.

I think I will stop here and will continue the second part of this article in the next post.

Grace and peace!

Reference:

Ma, Wonsuk & Kyo Seong Ahn, editors. 2015. Korean Church, God's Mission, Global Christianity. Regnum Books International.