Africa Society of Evangelical Theology (ASET), Pan African Christian University, Nairobi, Kenya, Mar 18, 2024
The church's missionary task often happens in the context of suffering and persecution. As the ch... more The church's missionary task often happens in the context of suffering and persecution. As the church proclaims and disseminates the good news, there will be an inevitable backlash of every sort. Sometimes, the church perseveres and overcomes the reality and threat of persecution. At other times, the church succumbs to the sufferings and persecutions she faces and gives in to the pressure to abandon the faith. The possibility and danger of persecution may tempt the church to waver in her faithfulness to the confession, "throw away her confidence" (Heb 10:35), and neglect the salvation blessings procured by and through the better mediator and high priest, Jesus. The Epistle to the Hebrews is written to a church that is about to falter under the threat of persecution. As such, the author encourages the church not to succumb to the impending persecution. He reminds the church of her past struggle and endurance for the sake of the faith. He urges her to carry out her missionary task by mimicking the ancestors and the example of Jesus, who stood their ground in the face of suffering and persecution and carried out their mission on earth as God's emissaries. This paper is divided into four parts. The first part will delineate the past perseverance of the church in the Epistle and their current realities in the face of persecution. The second part will highlight some of the exemplars who persevered and completed their missionary mandate in the midst of suffering. The third part will explicate Jesus's mission and suffering as a paradigm for the audience to imitate. Finally, implications for the contemporary church, particularly the African church, and a conclusion will be in order.
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question we must ask ourselves is this: What kind of Christianity? What kind of church do we want to leave as a legacy to future generations? If indeed Christianity’s future lies in Africa, how do we ensure that we remain connected to the global church? This is a question that the editors of this special edition have asked themselves repeatedly as they wrestle with the challenges of this evolving phenomenon.
Paul’s proclamation and teaching, his approach to contextualization, his focus on cities, culture influencers, and responsive peoples, his proactive and attentive stance toward mentoring, and his practice of appointing and delegating leaders within new church plants have taken the attention of missiologists and missionaries. The practice of the missionary enterprise and also the research output on missionary methods, however, have overlooked or paid too little attention to one or both of the most valuable pillars of missionary methods: sufferings and intercession.
In this paper, I will overview major works on missionary methods to illustrate the lacuna of these two essential methods in the Christian missionary endeavor, followed by a sketch of possible reasons for their neglect. By a close reading of the epistles to the Philippians and the Colossians, I will argue that sufferings and intercession are oft-neglected two Pauline paradigmatic missionary methods that the Western evangelical missionary enterprise needs to emulate in order to carry out its missionary mandate.
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question we must ask ourselves is this: What kind of Christianity? What kind of church do we want to leave as a legacy to future generations? If indeed Christianity’s future lies in Africa, how do we ensure that we remain connected to the global church? This is a question that the editors of this special edition have asked themselves repeatedly as they wrestle with the challenges of this evolving phenomenon.
Paul’s proclamation and teaching, his approach to contextualization, his focus on cities, culture influencers, and responsive peoples, his proactive and attentive stance toward mentoring, and his practice of appointing and delegating leaders within new church plants have taken the attention of missiologists and missionaries. The practice of the missionary enterprise and also the research output on missionary methods, however, have overlooked or paid too little attention to one or both of the most valuable pillars of missionary methods: sufferings and intercession.
In this paper, I will overview major works on missionary methods to illustrate the lacuna of these two essential methods in the Christian missionary endeavor, followed by a sketch of possible reasons for their neglect. By a close reading of the epistles to the Philippians and the Colossians, I will argue that sufferings and intercession are oft-neglected two Pauline paradigmatic missionary methods that the Western evangelical missionary enterprise needs to emulate in order to carry out its missionary mandate.
Epistle to the Hebrews. And from the outset, the commentary states: “The reason the apostle wrote the book to the Hebrews is because of several issues.” The commentary offers several reasons why Paul wrote the epistle to the Hebrews and why Paul intentionally left out his name from his fourteenth epistle.
For this reason, Reading 1 Peter Missiologically is a significant contribution to both biblical scholarship and mission practice. Examining 1 Peter through a missiological lens unveils the apostle’s strategic approach to cross-cultural evangelism amidst persecution and cultural diversity. It is not just an academic exercise; the authors provide practical insights for missionaries, church leaders, and theologians, helping them to contextualize the gospel in a culturally sensitive manner. This book bridges the gap between theological study and real-world application.
The volume is thus able to explore topics ranging from the authorship of Hebrews in the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition and the Batak reading of Christus Victor, to a Xhosa perception of the solidarity and sacrifice of Jesus, and intercultural readings of Christian identity in the context of persecution. With an introduction and final response by scholars from the Global North, this volume encourages awareness of how the Global South contributes to world Christianity.
The discussion on the theology of mission in the New Testament usually focuses on Jesus and Paul, with minimal attention given to the General Epistles. However, Reading Hebrews Missiologically tries to fill that gap and focuses on the theology of mission in the book of Hebrews and fleshes out the unique contribution it has to the discussion of a New Testament theology of mission. The twelve contributors—from various theological, geographical, and missiological contexts—explore the missionary motive, the missionary message, and the missionary method of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
All Scripture can be read missiologically, and the letter to the Hebrews, with its emphasis on the supremacy of Christ, is no exception. We pray that this book will inspire fresh approaches to practical mission in the world today.