EMQ » January–March 2023 » Volume 59 Issue 1
Mission Affirmed: Recovering the Missionary Motivation of Paul
By Elliot Clark
Crossway, 2022
256 pages
US$19.99
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Reviewed by Elliot Stephens, trainer, speaker, and researcher on the retention of overseas church planters, having served for 40 years in church planting and leadership development and now serving as director of field equipping with Pioneers.
What gripping motive will carry us across the finish line in completing the Great Commission? Is the urgency in preaching the gospel and winning the last of the unreached our highest aim? Are we free to use whatever method or approach that will give us rapid results in light of this motivation to finish the task at hand? What really is our highest motivation in missions today?
Clark argues that we have forgotten the true motivation behind all that Paul endured to see the gospel penetrate his world. We quote Paul’s clear ambition to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named at the expense of not hearing the rest of Paul’s ambitious statements for why he was pressing on in the face of incredible odds, risking his life for the gospel.
Clark repeats throughout Mission Affirmed that Paul’s paramount motivation in ministry was the approval of God. He even suggests that Paul would sidestep the open door of advancing the gospel among the unreached for the sake of presenting those already reached as mature in Christ for the sake of winning God’s approval. He illustrates this dynamic by a careful examination of Paul’s interactions with the church in Corinth. He suggests that missionaries today must follow Paul’s example.
Clark argues that our motivation in missions today to complete the task has led to an urgency that calls our methods into question. Our desire for rapid reproduction has led us to settle for simple programmatic methods that he likens to Western capitalism rather than faithful stewardship in sharing the gospel and seeing mature churches planted that will last the long haul (23).
The greatest contribution that Clark brings to this discussion is a renewed and needed tension about our motives and methods in missions today. For example, he draws attention to the Insider Movement (175), the role of the foreign worker (119), Discovery Bible Studies (147), the focus on obedience-based discipleship (116), seeking the person of peace (146), liberties in Bible translation for the goal of removing obstacles (148–150), and many other mission phenomena linked to an emphasis on the urgency of mission, rather than seeking the approval of God.
I would suggest Clark presents a unique challenge to reconsider how we are doing missions. Although I may not agree with some of his conclusions on methods and motives, the helpful tension leads the reader to re-examine convictions on how and why we do missions as we do today. Clark does not avoid difficult topics. Instead of dancing around the issues, he tackles them sometimes with a black-and-white perspective that will demonstrate and heighten the tension surrounding these topics.
Who would benefit from reading Clark’s book? Both those who question and those who embrace many of today’s approaches to reaching the unreached. Reading this book will generate helpful and critical thinking, leading to a stronger conviction to either remain on the present course of our methodology and motivation, or to consider a slight, or even a drastic, change in direction. Church leaders, mission leaders, mission practitioners, and mission trainers would all benefit from reading Mission Affirmed. His book could be used in both informal and formal settings.
For Further Reading
Motus Dei: The Movement of God to Disciple the Nations, by Warrick Farah (William Carey Library, 2021)
Effective Discipling in Muslim Communities: Scripture, History, and Seasoned Practices, by Don Little (IVP Academic, 2015)
EMQ, Volume 59, Issue 1. Copyright © 2023 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.
