EMQ » July–September 2023 » Volume 59 Issue 3
Theology of Mission: A Concise Biblical Theology
By J. D. Payne
Lexham Press, 2021
172 pages
US$24.99
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Reviewed by Marvin J. Newell, ambassador at large for Missio Nexus.
With this book, J.D. Payne has provided the current generation with an easy-to-read update on the biblical theology of mission. Beginning with the book of Genesis, Payne examines the theme of God’s mission to the world throughout all of Scripture, cumulating with the book of Revelation. But he prefaces this central theme with observations on what is entailed in a missional hermeneutic, along with a chapter on the sending nature of God. The book is truly a full biblical theology of mission.
What is appealing about the book is its utilitarian nature. It provides a scholarly engagement of Scripture without being too dense, technical, or boring. This makes the book useable not just in academic settings, for which I would recommend it, but also to the mission practitioner.
From the start, Payne argues that the entirety of the Scripture’s story is about mission (1) and that the central storyline focuses on the ongoing acts of God by sending himself to redeem mankind (9). As Payne unpacks the theme of mission throughout the Torah, Prophets, and Writings, he does not get bogged down in minor details as is a tendency of some who highlight God’s mission in the Old Testament. Rather there is a balanced presentation and just enough elaboration as he makes his way through the texts.
If there is any deficiency in the book it would be Payne’s relatively brief treatment of the five Great Commission passages (Matthew 28:18–20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46–49; John 20:21; Acts 1:8), which make up the bedrock of the Church’s outreach to the world. Payne could have gone into more depth concerning these passages.
He mentions neither their sequential chronological order as given by Jesus nor their individual emphases. Nevertheless, he demonstrates that the theme of mission runs throughout the New Testament all the way to the end of the book of Revelation. Payne weaves the overarching missional themes of God’s glory through justification, relationship, and blessing to mankind in a masterful way.
This book could well become the new standard text for theology of mission courses in schools, seminaries, and mission training centers. I highly recommend it for such. And to assist instructors who use it, Payne provides several reflection questions at the end of each chapter.
For Further Reading
A Biblical Theology of Missions by George W. Peters (Moody Press, 1972).
The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative by Christopher J. H. Wright (IVP Academic, 2006).
EMQ, Volume 59, Issue 3. 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.
