EMQ » October–December 2020 » Volume 56 Issue 4
Note from the Editor:
Because of the herculean effort of those who compiled the articles for this issue, I gladly surrender the writing of this opening editorial to the members of that team. —MJN
In this issue of EMQ, scholar-practitioners have traced the ideas and influencers that provided the impetus for the “people group” conception of the unfinished task, and its impact upon the church and the world of missions. Over the past forty years this spiritual and conceptual tidal wave led to enormous activism, fresh initiatives, and breakthroughs. Nevertheless, certain challenges and changes – in the pews, on the field, and in the global church – have appeared, slowing progress, altering priorities, and raising questions about the validity of the unreached people group (UPG) concept and movement.
The passion for reaching all people groups has fluctuated over time, sometimes becoming more salient because of conferences, mobilization campaigns, influential leaders, and world events (e.g. turmoil in Islamic countries), or decreasing in importance due to shifting missional interests (e.g. social justice) and theological slippage. Critics claim that “the most significant issue with defining panta ta ethne as ethno-linguistic people groups is simple: to do so adopts a modern anthropological definition over a biblical-theological one.”[1]
Other counter-arguments seem to betray a fear that prioritizing pioneer mission comes “at the expense of” support for one’s own or other fields in Europe or Latin America. While framed biblically, some criticisms appear to function as an indirect defense of the value of other ministries and priorities. Here is a recent criticism: “With all the emphasis on people groups over the last fifty years, however, we’ve made a course correction at the expense of our mission. Specifically, the focus hasn’t been on making disciples of all nations (evangelizing, baptizing, teaching, establishing churches, and training leaders) but instead on finishing the task (i.e., getting the gospel to every last people group) …. And the results? Material and personnel resources have been redirected out of areas no longer deemed strategic. Reached nations have been abandoned, along with their seminaries.”[2]
Such sentiments are understandable. Nothing said in this issue should be interpreted as devaluing any organization dedicated to training leaders and strengthening the global church! However, the notion of neglect and sense of injustice seems both misinformed and misplaced. As RW Lewis points out in this issue, “Today fewer than 4% of global missionaries work among Unreached People Groups with most of the world’s non-believers.” Despite the on-and-off visibility of the UPG movement, over 95% of the workers – and most of the resources – still go elsewhere. It would be more factually correct to say that, if anyone has been “abandoned” in terms of mission material and personnel, it is the least-reached UPGs.
Thus, considering the narrative, language, and the plain meaning of key biblical texts, the rejecting of the “peoples” paradigm as unbiblical does not seem justified to many. In light of these issues, a handful of mission thinkers felt that this is a good time to bring reflection to the people group concept. The intent is not to force a people group revival, but rather, in an atmosphere of genuine concern and discovery, to reexamine our understanding of people group missiology from the lens of Scripture, reflection, conversation, prayer, and what is being heard from field workers.
Most of the writers in this EMQ issue are part of the Rethinking People Groups Forum and knew each other prior to becoming part of the conversation – we had worked together on the field or otherwise come into contact with one another over the years. We all currently live in North America but in no way believe we are speaking for the North American church and missions world in these things – and certainly not for the global church. On the contrary, we very much want and need the voices of Asian, African, South American, and European church and missions leaders before confirming our thoughts. And we need your voice. Originally, we pursued this conversation for our own sake, but offer it now as part of a larger interaction.
Over the past year, we met fives times, both in person or via video conferencing to discuss this topic. These articles represent an overview of what we talked about, along with some suggestions about where we might go next. But we need your input – especially from the global church. (Editor’s note: at the end of each article is a place to write a response to the article.) Related issues to consider:
- What does “making disciples among every people” mean today?
- Where does people group thinking find its place among the many important initiatives being pursued by the global missionary community?
- How can we more clearly understand the dual responsibility of reaching all peoples and as many people possible within them?
- How do the realities of globalization, urbanization, diaspora, disciple-making movements, and everything else that God is doing today, inform a Christ-honoring twenty-first century understanding of panta ta ethne?
May the end result of this conversation be that every people group will soon have a vibrant church among it, and that as many individuals as possible within each group join in singing praises to the Lamb who was slain yet lives!
Rethinking People Groups Forum team:
Mike Latsko, Frontiers; Convener
Len Bartlotti, Missiologist; Co-chair and EMQ Guest Editor
Ted Esler, President, Missio Nexus; Co-chair
Notes
[1] Darren Carlson & Elliot Clark, “The 3 Words That Changed Missions Strategy – and Why We Might Be Wrong.” The Gospel Coalition, September 11, 2019. Accessed June 18, 2020 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/misleading-words-missions-strategy-unreached-people-groups/. Cf. Peter T. Lee and James Sung-Hwan Park, “Beyond people group thinking: A critical reevaluation of unreached people groups.” Missiology: An International Review 2018, Vol. 46(3) 212–225.
[2] Carlson & Clark, “The 3 Words.”
EMQ, Volume 56, Issue 4. Copyright © 2020 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.
