Way out in Timbutktu a missionary confessed to me his greatest frustration: how to tie himself to a time schedule that works when there is no built-in system or supervision of his job. Out of this discussion came a request to share some suggestions at a men’s retreat in the Philippines.
Mr. Detzler’s article, based on a survey of current mission policy, shows that North American boards are grappling with a serious problem: how to relate their evangelistic calling to an established church. The Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland is not a state church (though the respondents to Mr. Detzler’s survey, as quoted, call it that).
nstitutions are those ministries whose intrinsic purpose is not considered to be the preaching of the Word or the building of the body of Christ. Some mission authorities speak of them as “services” while others speak of them as “secondary ministries”: medicine, education, agriculture and numerous others.
Current attitudes to evangelism cluster around two poles: presence” and “proclamation.” “Christian presence” is a term in vogue in ecumenical circles. To date, however, there seems to be little formal exposition of its meaning. What is available must for the most part be gleaned from various periodicals.1
A study of church and society in Africa most easily focuses on the influence of the institutional church on the emerging societies of that continent. But while there is a social and political aspect to most church actions, so there is a religious dimension in the development of new African socio-political institutions.
Man fights to lose his lostness without being saved. The scientific optimist would settle the matter by dismissing God from his universe. The scientist will grant that the human condition has its problems, but they are all solvable.
How to establish the proper relation between church and society has been a dilemma that has for centuries troubled the Western world. Now a new dimension has been added to that problem. In Africa new states have sprung up, having a bright facade of Western constitutional government.
I am a student in an evangelical institution of higher learning. How can I serve God in this particular situation in His world mission?
In 1954 Kenneth Strachan of the Latin America Mission advocated international partnership in all aspects of missionary endeavor. He wrote, “Whatever the way, it would seem that some way must be found to bring the national church and its leaders into partnership in the planning and execution of all missionary–not merely church–endeavor in each respective field.”
When Christ spoke the words of the Great Commission and then sent His Spirit to empower the first missionary movement, there were no mechanical media by which His message could be transmitted to the uttermost part of the earth. The channel of communication of the good news was the personal witness of Spirit-filled believers who saw themselves as divine tools set apart for the specific purpose of communicating Christ’s message.
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