Missional Theology , livre ebook

Cover
Endorsements
“The magnificence of John Franke’s work in this volume is that what he gathers up from a range of voices has become in his hand a virtual manifesto. With depth and breadth, he develops what a missional approach to theology looks like. His own constructive work provides a clear and compelling agenda for all to follow. This book is of major importance for both church and academy.”
— George R. Hunsberger , Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Michigan (emeritus)
“For anyone who wants an excellent introduction to missional theology, its beginnings, its theological and biblical underpinnings, as well as insights regarding its future relevance for the church and the world, this volume is a must-read. Franke offers those new to the missional conversation and those well acquainted with it opportunities to deeply reflect upon and engage (again) the missio Dei —what it has meant for missional theology in the past, including its disastrous interpretations due to whiteness and white supremacy, what it means in the present, and its possibilities for the future as the missional theology movement decenters ‘those with power,’ widens the circle of voices in the conversation, and comes ‘prepared to listen rather than to speak.’”
— Lisa Bowens , Princeton Theological Seminary
“Just as missional theology is getting hijacked to further pragmatic church growth efforts, Franke provides this outstanding text that encapsulates his previous work while pressing this theological conversation forward. Missional Theology is accessible, scholarly, and well-balanced in focus. It should be required reading for anyone invested in God’s kingdom, where everyone has enough and no one is afraid.”
— Drew G. I. Hart , Messiah University; author of Who Will Be a Witness? Igniting Activism for God’s Justice, Love, and Deliverance
“Franke’s Missional Theology —equal parts invitation and manifesto—articulates a revolutionary and profoundly life-giving vision of the nature and task of Christian theology. Building on critical areas of theological and missiological consensus, Franke offers a well-reasoned, accessible, and potentially paradigm-shifting argument for a postmodern and postcolonial understanding of mission—rooted in the very nature of God—as the sine qua non for theological reflection. This thoroughgoing revisioning of mission will challenge those who understand mission primarily in terms of evangelism and global outreach as well as those who find missional language to be hopelessly contaminated by Western imperialism and notions of cultural and religious supremacy. Faithfully biblical, inherently ecumenical, and deeply attuned to what the God of all diversity is doing in the world, Missional Theology merits a wide readership in churches and theological classrooms.”
— Michael Barram , Saint Mary’s College of California; author of Missional Economics: Biblical Justice and Christian Formation
“Franke has emerged as one of the second-generation leaders of missional theology. He builds on his teachers’ core commitment that the discipline flows out of systematic theology as well as historical and biblical studies. But as this book demonstrates, he is now bringing missional theology more deeply into congregational life and ministry. This is a much-needed next step for the discipline that could have been provided only by a scholar with the heart of a pastor.”
— M. Craig Barnes , Princeton Theological Seminary
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2020 by John R. Franke
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com
Ebook edition created 2020
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-2704-8
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Dedication
To Darrell Guder and George Hunsberger,
friends and mentors in missional theology
Contents
Cover i
Endorsements ii
Title Page iv
Copyright Page v
Dedication vi
Preface ix
1. Missional God 1
2. Missional Church 31
3. Missional Theology 61
4. Missional Multiplicity 97
5. Missional Solidarity 139
Epilogue 167
Index 177
Back Cover 181
Preface
This volume marks both a conclusion and a beginning. As a conclusion, it is the culmination of over a decade of thinking, speaking, and writing on the idea of missional theology. In that time, I have had the opportunity to teach and lecture on the topic at seminaries, colleges, and churches throughout North America as well as other parts of the world. I have experienced firsthand the confusion and misunderstanding that exists among students, church leaders, and the congregations they serve about the term missional and its relationship to the church and theology. I have also seen the interest and enthusiasm that emerges when the ideas of missional theology are more clearly grasped and applied to the understanding and practice of Christian witness.
In addition to teaching, I have written on various aspects of missional theology in several books and articles over the years. These include (in chronological order):
“Christian Faith and Postmodern Theory: Theology and the Nonfoundationalist Turn.” In Christianity and the Postmodern Turn , edited by Myron B. Penner, 105–21. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2005.
The Character of Theology: An Introduction to Its Nature, Task, and Purpose . Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005.
“God Is Love: The Social Trinity and the Mission of God.” In Trinitarian Theology for the Church: Scripture, Community, Worship , edited by Daniel J. Treier and David E. Lauber, 105–19. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2009.
Manifold Witness: The Plurality of Truth . Nashville: Abingdon, 2009.
“Intercultural Hermeneutics and the Shape of Missional Theology.” In Reading the Bible Missionally , edited by Michael W. Goheen, 86–103. The Gospel and Our Culture Series. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016.
“Contextual Mission: Bearing Witness to the Ends of the Earth.” In Four Views on the Mission of the Church , edited by Jason Sexton, 107–33. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017.
“Missional Theology: Living God’s Love.” In Evangelical Theological Method: Five Views , edited by Stanley E. Porter and Steven M. Studebaker, 52–72. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2018.
This volume brings together material from all these books and essays and expands on them to provide (I hope) a clear introduction to missional theology and its basic themes. Thanks to the publishers of these pieces for granting permission to reproduce parts of them in this volume.
I intend for this volume to serve as a launching point for further explorations in missional theology, an emerging discipline that works at the intersections of practical theology, missiology, and systematic theology in the service of congregational formation for witness. In contrast to those who believe the missional turn was merely a passing fad, I believe the serious theological, hermeneutical, spiritual, and ecclesial revolutions spawned by this conversation have just scratched the surface of their potential. Much more work needs to be done.
For this work to bear the fruit of more informed and faithful witness to the purposes of God in the world, it needs to take root in the life and ministry of local congregations. To that end, I have worked to make this volume as accessible as possible to those who are joining this conversation for the first time, particularly those engaged in, or preparing for, congregational leadership and ministry. Much more can be said on every topic discussed in the book, but in the interest of brevity I resisted the impulse to do so.
When I think of the challenges posed by missional theology, I am reminded of a particular speaking engagement at an evangelical seminary known for its commitment to cross-cultural mission training. Over three days, I gave five lectures on the topics included in this volume. At the end of the series, two members of the faculty responded, a missiologist and a systematic theologian. The missiologist expressed general agreement with my presentation, but the systematic theologian, with grave displeasure, said the lectures contained some of the most dangerous conclusions he had heard in over twenty years of teaching. Afterward, one of the mission students thanked me for lecturing and commented that I sounded more like a missiologist than any theologian he had ever heard. Thinking of the stir I had just created, I replied it was too bad I had not been presented as a missiologist because then nothing I had said would have been deemed controversial. “Yes,” the student said, “but then you’d be sitting over in the corner with the rest of us missiologists, who no one really cares about as long as we stay in our lane. But what you’re doing is driving the principles of missiology into the disciplines of biblical studies and systematic theology, and that makes people nervous.”
Missional theology explores how things might look if mission were moved from the periphery to the center of biblical interpretation, theological construction, congregational life, spiritual formation, and ministerial praxis. This volume is intended to provide a starting place for individuals and communities interested in exploring the possibilities and challenges raised by this missional shift.
Many friends, colleagues, and communities have supported me personally and professionally over the years and directly or indirectly participated in the development of