The Purpose of Missions in the Church

The nature and the purpose of the mission may change depending on the historical circumstances. The Christian mission underwent the path from eradication and imposition to acculturation. Nowadays, the Protestant mission and Church follow the ‘acculturation’ approach; thereby, the institution actively adapts to the changing cultural landscape. For instance, the gender gap in religious belief and practice has been hardly quantified, making it difficult to comprehensively analyze the differences in gender roles in perpetuating the global Christian mission. Further, the present status of the Christian mission provides some seemingly counterintuitive information, with declines and fluctuations throughout the globe. This paper aims to evaluate the present status and intentions of missionary work of the Christian Church, specifically focusing on the Protestant branch of it. Therefore, the research question for this work is bifold: what is the purpose of missions, and what is the status of missions today? The following objectives were then set: to identify and systematically review the purpose of Christian missions; to overview the current status of Christian missions in the contemporary setting. A modern Christian mission is culturally adaptive and flexible, indenting to reach all groups and consider the differential effects it may create; however, regional, gender, and age factors may shape the mission’s purpose and future.

The ways in which the Church interacted with other religions have varied throughout history. During the early days in Europe, Roman Catholic Church primarily utilized an imposition.¹ or eradication² approach, thereby forcibly spreading the faith throughout the continent. These strategies are intended to displace other religions rather than coexist with them. At present, the Church utilizes an adaptation strategy: adjusting the postulates depending on the contemporary contexts and attitudes³. This method may have come about as a result of the loss of some of the uniform power the Church used to hold, with the discourse temporarily shifting toward survival.

The path of the Protestant mission has somewhat followed the modern Roman Catholic trajectory. After the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s, Protestant missions gradually became incorporated into the state churches⁴. As the power grip of the Catholic Church lessened somewhat, the Protestant initiatives could flourish. With it, the Gospel became the salvation for believers, and the ultimate purpose of the Protestant mission was to ‘renew’ everyone, thereby creating a life-changing community⁵. Many new liberal Protestant churches have already absorbed many of the contemporary practices. This historic background shapes some of the findings regarding modern times.

The purpose of the Christian mission has likewise been changed throughout history. Christian missionaries have been described as “purposeful ambassadors”⁶. According to Matthew, “Jesus instructed [the missionaries] to make disciples of all peoples (nations)” and to instill obedience to God’s commands (Matthew 28:19-20, English Standard Version). In other words, the essential purpose is to spread the Gospel as much as possible. To achieve this aim, the missionaries proclaim the Gospel, which means ‘message’ or ‘good news of Jesus Christ and the coming of God’s kingdom⁷. Importantly, missionaries may not force the conversion process: their responsibility is only that of sharing the Gospel and the story with an invitation to join; whether or not the populations respond is left to the workings of the Holy Spirit⁸. Thus, while the idea is to maximize the reach of the Christian faith, it should not be done forcefully as that would contradict the nature of the mission.

However, there may be an oncoming change in the way that conversion is viewed. Researchers⁹ argue that the new purpose of the modern mission is driving people back from the path of secularization to Christianity. With more and more people moving away from the faith, this approach may become more popular as the future progresses. For instance, in the places where people are moving away from faith more actively than usual, such a method may be the most effective. Hence, the times have changed, and the population’s attitudes did as well.

The changes in the Church ultimately underline the changes in the mission. Ideal integration of Christian doctrines would occur if this messaging became organically embodied in the modern culture¹⁰. In the interconnected reality that the Church operates in, being sensitive to the surrounding context is paramount. Modern Churches support pluralism and relativism, inspiring their members to navigate their path through the biblical reading and selecting what passages resonate the most with them¹¹. Protestants regard the Bible as the source of everyday faith and piety and do not recognize the authority of Rome¹². The individual interpretation of the Bible and the relative freedom allows for more flexibility. Hence, the very essence of Protestantism facilitates a successful process of integration.

Arguably, while such an approach allows the missionaries to find new ways to relate to the public they work with, it also may produce typical issues. The protestant doctrines, which the missionaries intend to distribute, translate the views regarding the unmediated individual relationship between people and God¹³. For instance, if the practices of the population include polygamy and they are not willing to give it up but are otherwise ready to accept Christianity, a dilemma arises. The question becomes, how much flexibility can a mission afford before it no longer constitutes Christian faith – and each missionary decides it independently. The individual interpretation of the Bible, characteristic of Protestant Christianity, helps immensely with this task.

The increasing multiculturalism and religious pluralism in the globalized world are helpful to the mission’s purpose. Both Protestant and Roman Catholic missions now emphasize “acculturation,” justice, and liberation ¹⁴¹⁵. Researchers ¹⁶ further stress the importance of moving away from the stereotype of a “white missionary … going to remote places to convert the pagan.” Dismantling the colonial mindset is very important for conducting missionary work in the regions that have long suffered from imperialism. The “lay faithful” role should be embraced, especially among those who are local and acquainted with the culture of the mission’s destination¹⁷. Local involvement is critical for the successful perpetuation of the Protestant ideas. Scholars¹⁸ identify the roles of missionaries “…in the social and cultural framework of their homeland, according to their national traditions” and yet developed per current conditions. Hence, their mission would be to spread the Gospel locally and concerning the traditions and customs of the specific region. These alterations bear several implications and challenges for the structure and purpose of the Church operations.

The modern Protestant mission movement structure is different from some other missions, like Catholic. There is a separation between the mission and Church into two distinct entities¹⁹. In Europe, the modern Protestant mission has historically surfaced outside the institutional Church – established under mission societies²⁰. As a result, missiology was regarded as secondary to the primary operations of the Church. In contrast, the missiology of Protestant nation-building in the US has gradually transformed into a notion of Protestant American destiny²¹. Such a phenomenon can be partially explained by the post-war connection between national pride to God’s favor in victory²². The degree of acceptance and assimilation of the Gospel by the general population differs depending on the mission’s location²³. One of the suggested ways to rethink the mission delivery is to emphasize having local missionaries connect with their surrounding public. The structure of the Church and Mission may affect the ease of goals’ alignment.

Furthermore, there may be variations in the mission’s purpose depending on the contextual information. For instance, scholars²⁴ highlight the importance of considering gender imbalance in churches and the mission, noting that Christianity has historically been considered a “woman’s movement.” Women may play a prominent role in the mission’s advancement. Therefore, further research on female participation and involvement is vital for optimizing how the mission develops and whether there are any gender differences in progress.

Modern Christian mission may also operate differently now that it exists in a digital space, among others. An alteration to the mission progress may be brought about by the exponential acceleration of technological progress, which has outpaced the institutional (including churches) capacity to adapt²⁵. Rapidly developing social media has changed how people, especially young individuals, communicate²⁶. However, some²⁷ contend that social media can be incredibly helpful in meeting the mission’s goals as it allows to reach a younger audience in an accessible way. A modern Christian mission now operates in a digital space. Fostering the new spurt of recruitment growth and reconnecting the Church with the people may be achieved if the Church begins to operate and communicate more fittingly for the modern world. Therefore, the differences in gender and age are potentially essential and should be considered.

The current status of global Christianity has several facets to be considered. The number of Christians worldwide has been changing but exhibiting a different pattern: 32.2% of the world population identified as Christian in 2022, the same number as in 2000²⁸. However, that number was higher in 1970, with an estimated 33.1% of Christians worldwide. The decrease in numbers, while not drastic, occurs nonetheless, but it would be difficult to definitely predict what the future holds given the multitude of factors like urbanization and globalization. Moreover, the number of protesters has been declining, having gone from 63% of the US population in the 1970s to 49% in 2017²⁹. Thus, the decline in the overall Christian and Protestant populations, in particular, is noted.

There have been significant increases in the proportion of the evangelized populations worldwide. As of 2022, the world population still unevangelized is 28%, compared to 30% in 2000 and 44.7% in 1970³⁰. The African continent has shifted from having the least access to Christian Gospel to being 49% Christian and 77% evangelized³¹. Interestingly, much of that occurred thanks to indigenized autonomous churches, reinforcing the importance of having a locally appropriate method³².. However, specific continents like Asia remain less evangelized, although showing massive progress from the 1990s with 18% to 60% in 2021³³. Perhaps, this is related to the fact that Asia has historically been a very closed region, with countries like China being unreceptive to foreign missionaries. Nonetheless, more and more regions in the world have access to Christian sources, which shows that the missionaries’ work pays off. Other continents have been over 96% evangelized, which presents a broad mission reach³⁴. Overall, the trend is to the increasing evangelization, despite some of the regions moving slower.

The situation with the spread of Christianity may also vary depending on the location. The overall trend that has been observed is the increase in Christianity in the Global South and the decrease in the Global North³⁵. It may have powerful implications for re-routing future missions and having more people focused on the ‘deficit’ regions. For instance, the mission’s status has improved since 1994 in Guatemala and Nicaragua but has been getting worse in Honduras and El Salvador³⁶. Regarding the Protestant mission in Latin America, an issue is that any nation may be ordained as pastors and ministers if they felt “called of God to preach” ³⁷. Additionally, many missionaries in the Southern hemisphere work in their own birth countries³⁸. While it has facilitated the growth of Protestantism in the region, the lack of any ‘entry filter’ has created many pastors without formal theological education³⁹. That, in turn, resulted in numerous ecclesiastical leaders who were not interested in cooperating with the larger mission⁴⁰. Hence, regional effects may show in some unexpected ways.

The current status of the global Christian mission is therefore complicated. First, sending missionaries from their respective nations may be challenging due to varying ecclesiastic traditions, limited finances, or local political situations⁴¹. Second, it is vital to highlight that the countries with the highest percentage of Christianity have the highest number of missionaries; simultaneously, the nations that need the ministers the most obtain the fewest⁴². According to research⁴³, there has been a steady decrease in the proportion of long-term foreign missionaries, specifically in the Northern Hemisphere. Simultaneously, the number of foreign short-term missionary trips has increased dramatically, sometimes the trips being as short as a single week⁴⁴. Thus, much of the missionary allocation information is self-contradictory.

In conclusion, the changes in the world have shaped the intent and the future of the Christian mission in many ways. The first part of the research question regarding the purpose of the mission has been answered. The modern purpose of missions is not to eradicate other religions by force: instead, the delivery of the Gospel hinges on cultural assimilation and adaptation to local customs, expressions, and thinking styles. Further, a new mission’s purpose is to recruit people who may have considered leaving the faith and reach out to them through establishing local connections. One of the suggested new purposes of modern evangelization is returning people who turned away from Christianity due to secularization back to the Church. This suggestion seems directly linked to the declining number of Christians. A gradual decrease is observed in the global percentage of Protestants, which can be simultaneously explained by a growing number of new people turning away from the faith and a diminishing number of newly recruited. The second part of the research question has been answered, although less detail is available. One of the more significant indicated trends is the shift of the Christian population to the Southern Hemisphere. Lastly, given the increase in access to non-Christian groups but the overall decline, the need for more effective methods and carefully refined purpose becomes apparent.

Bibliography

Flüchter, Antje, ed. Translating Catechisms, Translating Cultures: The Expansion of Catholicism in the Early Modern World. Vol. 52. Studies in Christian mission. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2017.

Gelder, Craig Van, and Dwight Zscheile. Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the Church in America. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2018.

Lucas, Brian. “Forming Young People for Mission in the Contemporary Church: Some Lessons from Cardinal Cardijn.” Australasian Catholic Record 95, no. 2 (2018): 190–198.

Myers, Bryant L. “Globalization and the Church.” In Engaging Globalization: The Poor, Christian Mission, and Our Hyperconnected World, 185–258. Baker Academic, 2017.

Neely, Alan. Christian Mission. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2020.

Turchyn, Yaryna, and Mariana Zdoroveha. “The New Evangelization of the Catholic Church in the Context of Modern Socio-Cultural Changes.” Studia Warmińskie 57 (2020): 283–293.

Williams, Paul S. Exiles on Mission: How Christians Can Thrive in a Post-Christian World. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brazos Press, 2020.

Zurlo, Gina A., Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing. “Christianity 2019: What’s Missing? A Call for Further Research.” International Bulletin of Mission Research 43, no. 1 (2019): 92–102.

———. “World Christianity and Mission 2021: Questions about the Future.” International Bulletin of Mission Research 45, no. 1 (2021): 15–25.

Status of Global Christianity 2022. International Bulletin of Mission Research. Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, 2022.

Footnotes

1. Angrosino, Michael V. “The Culture Concept and the Mission of the Roman Catholic Church” in Critical Readings in the History of Christian Mission (Edited by Martha Frederiks and Dorottya Nagy, Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2021), 500.
2. Neely, Alan. Christian Mission (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2020), 6.
3. Angrosino, Michael V. “The Culture Concept and the Mission of the Roman Catholic Church” in Critical Readings in the History of Christian Mission, 500.
4. Gelder, Craig Van, and Dwight Zscheile. Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the Church in America (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2018).
5. Myers, Bryant L. “Globalization and the Church” in Engaging Globalization: The Poor, Christian Mission, and Our Hyperconnected World (Baker Academic, 2017), 203.
6. Williams, Paul S. Exiles on Mission: How Christians Can Thrive in a Post-Christian World (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brazos Press, 2020), 67.
7. Myers, Bryant L. “Globalization and the Church” in Engaging Globalization: The Poor, Christian Mission, and Our Hyperconnected World, 186.
8. Myers, Bryant L. “Globalization and the Church” in Engaging Globalization: The Poor, Christian Mission, and Our Hyperconnected World, 188.
9. Turchyn, Yaryna, and Mariana Zdoroveha. “The New Evangelization of the Catholic Church in the Context of Modern Socio-Cultural Changes” (Studia Warmińskie 57, 2020), 292.
10. Angrosino, Michael V. “The Culture Concept and the Mission of the Roman Catholic Church” in Critical Readings in the History of Christian Mission, 500.
11. Gelder, Craig Van, and Dwight Zscheile. Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the Church in America.
12. Flüchter, Antje, ed. Translating Catechisms, Translating Cultures: The Expansion of Catholicism in the Early Modern World. Vol. 52. Studies in Christian mission (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2017), 28.
13. Flüchter, Antje, ed. Translating Catechisms, Translating Cultures: The Expansion of Catholicism in the Early Modern World, 252.
14. Neely, Alan. Christian Mission, 6.
15. Gelder, Craig Van, and Dwight Zscheile. Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the Church in America.
16. Lucas, Brian. “Forming Young People for Mission in the Contemporary Church: Some Lessons from Cardinal Cardijn” (Australasian Catholic Record 95, no. 2, 2018), 192.
17. Lucas, Brian. “Forming Young People for Mission in the Contemporary Church: Some Lessons from Cardinal Cardijn,” 192.
18. Lucas, Brian. “Forming Young People for Mission in the Contemporary Church: Some Lessons from Cardinal Cardijn,” 193.
19. Gelder, Craig Van, and Dwight Zscheile. Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the Church in America.
20. Gelder, Craig Van, and Dwight Zscheile. Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the Church in America.
21. Gelder, Craig Van, and Dwight Zscheile. Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the Church in America.
22. Gelder, Craig Van, and Dwight Zscheile. Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the Church in America.
23. Flüchter, Antje, ed. Translating Catechisms, Translating Cultures: The Expansion of Catholicism in the Early Modern World, 29.
24. Zurlo, Gina A., Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing. “Christianity 2019: What’s Missing? A Call for Further Research” (International Bulletin of Mission Research 43, no. 1, 2019), 93.
25. Gelder, Craig Van, and Dwight Zscheile. Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the Church in America.
26. Lucas, Brian. “Forming Young People for Mission in the Contemporary Church: Some Lessons from Cardinal Cardijn,” 194.
27. Turchyn, Yaryna, and Mariana Zdoroveha. “The New Evangelization of the Catholic Church in the Context of Modern Socio-Cultural Changes,” 289.
28. Status of Global Christianity 2022. International Bulletin of Mission Research (Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, 2022).
29. Gelder, Craig Van, and Dwight Zscheile. Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the Church in America.
30. Status of Global Christianity 2022.
31. Zurlo, Gina A., Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing. “World Christianity and Mission 2021: Questions about the Future” (International Bulletin of Mission Research 45, no. 1, 2021), 18.
32. Neely, Alan. Christian Mission, 170.
33. Zurlo, Gina A., Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing. “World Christianity and Mission 2021: Questions about the Future,” 18.
34. Zurlo, Gina A., Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing. “World Christianity and Mission 2021: Questions about the Future,” 18.
35. Zurlo, Gina A., Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing. “World Christianity and Mission 2021: Questions about the Future,” 16.
36. Neely, Alan. Christian Mission, 119.
37. Neely, Alan. Christian Mission, 120.
38. Zurlo, Gina A., Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing. “World Christianity and Mission 2021: Questions about the Future,” 17.
39. Neely, Alan. Christian Mission, 120.
40. Neely, Alan. Christian Mission, 121.
41. Zurlo, Gina A., Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing. “World Christianity and Mission 2021: Questions about the Future,” 17.
42. Zurlo, Gina A., Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing. “World Christianity and Mission 2021: Questions about the Future,” 17.
43. Zurlo, Gina A., Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing. “World Christianity and Mission 2021: Questions about the Future,” 16.
44. Zurlo, Gina A., Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing. “World Christianity and Mission 2021: Questions about the Future,” 16.