This article is something of a thought-experiment. Prompted by con­versations with my colleague Dr. Roger Greenway, I am responding to his invitation to muse a bit about what changes might take place in the teach­ing and content of Reformed theology if one started very deliberately and self-consciously from a missionary perspective.

The first observation I would make here is that this suggestion is not nearly as radical as it may initially sound. The first significant theologians of the Christian church, the Apologists of the Second Century, were really mission­ary-theologians who developed their theology primarily to demonstrate the reasonableness of the Christian faith to the philosophically educated of their day. Their theology was the means by which they attempted to be faithful to the missionary mandate.

This is an important point. Good theology is not an end in itself but serves the church and its mission to proclaim the gospel. Good theology must be an aid to understanding and communicating the Gospel.

Missionary Context⤒🔗

The preceding reference to the Early Church is deliberate because in many respects the context within which we do our theology today is increasing­ly like that of the Early Church. It is important for us to realize that our context differs from that of the Reformers or of the Golden Age of Reformed Confession-making and Reformed theology in the 16th and 17th Centuries. That context was basi­cally a Constantinian one in which the culture of Christendom, if not the state, more or less affirmed and sup­ported the Christian religion. The theological debates were between dif­ferent Christian groups. Thus all Protestant theology took pains to dis­tance itself from Roman Catholic theology; the Lutherans debated the Reformed, and all vigorously opposed the Anabaptists. Classic Reformed theology was thus shaped by intra-Christian debate.

Our situation today is different. The debates between various Christian confessional traditions are not unim­portant (e.g. the Roman Catholic Mass is not the same as Reformed com­munion) yet they seem to pale in sig­nificance to our post-Constantinian, post-Christian situation. Our theologi­cal debate-partners are secular humanists, atheists, and adherents of the world's religions. Their questions to us are different from those of Lutherans and Anabaptists. Is it thus proper stewardship for us to spend our primary theological energy debating Lutherans and Anabaptists? Does our missionary context not demand more of us? Does it perhaps even demand something different of us?

Key Themes←⤒🔗

How does this affect the actual doing of theology? I do not envision a wholesale revision of classic Reformed theology, but it does imply some shift of focus and some different emphases.

In the first place, thinking about mis­sion as God's mission suggests a focus on eschatology, on the kingdom of God, for the whole of theology. The word "mission," even when used in a popular sense, refers to activity which has a clear purpose and goal.

God's mission has as its goal reconciling and bringing all things under the acknow­ledged Lordship of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19, 20; Ephesians 1:10; Philippians 2:11). Much Reformed eschatology in the past has been what Karl Barth called "a harmless last chapter on the last things" and the vital, dynamic, em­powering kingdom vision of our Lord's reign short-changed. Thankfully, more recent works, such as Prof. Hoekema's, The Bible and the Future do this emphasis a greater justice. In some sense, theologian Jürgen Moltmann, in his Theology of Hope, is correct: eschatology "is not one ele­ment of Christianity" but "characteris­tic of all Christian proclamation." A mission focus directs us to God's ac­tive, purposeful, reigning over all things in Christ and calls us to par­ticipate as citizens of His kingdom.

In the doctrine of salvation, Reformed theologians have devoted themselves to defending the priority and sovereignty of divine grace over against all Pelagian-Arminian views. This too is an important subject, Yet I venture to ask, is it the most pressing one in our context? The "salvation-issue" troubling the church today is the question of salvation beyond the Christian church. How is Christ's role and salvation related to non-Chris­tians, particularly to sincere adherents of world-religions? Some Roman Catholic theologians, after Vatican II, even speak of "anonymous Christians." Reformed theology too has always acknowledged that God is present to all humanity and that all people are religious.

Does this have something significant to contribute to this important conver­sation dominating theological discus­sion today? My point here is simply to observe that the questions being asked in our missionary context are different from those of the 16th and 17th cen­turies. Our theological answers must address today's questions.

Another — perhaps most provoca­tive — suggestion. A missionary per­spective on theology directs us to look at both Scripture and the church in primarily instrumental terms, as the means by which God accomplishes His rescue mission for humanity. We need to ask ourselves whether some of our debates about the Bible, about the church, considering both as objects of theological investigation, have not obscured their real purpose and func­tion.

A preoccupation with the attributes of Scripture or church can close our hearts to the truth that God gave us the Bible as good news to set us free from sin, to liberate us unto His ser­vice, and that the church is His instru­ment to reconcile and renew. Please understand well — debates about the doctrine of revelation or the church are not matters of indifference. It is im­portant that we confess an inspired, in­fallible Scripture rather than an inspiring, fallible one. Yet a correct doctrine of Scripture is not a substitute for using the Bible as an instrument to set people free.

Recognizing our missionary context also gives us an opportunity to discover the Bible anew. The danger of Chris­tendom Christianity is that it takes Scripture and the Gospel for granted; it is "old news." In the mission context we are thrown back on to Scripture, forced to answer new questions, and give new insights. The church in the West has much to learn from the church in the Two-Thirds world about Christian discipleship. We need to recognize that the Christian Church can and should be an international hermeneutic community. This can only en­rich our own walk with our Lord led by His Spirit and Word.

Our missionary context is thus a golden opportunity. The Reformed faith is big in its vision of a Sovereign God who is actively accomplishing His mission to renew all things. Let us use all our gifts and energy, including our theological reflection, in service of that mission.