March 2017 Issue 6:2 Overview

Surfing the Third Wave of Missions in India
‘While Christianity in India is as old as Christianity itself, the Protestant Christian missions in India—spanning three centuries—can be broadly classified into three waves’, writes Prabhu Singh (Head of the Department of Missiology at South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies in Bangalore, India). The third wave began in the 1990s as India liberalized its economy unleashing a new era of globalization. This period also saw the ascendancy of Hindu nationalism and its targeted persecution of the Christian community. However, Christianity continues to grow in fresh ways, challenging our conventional methodologies and motivating us to rethink our traditional mission models. Authentic Christian mission is prophetic and it involves sacrificial service, no matter which era we live in. ‘May our Lord give us grace to be creative, contextual, and courageous “fishers of men and women” in this third wave’, he concludes.
Rethinking Medicine and Missions
‘The church has invested heavily in [medicine] as an expression of care for the weak and vulnerable and of God’s mission in the world’, writes Andrew Sloane (Director of Postgraduate Studies, Morling College, Australia). Now in the West we need to consider how our commitment to technology and individual choice drives unhealthy consumerist approaches to medicine—and what we, as those called to God’s mission in the world, can do and say to counter that. In the Majority World we need to consider how our embodiment of God’s passion for justice and concern for the poor can shape healthy communities, what role medical care should play in that, and how to navigate the changing landscape of emerging economies. ‘All of these challenges require those who think about mission and engage in its practice to reflect carefully and theologically on the nature and goals of medicine’, he concludes.
The Good News for Honor-Shame Cultures
‘Shame disrupts God’s design for the world’, writes Jayson Georges (founder and editor of www.HonorShame.com). Shame is not limited to non-Western contexts. People of every culture feel unworthy and fear rejection before others. Honor and shame are prominent in Majority World cultures, where these moral values form the ‘operating system’ of everyday life. New global realities necessitate a larger role for honor and shame in twenty-first century theology and mission. The restoration of status, which all people long for, plays a key role in God’s mission. Jesus Christ dismantles shame and procures honor for the human family. The church now continues the mission of God to bless all nations with God’s honor. God’s people must discern how to embody and proclaim God’s saving honor in particular contexts. ‘The theological realities of honor and shame are essential to the gospel and Christian mission’, he concludes.
Living as a Christian, Registered as a Muslim?
‘Segregation of society on religious lines underpins discrimination, undermines the rule of law and fuels violence [in the Middle East]’, writes Jonathan Andrews (Chair of the Muslim World Forum). This segregation is imposed and maintained by the religious registration system. Everyone is assigned to a faith at birth. Converts face the ‘identity crisis’ of living and worshipping as Christians while being treated by the state as Muslim. Middle Eastern Christian leaders ask that we all work to enable Christians to stay. However, religious registration is the root of why Christians are treated as second-class citizens and prompts some to emigrate. Authentic local solutions need to be identified for the benefit of all. ‘All governments across the region that want to fulfil their people’s aspirations for greater dignity and more and better jobs would be well advised to address the negative effects that religious registration has on economic, cultural, and social creativity’, he concludes.

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 07 October, 2024.

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