The Missio Dei Cul-de-sac

All over the Western world progressive and former evangelical church leaders are drifting from the authority of God’s Word and are wandering down the Missio Dei cul-de-sac.

The Missio Dei (Latin for mission of God) is a theology of missions embraced by many evangelicals that is “corroding the evangelical missionary enterprise from within.” Peter Pikkert

It was first conceived of by the mainline, liberal Protestant churches resulting in their steady decline and decay. When it had run out of steam some evangelical missiologists embraced the idea, and it became “the the most popular theological basis for missions.”

The Missio Dei argues that the goal of God’s mission in the world is the renewal of the whole creation. The church is called to participate with God in the restoration of all things.

Sounds great, until you dig a little deeper.

The Missio Dei ignores, or avoids, the problem of sin and judgment. Forgiveness and eternal life come only through repentance and faith in Christ’s atonement and resurrection from the dead. Jesus did not pursue political and social transformation, nor did his disciples in Acts. Jesus came to to call sinners to repentance, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

God will restore and transform the whole of creation — on the other side of his judgment. Meanwhile God is at work in human history to discipline his people, and to oppose evil. There is no promise of social and political transformation in this life. The opposite — Jesus prophesied persecution for those who remain faithful to him.

Social and political transformation is the naive hope of Western elites who have access to wealth and power or at least a Facebook account. Today in the majority world Jesus’ disciples suffer for his name. Yet the Word goes out through them in the power of the Spirit, its fruit are disciples and churches to the glory of God, from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.

Peter Pikkert: Missio Dei and the Corrosion of Christian Missions