1. Challenges for Mission and
Ministry from Postmodern
Assumptions and Realities
Joshva Raja
Session 5.

2. Themes to be discussed
 An emerging paradigm / emerging church
 The end of Modern Era and Missions
 PostChristendom
 Simpson’s Gospel
 Harry Potter’s church

3. Resources for reading
 J Andrew Kirk Mission Under Scrutiny: Confronting Current Challenges, pp.
201-219: ‘A Postscript: Mission post-Everything?’
 Bosch, Transforming Mission. 349-362)
 Richard Tiplday, Church in a Postmodern Society.
 Richard Tiplady Postmission: World Mission by a Postmodern Generation.
Cumbria
 Paternoster Press, 2002.
 Richard Bauckham Bible and Mission: Christian Witness in a Postmodern
World.
 Cumbria: Paternoster Press. 2003.
 J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban New York:
Scholastic
 Press, 1999.
 Brian McLaren, A New Kind of Christian (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001),
xiv-xv,
 xvi.

4. Preview Modernity and Mission views
 A scientific view of the Bible
 Emphasis on doctrine – Doctrines are our
theological facts.
 High value on rightness
 Low tolerance for mystery
 High Value on Truth
 Proclamation as Doctrine
 High value in teaching and preaching
 Low value in personal discipleship
 Autonomy in Church practice

5. Rise and fall of Christendom
 In 312 Constantine (hoc Signo Vince – in
this sign conquer) – sign of the cross –
Christianity as a force of unity of the
Roman empire
 Christendom means –
a. adoption of Christianity as a the official
religion of the empire
b. All citizens were Christians by birth

6. Mission of the Christian Church in a
Postmodern World – George Carey
 The Collapse of Global Ideology
 Relativising of values
 Loss of hope
 Mission Response – The church should never be
apologetic for bearing witness to eternal truths
(versus material values)
 As a Church we need to rediscover the
sacramental nature of community
 The Church must put service before power and
status

7. Christian Mission in the Postmodern
World Peterstephenson
 A. Suspicion of All Big Stories progress vs
ecological disaster
 Deconstruction as mission?
 Come clean about the churches’ past
 Examine ourselves for oppressive
tendencies
 Search ourselves for signs of syncretism

8. B Distrust of Authority and
Institutions
 Big stories are construction of those in
power built to legitimise and preserve that
power
 No favours to elders due to ecological
disasters – Live for today
 Image – free to choose – any truths
 Global awareness – ecological destruction,
human rights, destruction of ethnic
cultures, racial and religious intolerance,
sexual discrimination, abuse of animals

9. Missions 1
 Personally Focussed –
a. I will get by with a little help from my
friends – relationship
b. Live and let live – pluralism
c. Get your act together
 Longing for Intimacy
 Real Personal Spirituality

10. Missions 2
 Politically Alienated
a. Trust no one above thirty – authority
b. Whatever - Ideology
 Philosophically Confused
a. There is more to life than meets the eye
– empiricism
b. Consistency belongs to small minds –
rationalism

11. Missions 3
 Theologically Ignorant
a. Feeling good is good enough for me:
Truth and Values
b. Imagine there is no heaven: Spirituality

12. Changing Patterns and
Models of Missions

13. Initiatives
 Mission as Development
 Mission with HIV Patients
 Mission with prisoners
 Medical Mission
 Media and Mission
 Charity as Mission
 Conflict Resolution as Mission
 Ecological concerns as Mission

14. Paradigm shifts?!
 No history of other missions?
 History of Other missions

15. Medical Mission
 Wilkinson, John (1989 Maxwell Memorial Lecture) Making Men
Whole - The Theology of Medical Missions, CMF and the book by
Christopher H Grundmann - University Press of America 2005 Sent
to Heal! - Emergence and Development of Medical Missions
 Holistic approach of mission – Physical healing
through medical treatment?
 God’s concern for the sick and weak
 Jesus’ healing and caring for the sick
 Mission purely spiritual? Caring for physical
wellbeing as well! – James 5

16. Paradigm shifts in Medical Mission
 Nestorian Christianity - 'the knowledge and
practice of medicine and healing was a notable
feature’
 Constantine’s conversion – 4th Century –
hospitals, orphanages and other missions began
 Until enlightenment the medical practice was
traditional, religious, and superstitious
 Medical missionaries were sent out in 18th
Centuries – from Hospitals to Community health
care systems

17. Development as Mission
 Progress
 Traditional societies
 Linear models
 Modernization – diffusion
 Dependency
 Participation
 Community based development

18. Development
 Ecological economics
 Sustainable development
 Welfare economics
 Feminist economics
 http://etd.rau.ac.za/theses/available/etd-
10062004-104219/restricted/Chapter6.pdf
 http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/la
ureates/1998/sen-lecture.pdf

19. Mission among HIV/AIDS
 http://data.unaids.org/Publications/IRC-
pub06/JC1119-Theological_en.pdf
 http://www.unaids.org/DocOrder/OrderFor
m.aspx
 Awareness
 Prevention
 Treatment
 Caring
 Advocacy

20. Mission among the virtual
communities
 (1) a virtual common-public-space where
a significant portion of interactive group-
CMCs
 occur;
 (2) a variety of communicators;
 (3) a minimum level of sustained stable
membership; and
 (4) a minimum level of interactivity.

21. New Mission Initiatives and models
 Postmodern Mission
 Globalization and Mission
 Popular culture and Mission
 Media and Mission
 War and Mission
 Eco-concerns and mission
 Collaborative mission

22. Barriers between Modern and
Postmodern faith
 Truth and Subjectivity
 Rejection of rigid distinctions
 Local, personal and specific truth
 Rejection of absolute truths
 Inclusiveness or tolerance
 Diversity of Morals and Lifestyles
 Noise as non-confirming
 Conservative religion as enemy

23. Bridges
 Tendency for spiritual sensitivity
 Experiential spirituality
 Personal spirituality
 Practicality
 Social needs
 Shalom
 Looking for spiritual guides

24. Postmodernist church
 Strong tendency toward personal
spirituality
 Deep thoughtful Christians
 Tendency to live out their faith in society
 Desire for community
 Less tendency to fight with other
Christians over the doctrine
 Living in Metaphors

25. Weakness of the Postmodern Church
 Desire for Individual spirituality
 Desire for Individual Truth
 Potential to get attracted with Spirituality
itself
 Tendency not to reflect biblically about
social issues
 Pragmatism without biblical reflection is
no good
 Tendency to hold personal doctrine above
biblical doctrine

26. Postmodern models
 Testimonies, symbols, paradox, parables
and stories to share
 Creative artistic expressions
 Talents and gifts of spirit using them in
ministry
 Sharing through the web of relationship
 Avoiding denominational identities
 Using all media

27. Models of churching
 Non-church-like names
 Home web of cell groups
 Smaller churches
 Corporate worship is like a theatre room
 Churches filled with art meeting non-
traditional hours
 Distrust marketing techniques
 No leader but leaders

28. Starting from where?