An Overview of Missiology

In this chapter, Justice Anderson introduced and discussed several aspects of missiology that helped me understand the
subject better. Firstly, he clarified that the term missiology (a compound of a Latin and a Greek word) etymologically
refers to the study of the relationship of God’s Mission of redemption and the church’s missions on earth, and the result
when such missions are aligned to the redemptive Mission. Second, Anderson also outlined the close but challenging
relationship between Christian missions and theology. Theology served as the foundation while missions was the
validation, correction and even expansion of theological thought. This relationship was not always smooth because
classical theological fields (Bible, church history, systematic theology, practical theology) tended to sideline missiology as
an area of study. It was initially seen as simply part of the practical theology. As such, some missiologists responded by
moving towards independence, demanding to be considered as an autonomous area of study. Soon, it developed its
own sub-branches that mirrored the fields of study covered by classical theology. Lastly, there was an attempt to find a
middle ground by suggesting that missiology be included as a unit in each of the main areas of study in theology. This
last suggestion is the closest to the Biblical model, and it arose also because of the church’s rediscovery of missions as an
identity rather than simply an activity. If this trend continues, missiology can very well help the traditional areas of
studies be a “theology of the road” and in context, while still learning and growing from their contributions. Thirdly, out
of all these, the author laid down a simple definition and scope of the field of missiology: “Missiology is the science of
missions. It includes the formal study of the theology of mission, the history of missions, the concomitant philosophies
of mission and their strategic implementation in given cultural settings.” Again, missiology aims to understand the
activities of the church related to God’s redemptive Mission. The theology of mission should be undergirded by
systematic theology and related to the missionary nature of God, the Bible, the church, ministry, and the Holy Spirit. Its
history is a rich resource for understanding the different issues and challenges of Gospel proclamation in different times
and places. Some of these issues include imperialism, ecumenism, liberation theology, contextualization, among others.
Combining the theology and history produces a Philosophy of Mission which is an integration of different theological and
historical elements that leads to unique characteristics and practices of specific organizations related to Christian
missions. Some of these classical philosophies include individualism, ecclesiasticism, colonialism, associationalism,
pneumaticism, supportivism, institutionalism, ecumenicalism and pentecostalism. And fourthly, these philosophies are
applied into culture-sensitive strategies. This is done by viewing a culture “in the light of the global setting,”
understanding current issues like a revival of the supernatural, demise of world socialism and shifting economic centers,
among others; then, considering a “theology of religions” and communication principles for clear and effective sharing of
the Gospel in specific contexts.

The strength of this overview lies in its clarity, scope and practicality. For one, presenting missiology as the interaction of
the Mission of God and the missions of the church enabled me to understand the place of the Biblical narrative in
Christian outreach. That is, God’s redemptive mission is and should be the pattern by which I base all of my Christian
work. This big picture of the relationship of Christian teachings and work gives me a direction of sorts about our church’s
overall purpose and work. Everything we do should mirror and contribute God’s mission to redeem creation. I find this
very timely even as we adjust our programs and thrusts as a congregation in the midst of COVID19. It’s also a blessing
because it serves as a reminder against institutionalism, traditionalism and lifeless service that relies simply on patterns
and programs rather than God’s heart for people’s salvation.

Furthermore, the relationship of God’s Mission and the church’s missions also reflects how Christian theology and
missions ought to interact. It should not be one or the other, but both working together for the expansion of God’s
Kingdom. Theology provides foundational truths and Biblical understanding which missions applies, tests, validates,
reflects on, expands or even corrects. This healthy relationship produces a Christian balance of the head, heart and
hands. We do not only acquire knowledge, but actually apply it and spur others to do the same. As such, we don’t just
end up with theories and ideologies but actually live out our faith before a world that desperately needs Christ. I think
this resonates with me because of our church’s tendency to elevate Christian theology above all other areas of a
believer’s life. This is a result of being a church within the academic realm of the University of the Philippines. Sadly,
such imbalance reflects the tension between theology and missiology discussed in our reading. Those who do
understand the crucial role of missions are frustrated because of the seeming indifference of those who focus on
theology. Because of this, missions becomes an independent task left only to some instead of the very being and activity
of every member of the congregation. I sense that our greatest need at the moment is to move from “a theology of
mission to a missionary theology,” to look at all our activities in light of God’s Mission, and to help everyone embrace
this way of living as a believer. That is, we need to emphasize the missionary nature of the church and Christian ministry.
This seems to be the remedy for our growing tendency to be inward looking and exclusivist in our programs, as well as
our attitude to delegate much of the outreach tasks to paid workers rather than train every member for the work of the
ministry.

In light of all these, we need to really sit down and think about our own Philosophy of Mission. I think what happens is
we basically rehash all our strategies yearly without considering the changes in our community, worldviews, ideologies
or needs. In short, we need to be more intentional in understanding the scope of missiology and their interaction to
produce more culturally sensitive outreach programs or models for our focus audience. For example, the UP community
is really very academic, so a strong grounding on Christian theology is crucial. However, there should also be a push
towards living out our theology because of the tendency of the academe to be very theoretical. Furthermore, we need
to be ready to address the imperialist problem among left-leaning groups on campus, the thriving liberation theology
and Marxist thought as well as the emphasis on the material rather than the supernatural. In this regard, we must utilize
the different research and tools of the behavioral sciences to better understand our audience. However, this is also a
challenging area because of our tendency to be suspicious towards anything outside of the Bible. While it is true that the
Bible is the ultimate guide on all matters of life and faith, this doesn’t mean that we cannot use both social and natural
sciences to better understand and reach our audience. Learning to use and analyze data from these disciplines will
greatly improve our strategies, enabling us to better explain and connect the Gospel message to the lives of the people
we serve.

I pray that God will allow me to clearly share these new learnings to our decision makers. I also need wisdom and
humility so that I will not come out too strong, and will be able to encourage our church to reconsider some of its
traditional practices. This is especially helpful in light of the challenges posed by COVID19. We can’t simply repeat the
programs and plans from the past because of the changing environment. For one, we’re relying heavily on the online
platform now, so we have to consider this in our outreach. Indeed, there are so many things from this material that will
brush with institutionalized processes and activities in our community. But I am also praying for the Spirit to bring
openness to change especially if these will allow us to better serve our community for the glory of God!