THE UNDERSTANDING OF MISSION

1. The Idea of Mission

Generally, mission is the act of sending individual or group done by a body or an
organization to gain its vision or aim.

So that Missio Dei or mission of God means the act of sending missionary worker done
by church to gain the aim of church, that is confessing the salvation of God through
Jesus Christ as the final revelation.

While missiology is an area theology of practice studying the mandate, message and
mission of God, embracing biblical, historical, ethical, religious and cross-cultural studies
including the methodology of theories and practices.

2. My Reason to Study Mission

 To know about mission more and deeper especially in contemporary and
modern context.
 To enlarge and sharpen my skill in mission so that I can contribute it to my
church in doing mission in Indonesian context. Nowadays, churches in Asia need
to emphasize mission to implement theology in their context, so that theology
can be understood, touched in the reality of social life.
 Interreligious issues which spread become a challenge for Indonesian church to
do mission intensively

3. The Bible saying about mission: Our Bible contains 2 main parts, The Old Testament and
New Testament.
There are 2 character of our Bible saying about mission, the first is universal, and the
second is transformative. The mission in the Bible is based on the mission of God, and it
is begun from the creation story. God has created universe, including human (Gen 1:26).
There is no description of specific human about nationality, job and conduct, so that it is
universal because human is the representative of all people in the world. Even though
human became sinners or fallen, God punished them, however, God kept showing his
mercy. He called his people into restoration through his servants and prophets. He
commissioned Moses to save Israel in the Exodus story, he commissioned Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel and others to come to God. Now the people of God seem to be
particular because He chose Israel, but Israelites have been prepared to call all nations
in restoration, so that all nations becomes God’s people. See Isaiah 2:2-5

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In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the
mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
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Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the
temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
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He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat
their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword
against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
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Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.

In the New Testament the mission of God has been fulfilled by Jesus Christ. And it is also
universal because Jesus has commissioned his disciple to all the earth (Mat. 28:20). And
then the mission of God continued through the apostle, and the most of them Paul took
the mission to call all people to believe in Christ. No Greek or Jews, but all people.

The second is transformative. All people in the Old Testament or the New Testament are
transformed to worship God. They are invited to believe in God as The One who is
creator of universe and the Savior. All people are transformed from idolatry to believer,
from unbaptized to baptized people. Creatures cannot help us, even religion cannot
either. But God is the only one way, so that all people should follow God and the
ultimate revelation, Jesus Christ.