a contextual missiology of the spirit - eTheses Repository ...

Although they engage with people of other faiths, it seems that Pentecostals in
Rajasthan have not shown much interest in formal interfaith dialogue as such. The
only incident in this regard seems to be the informal dialogue that took place
between Jaswant Rana and the Jain Pandits (scholars), in the year 2002. The chief
outcome of this dialogue, according to Rana, is that he was able to clarify some
misunderstandings the Jains had about Christian teachings, and also that he was
touched by their humility. 97 However, the role of the Spirit is evident in this
informal dialogue. Rana shared in the FBC chapel service regarding this dialogue
before it actually took place, and he asked the people to pray that the Holy Spirit
would give him the wisdom he needed in the dialogue. He also said that he
believed it was an opportunity by the Spirit of God. 98
However, the call for a Pentecostal pneumatology is not at the expense of a
Trinitarian view of God. It is not meant to reduce the Trinitarian or Christological
focus, but to seek a place for pneumatology in mission theology. A
pneumatological missiology places the Holy Spirit in a Trinitarian perspective,
seeing the Spirit not just as a force or agent or means of mission, but as the very
source of mission. In other words, it is the mission of God the Spirit, and the
church is only a servant to work along with Him in His mission in the world. As
Pentecostals believe that the first and foremost reason for Spirit empowerment is
to serve the kingdom, with a missionary purpose, whether service or witness, most
Pentecostals will be comfortable with a pneumato-centric missiology as the
97 Rana, interview, 15 May 2006.
98 I was present at the chapel service when Rana shared this.
288