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

possibility.’ 183 Bosch gives a fitting conclusion to the above discussion. According
to him, ‘neither a secularized church (that is, a church which concerns itself only
with this-worldly activities and interests) nor a separatist church (that is, a church
which involves itself only in soul-saving and preparation of converts for the
hereafter) can faithfully articulate the missio Deo.’ 184
However, there are many others, like Kärkkäinen, who argue that the ‘common
criticism against Pentecostal mission of its alleged lack of social concern’ is only
a ‘one-sided understanding’ due to a ‘persistent misunderstanding among
observers of Pentecostalism.’ 185 From his extensive research on Latin American
Pentecostalism, Douglas Petersen claims that ‘Pentecostals are not suggesting a
short-circuiting reality in the realm of social concern’, rather they are committed
to transformation. At the same time he urges that ‘Pentecostals, in addition to their
social welfare activities must also …provide viable alternatives that will affect
significant change in the social structures. 186 Nevertheless, Petersen identifies
another reason for Pentecostal aversion to political involvement. According to
him, ‘Pentecostals have seldom been involved in political action because they
have had little hope that a revolutionary change of government would necessarily
bring change to the social structure.’ He states that ‘Pentecostals have
demonstrated social services instead of political engagement.’ The lack of
political involvement by Pentecostals should not be taken as an indication that
183
Jose Miguez Bonino, ‘The Present Crisis in Missions,’ in Crucial Issues in Mission Today,
Mission Trends No. 1, ed. Gerald H. Anderson and Thomas F. Stransky C.S.P. (New York/Grand
Rapids: Paulist Press, Eerdmans, 1974), 40-41.
184
Bosch, Transforming Mission, 11.
185
Kärkkäinen, Pneumatological Theology, 179. For more details of the claim he makes, see pp.
179-90.
186
Douglas Petersen, Not by Might nor by Power: A Pentecostal Theology of Social Concern in
Latin America (Oxford: Regnum, 1996), 146.
325