SWEDISH MISSIOLOGICAL THEMES SVENSK MISSIONSTIDSKRIFT

524 Jan-Martin Berentsen
from the conference. It has two parts, the first one addressed to “the members
of the church in Christian lands”, the second addressed to “the members of
the church in non-Christian lands”. 11
Edinburgh’s optimistic talk of the “Christianisation” of the world is not
wholly the same thing as the “westernisation” in liberal theological
categories. However, mission is basically geographically understood. The
identity of the missionary is closely knit to him/her representing “the
Christian world”.
Originally I had planned to present these two examples. Let me venture,
however, with a third:
The missionary as “fraternal co-worker”
In the dispute about and re-evaluation of the last century’s ideas it came to
a time when many suggested doing away completely with the concept and
talk of “missionaries”. Instead a new concept - “fraternal co-worker” - was
introduced. Fraternal co-workers should fulfil a number of tasks
internationally and in ecumenical cooperation between the churches in the
North and in the South. The good intention was to underline and support
the independence of the new churches in the South. Mutuality in cooperation
should replace dependency.
Noble as this intention was, says Wilfred Cantwell Smith, the result turned
out to be that missionaries developed into persons who moved exclusively
between churches - between churches in one part of the world and churches
in another. Encounter with the world, i.e. the religious world outside the
churches, never really took place. 12
11 History, Records, and Addresses. World Missionary Conference 1910. Vol. IX, n.d., pp.108-
109. Italics added.
12 Cf. W. Cantwell Smith, “Mission, dialogue and God’s will for us”, International Review
of Mission, vol. 78, no. 307, 1988, pp. 361-364. - A corresponding concern was mouthed
by Johannes Aagaard in his much debated “7 teser om mission”: “In my opinion it is
important that we become aware of the fact that world mission as we presently see it
hardly pays attention to the world religions. The issue is avoided. The religious aspect of
missionary work is the neglected aspect”. J. Aagaard, “The Double Apostolate (Part 1)”,
Aeropagus, vol. 1, no. 1, 1987, p. 18.