CONCEPTS OF MISSION - Orbis Books

Mission in Contemporary Missiology 37
redeemer of humanity; and the Holy Spirit works in every human heart from
the first moment of creation. These truths can make Christians aware of the
spiritual riches of all humankind and at the same time make others see in
Christianity the fulfillment of their own highest aspirations. These truths
must be put in the forefront of our theology and our catechesis (see Warren
1983, 60ff.).
The next moment of the theology of missionary proclamation as political
reading was at the Medellín conference in 1968, where the liberation of the
oppressed under social and political structures was subsumed into a vision
of a praxis of integral evangelization. The Medellín documents remark that
Latin America is racked by acute and rapid changes in the economic, demographic,
social, and cultural spheres. As a consequence, those responsible for
catechesis face a series of tasks that are complicated and difficult to combine.
They must
• promote the evolution of traditional forms of faith characteristic of a
great part of the Christian people and bring about new forms;
• evangelize and catechize masses of simple people, frequently illiterate,
and at the same time meet the needs of students and intellectuals who
are the most alive and dynamic sectors of society;
• purify traditional forms of influence and at the same time discover a
new way of influencing contemporary forms of expression and communication
in a society that becomes increasingly secularized;
• put to use all the resources of the church in accomplishing these tasks
and at the same time renounce forms of power and prestige that are
not evangelical (see Warren 1983, 66ff.).
Mission and conversion. Contemporary missiology witnessed and still
witnesses a heated debate on the concept of “conversion” in relation to missionary
activity. Some missiologists adhered to the theory of “nonconversion,”
which is said to have been a maxim of Gandhi. This theory received
its theological orientation in the missionary thought of authors such as Bede
Griffiths, Kaj Baago, etc. (see Missiology 6 [1978], 149). These authors think
that the word “conversion” means “breaking off” people from their culture
in order for them to embrace a new religion. J. López-Gay contests this way
of interpreting conversion (1988, 28). The fact is that conversion forms part
of the mission of Christ and of his proclamation (Mark 4:17; Luke 5:32). It
also formed part of the mission of the precursor, John the Baptist (Matt 3:6,
8ff.), and of the apostles (Acts 2:38). In the missionary mandate, we found
the proclamation of conversion (Luke 24:47). In fact, the term “conversion”
is joined to missionary work among the nations (Acts 11:18; 14:22; 17:30;
26:18).