discovering missions - Southern Nazarene University

245187 Disc Missions ins 9/6/07 1:04 PM Page 149
Contrasting Philosophies and Strategies of Mission 149
Sometimes missionaries struggling to get along with each other do so because
they have a different philosophy of mission. That can happen because
people motivated by the very same things may have different philosophies
about how to respond to those motivations. Motives are what energize people
to take action while philosophies are collections of convictions about what is
important. One’s philosophy of mission is that set of principles that, consciously
or unconsciously, guides decisions concerning strategy and methodology.
Therefore, hashing out a philosophy of mission is a good way to get people
in an organization on the same page. Philosophy is also different from strategy,
with strategy being the specific ways in which a philosophy is put into action
or implemented. Without a shared philosophy of mission, a mission team will
find it difficult to effectively evaluate what is currently being done or to meaningfully
plan for the future.
Every movement is undergirded by a basic philosophy whether that
philosophy is known and expressed or unknown and unarticulated. 1
—Harold Lindsell, Christianity Today editor emeritus
Most philosophies of mission can be broken down into a set of constituent
attitudes. These component attitudes may include (1) how holistic one believes
mission should be, (2) a conviction about whether the primary target should
be unreached peoples or responsive populations, (3) feelings about whether the
gospel should be presented primarily in truth encounters or in power encounters,
and (4) how much of a work-in-progress concept one should feel comfortable
in accepting. While it is tempting to think in either/or terms, the extremes
on any of these issues are not the only viewpoints that exist. Most likely,
the ingredients of one’s philosophy of mission will be gradations of ideas or positions
spread along a continuum.
Contrasting Philosophies
1. Holistic Versus Narrow Focus
One line or continuum of philosophical positions relates to how much focus
should be placed on meeting spiritual needs and how much should be on
meeting physical needs. In other words, should missionary work be only about
getting people saved or should it also include responses to injustice, illiteracy,
and poverty?
A recurring vision drawing people to missionary service is one of multitudes
of lost people going out into eternity. Those who point to the need for a
focus on direct evangelism plead for every penny to be poured into getting