Mission and the book of Acts in a pluralist society

Abstract

<jats:p> A critical aspect of understanding the “missiology” of Acts is discerning the proper relationship between christology and mission practice. By analyzing the narrative construal of mission in Acts, I will show that Luke defines christology and missiology in relation to one another (Luke 24:47–49). Universal mission is not merely a secondary consequence of who Jesus is, but a basis for recognizing the full reality of Jesus’ lordship. According to Acts, the knowledge that comes with mission practice is as critical to understanding who Jesus is as understanding Jesus’ identity is a prerequisite for universal mission. This study will offer a (re)construction of mission theology for an intercultural context: first, by contesting the mission-as-mandate model that has dominated the imagination of mission practitioners; and, second, by showing how proper mission in Luke’s narrative world entails the practice of mission in which one “discovers” who Jesus is through participation in universal witness (especially to the ethnically “other”—e.g. Acts 10) rather than through imparting full knowledge to convert the other. Indeed, mission may bear an epistemological weight which, Acts suggests, radically challenges Christendom legacies of mission and offers a new foundation for mission as intercultural interdependence. </jats:p>