Reflections on God's Missionary People

Van Engen, Charles E. God’s Missionary People. Baker. 1991.

Chapter 1:
My home church often separates mission and the church. Mission is often perceived as conflicting with the growth of the church, rather than the “generative power” that triggers the future maturity of the church, as Van Engen describes (1991, 26-27). Without mission, the life of the church is suffocated and ceases. “The Church exists by mission as fire exists by burning” (1991, 27).

Chapter 2:
Faith Life cannot define its nature “apart from its mission” (Van Engen 1991, 38). There is need for “a new missiological paradigm,” in which the missionary church is appreciated as an “‘emerging reality” thrust forward by mission (1991, 41).

Chapter 3:
Mission cultivates the unity, or oneness, of the church (49). Through growing in love to one another, holiness is also produced (54). As the church participates in Christ’s mission to the world, the universal and catholic body is strengthened. Therefore, the church fulfills its “missional expression” as the “‘one, holy, and catholic’” church that Paul spoke of in Ephesians (47).

Chapter 4:
My tradition aligns with the concept Van Engen introduces, that “there must be a movement and development from our conception of what the Church is toward our commitment to what the Church must become” (1991, 65). Continually, I have heard sermons about what the Church is not, and the dire need for holiness and faith. However, the vital need for missions, in order for the church to emerge, is overlooked.

Chapter 5:
Van Engen recognizes that the expression of the church is continually morphing. Some of the current distinctions that testify of the presence of the church are yet to be a part of my church tradition. “Identification with the oppressed” is fulfilled by a minority of the community, even though it is “related to the essential nature of the church” (1991, 78).

Chapter 6:
The nature of the church is not according to our opinion or preferences, rather it is “derived authentically only from the will of Jesus Christ” (1991, 87). It is through “koinonia, kerygma, diakonia, and martyria,” that the church arises into its true calling (1991, 89). It is easy to be a member of a church and still feel isolated. There needs to be a greater recognition of the necessity for fellowship between disciples, for it is an integral part of the church and without this, “koinonitis” develops (1991, 92).

Chapter 7:
The church serves as an “anticipatory sign of the kingdom” (1991, 110). As the church moves outward to unbelievers, people recognize the kingship of Christ and the sphere of Christ’s rule is furthered (1991, 112). The relationship between “Church and the kingdom” unveils the “missionary relationship of the church to the world” (1991, 114).

Chapter 8:
The church’s mandate is to continue Christ’s earthly ministry. Therefore, the church has a prophetic, priestly and kingly role, and cannot fulfill its ultimate calling without realizing and assuming these functions (1991, 24).

Chapter 9:
My tradition needs to be more intentional in developing missional goals and therefore, turn “confession” into “action” (1991, 133-134). The missional nature of the church needs to be “translated into priorities which lead to intentional mission goals” (1991, 143). A failure to do so will leave the nature of the church constrained theoretically and unfulfilled.

Chapter 10:
There is an intrinsic relationship between the equipping of the members of the church to the emergence of the congregation. This shows the vital need for everyone in Christ to be valued and welcomed in their distinct gifting. The church is not a democracy, dictatorship, or club. Instead, it is the mobilization of the missionary purpose of all people.

Chapter 11:
Missionary leaders need to be recognized because they serve as “catalysts for mobilizing the people of God in mission in the world” (1991, 165). Often leaders are understood as a superior people, but great leaders are those who equip others (1991, 176).

Chapter 12:
Administration should not be disregarded and labeled unspiritual. Van Engen advocates for the spirituality of administration and its function to propel people into ministry and facilitate the emergence of the church.