Craig Van Gelder and Dwight J. Zscheile
Eerdmans, 384 pages
Reviewed by Allen D. Timm
Craig Van Gelder and Dwight J. Zscheile have made a great contribution to those of us who are thinking about the mission of the church. They ask: Whose mission is it? Their book reverses the field of mission. Instead of looking for a need and aiming resources at it, they ask, “What is the mission of God in our neighborhood and how can we join it?”
After a thorough history and discussion of the changing church in a rapidly changing world, the authors remind us: “God is a missionary God. Instead of the church having a mission on God’s behalf in the world, God’s mission has a church. The church is created and led by the Spirit — meaning that the church is missionary by nature.” God’s mission is Trinitarian. God created the world, continues to reconcile broken relationships and desires all to live with love and justice. Jesus entered the world as God in the flesh, “to share the place of humanity and embody God’s reign, reconciling us to God.” In the communal life of the Trinity we see God’s vision for communal life in the church and world. God’s Spirit forms a people and leads them from bondage to freedom, representing a God who desires a community that reflects the reign of God.
But how do we meet the challenge? If it is God’s mission, we need to discern it. We ask: What is breaking the heart of God? We see the exploitation of nature and people, broken relationships, materialism, people without work skills and people without access to food and healthcare. The church is a community that shows the world how it can live in communion and to join God’s work in reclaiming creation and community. Jesus invites us to follow him in discipleship through our participation in God’s Trinity of self-giving love. We join with God in making love known to those who don’t know it. We seek to join God in recreating community through the power of the Spirit.
Van Gelder and Zscheile offer no easy answers. They say the way to discern what God is leading us to join comes from “practices of faithful attention to God’s Word, to prayer, to one another, and to our neighbors,” so that “we can hear the Spirit’s leading.” This discernment is individual, and it is communal. We join God in our neighborhood and at work. We use our individual places of influence and we use the church’s authority and resources. This work joins God in building a just and whole society; we join God in introducing God’s reign, a different order for human life and community.
In short, we join God in holistic mission: “being, doing and saying.” How we ourselves act and treat others shows the world God’s reign. Then we engage the community and join God in binding up the wounded. Finally, we interpret God’s work so people identify the reign of God and give their hearts to God and join God’s work.
This book will help us see how to join God’s mission and to exhibit the kingdom of heaven to the world!
Allen D. Timm is the executive presbyter for the Presbytery of Detroit.
