www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Missions and the future

Ok, this is a strange post. I'm warning you upfront. It probably won't go anywhere but I'm gonna try it out anyway.

I was thinking about the state of missions today and I came up with, what I think, are some interesting questions.

I think we live at the end of an age and at the beginning of a new one. Some would call this a post christian age but i dont belive that. Somehow when a church like the Catholic church can claim over 1 billion members, not to mention the millions in Orthodoxy and Protestantism, it screams that Christianity is still vital for a sizeable chunk of the global population. We may be in a declined or lazy spiritual phase but Christianity is still the religion of the day. I think what is going on around us is a radical realignment of Western culture. Just upon what lines it will ultimately come to rest are yet to be determined. Yet for all appearances it seems that 'going global' is a dominant theme with unification being a strong second current.

In the past, in theory, missions was simple. In the primitive Church the mission was to Christianize the empire as that was the extent of the known world. Every Christian knew what that meant. It was simple. Live a holy life and pray that the empire would 'fall' to Christianity and under Constantine that is exactly what happened. The fathers of the post Constantine era tended to be somewhat perplexed about missions because the known world was evangelized. The whole world could be accounted for as Jewish, (a little later Moslem), and Christian. To a large degree missions floundered because there was no where new to go. Of course there were the great missionaries Cyril and Methodius but they were the exception to the rule.

This was true up until Columbus sailed the ocean Blue and viola, new lands, untold masses of un evangelized persons. Suddenly the easy doctrine of "no salvation outside the church" took on a more complicated challenge as what was "known" about the world became "unknown" again. Now missions was revitalized. Once again there were souls to save and cultures to Christianize. Thus began the age of modern missions. Having run roughly 500 years now, it would appear that to a large degree missions has arrived at the same place it was at with Constantine. Obviously there are exceptions, but in general the world has heard the gospel. While this doesnt mean that every person has heard the gospel, what i think it DOES mean is that mass conversions of people groups are done and over with. Missions nowadays focuses on individuals while in the past it focused on entire cultures.

I would suggest that our current cultural crisis is a similar one to that which the Roman empire experienced under the conversion of COnstantine, only in a negative way. This time around Christianity is not the name of the game. We have the most players among the religions but the game these days is Secularism, aka NON religion. It is secularism that is plaguing the US. Secularism IS the new religion of Europe. Israel and the middle east are pretty well secularized. Even the ancient Christian kingdom of Ethiopia is now secular. Obviously there are many good christians in these places but they labor against the tide. My question is "Can we win against secularism or must we somehow adapt our ways to win over secularism on its own turf?"

For example: In the not so distant future I believe that the worlds cry for unification and globalization will be realized whether we like it or not. Christians have been screaming about the evils of a one world government forever but all indications are that it is coming and that it is coming sooner than we think. As far as western culter is concerned the USA is the only nation left opposing this one world movement. It is in some fashion just about all you hear about on talk radio. What does this mean for missions? Well I believe it means that, in the face of globalization, unless the Church marches in a united front it will not come across with much credibility. This secular society wants one religion and it will try to create it and I think it may well be successful. But this is nothing new. THroughout history the Church has had to deal with anti-church's. The problem this time around is that the church is so splintered (especially considering Protestant Christians)that speaking out against a rival religion is a pointless task if we can't provide what people want and that is unity.

How do we do this? Well, I think there are a few things to consider. In a unified society local places lose much of their intrinsic value. For instance, in a unified world, people stop being primarily Americans or Chinese and are simply Earthlings or Human beings or whateve spin you want to put on it. THe point is that local reference points become secondary. This does one of two things. It either draws people into the circle of inclusivity or it drives them to isolation and thus to annihilation. Groups like the Amish are interesting but they cannot last. Eventually they die out or merge quietly into the mainline. For the Church i think this has the implication of removing some of the historical value to the traditional jurisdictions and apostolic sees. Think about it. The Chinese dont care about Antioch. Do they?
What about Jerusalem? Not really. What about Nigerians? or Nepalise? What about Canadians? How will these people be integrated into the Catholic Church of the future? How will they be assured of being in union with all and yet preserving their individual identities and local customs? Though, i think as time progresses we will see much more cross culturalization than we will see pure cultural expressions as we become acclimated to the one world environment.

To take this one step farther, and deeper into the weird dimension, consider that we are on the verge of commercial space travel and even on moving off planet (The japanese are planning on doing just that by creating a permenantly manned lunar base by 2020.) What local See would have jurisdiction on the moon? Its not a crazy question because its going to happen and sooner than we think! What happens in a hundred years when there are many people living on the moon and a local See must be established to deal with all the lunar ecclesiastical issues? Who are those people going to be loyal to? Rome? Jerusalem? Going even farther, 500 years from now when we have colonized Mars, what of that? How long will people have to live there before they begin to think of themselves as Martians rather than earthlings? I know all this sounds crazy and far out but unless you believe that Jesus is coming back pronto then these are things that should be addressed because they are coming up fast.

My point is that we are at a similar place to where we were 500 years ago. There are new lands (planets, moons) to explore and colonate. The world is not a big place anymore. I mean for goodness sake, im typing this in McDonough Georgia, USA and within 5 seconds after i push the Add New Topic button it will be available to all of you in England, Ireland, Africa, Europe, Asia or wherever you may be. The world of tribes and localization is dying, or is perhaps already dead. I think unless we come to grips with this that any missions quest or plan is bound to failure.

I could go on but im sure you have already written this off as hogwash. LOL

I think the future for the Church can be bright if we get with the program early. Otherwise we may just wind up being second string to the new Secular Religion.

Jason

Jason, I find what you are saying to be interesting, and these are certainly things to think about. But what about the other side? Our vaunted technology rests on a fragile base. How many people actually understand it or could replicate it if it were destroyed? Has human nature changed to the point that all this cooperation will really take place, or will everything fragment again at some point? It certainly has happened that way throughout history. What about global pandemics that could change everything? As for what bishop will have the moon for a see, I can put together a list of bishops that I would like to send to the moon.

Dear Charles:

I think I know those bishops you have in mind: luna-tic bishops?

Amado

ROFL

luna-tic

Thankyou Jesus for the gift of humor.