Theology Can Literally Be Taken to Mean Just the Study of God - Term Paper Example

? Table of contents Introduction Relevant Old Testament and New Testament related to mission………………………………………………………..…………………………………2 The nature of God in relation to missions………………………………………………………………………………………….3 Mission theology in relationship to other aspects of theology………………………………………………………………………………………….4 Themes and motives of mission theology………………………………………………………………………………………….5 Relationship of mission theology to missionaries, church leaders and lay people……………………………………………………………………………………………6 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….7 Reference…………………………… …………………………………………………………8 Introduction Theology can literally be taken to mean just the study of God. Its meaning can be derived from the Greek words Theos, which means God, and Logos, which means the study of a certain subject. As a result, many theologians have used many forms of analysis and also historical, philosophical, spiritual and ethnographic arguments in attempts to understand and explain any topic on religion. It helps the theologians to better understand his or her religious tradition, as well as other people’s religions; make a comparison between two or more religious traditions; defend, or even try to justify a religious tradition among others. Theology then can be used by theologians to understand the religion and, hence, this leads to our second definition of religion. Religion according to Harper means a collection of beliefs, cultural systems and the worldviews to establish symbols in relation to humanity and spirituality. It is by these symbols that man tries to give meaning to life or even try to explain the origins of life and the universe. So, religious tendency to understand human life can be attributed to faith or belief1. In the development of religion, it can be seen to have taken different cultures whereby some religion has placed an emphasis on belief while others have placed their emphasis on practice. Religion has also been associated with public institutions like it can be seen in hospitals, schools, governments, political hierarchies and families among others. So, religion in this case can be mitigate problems of human life2 Relevant Old Testament and New Testament related to missions The whole concept of mission is related to the mission of God. This began with God’s creation. God created man “… be fruitful and multiply to fill the earth”. In the New Testament, the gospel of the Acts of the Apostle one finds “We were to live as a church, the body of the Christ, as the salt of this world, as the light of this world (Jn 20:19-20). A variety of different Christian churches has an impact on the ideology of theology including how many churches on the planet do mission, and also how they try to articulate their theology of missions. This includes how the churches select and supports missionaries, who can be considered a missionary and what these missionaries do to teach3. The most important question here, which actually needs to be answered, is the definition of theology of missions, or what the mission of the church is. The mission can be defined as the body of the Christ, which is manifested in thousands upon thousands of local assemblies of the Disciples of Christ in varying cultures, languages, and traditions. This can be related to two thousand years ago when God started his missionary work and this began at the Garden of Eden. Also, Jesus spoke directly to his followers and then gave them a clear mission statement. This has reference in the New Testament books which include (Mk, 16:15, Mt: 28:19-20, Acts: 1:8). In reference to these verses, everybody who is born again is called to this mission and no one is excluded. The New Testament texts tell us that the entire church has the full responsibility to be involved in missions (John, 3). Every church, or every born again person has the responsibility of becoming a disciple in trying to spread the gospel to all nations around the world. According to the theologian, Stuwart, W. (1997), the mission is one of the central purposes for all believers. He tries to challenge all the believers to try and participate in the global missions. Both the Old and the New Testament tell us that there is no limit to where the missions should go. This has reference (Mk 16:15, Acts 1:8). Here, Jesus himself articulated a very global mission. He said to his disciples,”… go in to the entire world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation, be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth”. So, this statements of Jesus himself tells us to reach the unreached by providing them the word of the God in their own languages. The mission of God is worldwide in its scope and also evangelistic in strategy. Its revelation to us both in the Old and in the New Testament is relevant and a must for all the missionaries in order to see the full impact of their mission4 The nature of God in relation to missions The nature of God is related in the mission even today. The mission of God in the Old Testament “He created human beings so that we can have fellowship with Him and then serve as faithful managers of his creation (Gen 1-2). God in this case was the king who reigned in both heaven and earth, as a result, he expected us to be his royal family, so that we could implement his reign. We sin to God; we disobey Him just because of our prideful desires just to be equal to Him. We are neither satisfied with fellowship with the king as his prince and princess. Even though we rebel against him, he is always slow to anger and ready to forgive anytime we repent to him. He still wants us to have fellowship with him and serve as stewards of his renewed creation. God begins to fulfill his mission by forming a special people (Israel)5. It was through this nation that God was to have an intimate relationship through which he would bless all the nations of the world (Exod 19:3-6). Here, God himself has revealed his nature to the Israelites by ruling over them as their king and savior (Exod34: 4-7). Here, the Israelites continued to rebel against their God and continued to worship idols (Ezek 20:16). Here, his mission can be seen. He uses the occasion of the Israelites rebellion in trying to make promises of his future reconciliation. The lord said to his disciples that one day he shall restore his chosen nation and reach out to all nations on the earth (Isaiah 49:6). This was all because the mission of Jesus was to come on earth and die for our own sins on the cross, so that we could have eternal life6. A mission theology relationship to other aspects of theology The missionary communication with God in our own lives can only be done when we fully know who our God is. It must be put in to consideration that we must have faith in the true God in the capacities of teachings and preaching as missionaries. God himself declared the power of the Holy Spirit to be our helper who would give us the words to speak when proclaiming his word. The great doctrine of salvation then gives mission its message that is clear about the relationship between God and salvation of his creation. Themes and motives of mission theology Missionaries have come up with different themes, motives, and also patterns which now define the key motive of mission theology. This motive helps the missionaries in their work for missions. These include, the true knowledge of God, the father and the Holy Spirit and their major work in trying to improve the spiritual faith of the churches around the world. This forms a stepping-stone in trying to take the salvation to the target people (Acts 12:6-11), Heb 1; 7). The impacts of mission theology The mission theology has many impacts on missionary, church leaders and all people. Missionary is a designation for one who takes the gospel to other people other than his own people, church, home, or his place of residence. With a clear mission theology, it is easier for the missionaries to achieve their expected goals. Mission theology has impact on the church leaders, common people, and missionaries. The church leadership has to understand the theology behind missions, as it helps these leaders to try and identify those people in the congregation with the calls to serve as missionaries. They take the responsibility of teaching the congregation the influence of missions on their own lives7. Conclusion I see myself as a new enthusiast of the mission of God. The theological foundation has clearly been set forth in this theological paper. The work of the missions is to increase the number of people who live to glorify God as followers of Christ. So, it is the responsibility of everyone, as we have seen in both the Old and the New Testament, to take the responsibility of preaching the gospel of God to all nations, baptizing converts, and also planting churches for followers to worship God. God himself gave this mission to the embryonic church immediately after his resurrection and hence, this must continue until Jesus comes back. It is Jesus himself who promised that “the gospel must be preached to all nations for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come” (Mt 24:14). The clear nature of God, our father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and their defining theologies give a substantial and credential growth of the missionaries all over the world. Bibliography Blauw, Joe. The missionary nature of the church. Chicago: Carry Press, 1990, 54-62. Durrwell, Fanh. “Christian witness: a theological study” International Review of Mission, 69, (1980):121-34. Newbigin, Leane. ‘Witness in a biblical perspective,’ Mission Studies, 6 3(2), (1986):80-84. Read More