Historical Missional Movements - Essay Example

Historical missional movements by The of the The of the School The and where it is located The Date Historical missional movements It would not be an exaggeration to point out that the society that is formed by people features a considerable number of peculiar aspects. By far, the notion of religion might be called one of the most characteristic of them since it is largely responsible for other traits of the collective identity of the people such as ethics or morals. While considering the development of religious environment it has been stated that historical missional movements usually designed their beliefs and identities which were both long terms and distinctive based on the influence which was made by the leader who founded the mission. In other words, the impact that a particular person has had on the movement would continue long after one’s death. This paper will argue the validity of such a claim, analyzing the issues from numerous points of view. First of all, the idea of long term beliefs will be examined, followed by a consideration of what made them distinctive over time. The next step in the analysis would focus on the issue of identity in the temporal dimension as well as in what way it was unique in the contemporary environment. A great amount of attention will be paid to the image of a leader which will be analyzed in different aspects. The next important point to consider in order to prove the claim in question is the impact that the person has had on the movement, one’s place in the process of foundation of the movement as well as the long term perspective on the original actions. Long term beliefs To begin with, one should take a close look at the idea of long term beliefs. Such, it is quite natural for any organization, including a missional movement to experience development in different fields, including the doctrine. Nevertheless, the peculiarity of long term beliefs focuses on the fact that they reflect the founding principles that will not be changed under any circumstances. Another name for it is dogma which literary means “belief” in Ancient Greek (Gaillardetz 1997, p. 92). For example, it is beyond any doubt that no matter what happens in the world, the Christian Church will be preaching the need to refrain from violence while dealing with aggressor which reflects the phrase that was articulated by the Founder of this movement Jesus Christ: “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also” (Matthew 5:39). However, as was mentioned before, missional movement might evolve and the very image of the founding leader might be used to reinforce this evolution. In spite of the fact that there is no explicit mentioning of the Holy Trinity in the New Testament, there are situations when Jesus, being God the Son, is being portrayed together with God the Father or God the Holy Spirit which contributes to the validity of the idea of the Holy Trinity. It is quite obvious that the latter should be regarded as one of the essential principles of Christianity, even though it was developed after the earthly life of Jesus Christ. Distinctive values As has been noted earlier, it would not be an exaggeration to point out that out of the most distinctive features about Christianity is the belief in the Holy Trinity which reflects a peculiar approach towards the issue of monotheism. Though the indication of presence of the Three Persons in the New Testament are rather rare, it is Jesus Christ who urges his contemporaries to develop respect for the All Mighty Heavenly Father. In other words, it was He Who put emphasis on the necessity to praise the Lord and set up the example for the people. Thus, even the fundamental prayer of Christianity was articulated by Him for the first time in history and was addressed to the Heavenly Father (Farrelly 2005, p. 40). It is quite obvious that after such actions, the distinctive belief of the Trinitarian nature of God would be developed. In addition to that, Jesus Christ also did a lot as a spiritual leader to reinforce his importance in the eyes of the people and become the beacon that would guide others so that they would have a safe spiritual journey. Several times in the New Testament, He claims that the only way for the people to arrive into the Kingdom of Heaven and save their eternal soul is through Him. This is a rather important claim since it establishes the essential role of faith in Jesus for a Christian. For example, later in history the Protestantism put a great emphasis on the need to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (Famodimu 2011, p. 20). Thus, it is an irreplaceable element of life of Martin Luther which latter influences the views of other people who were in favor of Reformation. Long term identity One should also note that considering the long term identity of missional movements, it is advisable to focus on the structure that they adhere to. For example, in case of Christianity, it is known for its highly developed hierarchy with numerous levels within the Church, all headed by one person. It would not be an exaggeration to assume that such approach towards the organization was heavily influenced by Jesus. Indeed, there is a point in the Gospels when he clearly states that Peter, whose name may be translated as rock, will become the foundation of the future Church (Ray 1999, p. 32). Thus, on the coat of arms of the Holy See the keys from the Heavenly kingdom which were granted to Saint Peter are depicted. What is more important is that there may also be a peculiar way in which missional leaders were able to influence identity of a movement in long term perspective. For example, Christianity is known for its high respect for the saints and it is quite obvious that is not likely to change. One may note that such an approach was influenced by its original leader, Jesus Christ, as through communication with Him people were able to develop their personality and become saints. In addition to that, it was He Who explain what truly makes a person closer to God: genuine faith and humanistic approach to other people. Distinctive identity Now it may be rather advantageous to see how distinctive aspect of identity of a missional movement can be influenced by a leader. Thus, at the present moment the Christian Church is known for its promotion of mercy in different aspects of social life (Rubio 2014, p. 130). In other words, this concept has become a characteristic feature of this spiritual tradition. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the first Who emphasized the need to have mercy on other people regardless of circumstances was Jesus. It was an important part of His mission to make sure that people abandoned the old ways of revenge and useless conflicts and developed a new understanding of the world where mercy is one of the fundamental principles. In addition to that, the distinctive identity of a missional movement may be influenced by a leader not only in some abstract terms, but also in practical application of them. Thus, when it comes to Christianity one might point out that the idea of mercy often resulted in the high value of forgiveness that Christians were encouraged to practice as a reflection of their faith. Indeed, judging from different historical evidence, the kings of Christendom are often shown forgiving their enemies as oppose to their counterparts who adopted other religions (Stuart 2004, p. 148). Keeping in mind that the tradition of exercising forgiveness was shown by Jesus Himself, one would make no mistake that it was He Who contributed to popularization of this fundamental trait. Image of a leader It may also be quite important to analyze the way in which the image of a spiritual leader can influence the further development of a missional movement. Thus, at the present moment, a lot of Christians try to focus their attention of the lifestyle of Jesus Christ and apply the principles that He taught to their daily life. This resulted into a peculiar phenomenon when people literally would ask themselves What would Jesus do? One would make no mistake that this is a rather effective approach towards dealing with a large array of difficult ethical dilemmas (Inkel 2002, p. 23). In addition to that the entire life of the founding leader is viewed as a role model for the people to follow. It is quite obvious that this is still a powerful moral imperative for numerous people all over the world. What is more important is that sometimes the image of a founding leader may be so essential for the movement that people will copy not only the message that the person spread, but also ones appearance. For example, the priests as well as the monks in the Orthodox Christian tradition tend to grow beards and long hair in order to commemorate the way Jesus Christ looked like. In addition to that the monks in the Buddhist tradition shave their heads for the same reason: Buddha is known to shave his head too. It is understandable that the appearance of the people might also be regarded as an element of identity which is an essential constituent of the system of beliefs. Nature of influence It is beyond any doubt that considering the relation between the founding missional leader as well as the movement, one should pay a special attention to the nature of influence that the former had on the latter. Thus, it would not be an exaggeration to point out that the above mentioned influence should be viewed from two different perspectives. On the one hand, the founding leaders are known for their ability to have impact on the direct environment around them. For example, the life of Christ is known to feature a significant trait that Jesus had on the Jewish community in Israel. In addition to that Sidhartha Gautama is known to have influenced people in the places which he visited, even though the very process of enlightenment was achieved in a secluded place (Huntington 1984, p. 96). Nevertheless, on the other hand, the feature that the above mentioned founding leaders have in common is their ability to spread their influence over other territories. Indeed, if it had not been for this, Christianity would remain a sect within Judaism while Buddhism might have also become nothing but a tradition of respecting a particular individual. However, the glory of Jesus was spread across the province of Judea and even closer to the end of His life there were numerous people who heard about His miracles. By far, this might be considered to be the basis for the future spread of the missional as to a certain extent the people beyond the social network that directly included the founder were prepared. Leaders as founders What is more important is that one should also dwell on the way the above mentioned individuals were able to act as founders. To begin with, it may be advantageous to define the founding as original manifestation of certain principles. Indeed, if one takes a look at different historical example, one might note that Jesus Christ was not the person who promoted monotheism, but He was the person Who urged people to change the an eye for an eye approach and exercise mercy (Schieber 2013, p. 56). In addition to that, closer to the end of His ministry, Jesus claimed to be the Son of God which laid the foundation of the Trinitarian principle, greatly enriching the contemporary spiritual tradition. In addition to that, it may be also particularly important to analyze the way the spiritual leaders manifested another aspect of foundation, namely becoming a role model for the people. Thus, it is quite obvious that the above mentioned kind of leaders had to show the people a new way of dealing with difficult situations and set a personal example. Indeed, Jesus Christ preaches the necessity to reject violence even against those who act aggressively and the Gospels tell who He did not commit any act of violence against those who tortured Him. This means the founding leader articulated the principles of the new spiritual movement by giving a personal perspective on application of them. There is no doubt that different events from His life are still studied by the believers. Influence over time Finally, speaking of the founding aspect of the original leaders, one can not omit the discussion of the temporal aspect of their influence. To begin with, it must be noted that the time that featured the activities of the founding leaders and the contemporary times may be far apart. In case of Christianity it is two thousand years, in case of Buddhism it is even more. Nevertheless, the influence that the spiritual leaders had on their contemporaries can hardly be exaggerated. For example, Jesus Christ was able to create a group within the Jewish community that did not reject the traditional legacy, but introduced an innovative element into it. In spite of the fact that spread of new religion was slow at first, the process was constant, so more and more Jewish people who lived in the first century started to rethink their values. However, it is quite understandable if the influence of the founding leaders was not able to reach the modern people, they would not become widely known. That is why it is particularly significant to analyze the way they were able to have impact on our contemporaries as well. Thus, it is beyond doubt that the secret lies in the fact that the founding leader of missional movements put emphasis on values that matter in every historical period and promote an unusual, yet quite insightful perspective on different things. For example, the idea to replace vengeance with mercy was quite uncommon for the moment, but later people all around the world agreed that it brought better consequences than violence. Conclusion Having examined all the evidence, it becomes rather clear that various missional movements that can be found over the course of history largely formed their identities as well as belief that did not change with time and are distinct from others based on the influence that missional leaders who founded them had. Indeed, the above mentioned two aspects, namely the identity and a set of beliefs, might be regarded as a set of coordinates within which a missional movement is able to operate. However, if one takes a close look at it, one will note that these two aspects are directly influenced by the identity of the founding leader. So, all the above mentioned evidence holds a particularly important implication for the future research: if one wants to develop a better understanding of the long term beliefs and distinctive identity of a missional movement, one should put an extra emphasis on the image of the founding leader since this kind of analysis will be able to reveal a considerable number of different aspects that if taken in are able to provide a correct as well as full picture. Finally, it would not be an exaggeration to state that the development of a missional movement is often conditioned by the peculiarity of ministry of the founding leaders which means that the past is able to hold secrets to the future. References Famodimu J 2011, Absolute Faith in Jesus Christ, Xulon Press, New York, NY. Farrelly J 2005, The trinity: Rediscovering the central Christian mystery, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD. Gaillardetz R 1997, Teaching with authority: A theology of the magisterium in the church, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN. Huntington, S 1984, The "Pāla-Sena" schools of sculpture, E.J. Brill, Leiden. Inkel M 2002, What Would Jesus Do?: A Catechists Guide to Discipline, Twenty-Third Publications, New York, NY. Ray S 1999, Upon this rock: St. Peter and the primacy of Rome in scripture and the early church, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. Rubio J 2014, Lord...have mercy on me, Palibrio, Boston, MA. Schieber V 2013, Where justice and mercy meet: Catholic opposition to the death penalty, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN. Stuart N 2004, Isabella of Castile: The first Renaissance queen, ASJA Press, New York, NY. Read More