'Mission is an attribute of God before it is an activity of the Church' Discuss.
In this essay we have the privilege of considering the nature of God. It is quite clear that this is not just an ‘academic’ exercise: our conception of God inevitably affects the way we perceive the world and live our lives. [1] We will begin by attempting working definitions of the terms ‘attribute’ and ‘mission’. We will then consider God’s external works – particularly redemption and creation. Next we shall examine the extent to which we can locate mission within God’s own being. Finally, we will assess the relationship between God and the church with respect to mission.
What is an attribute of God?
The term ‘attribute’ can be problematic [2] but essentially addresses the question of ‘who God is’. [3] Issues such as the ‘knowability’ of God merit thorough treatment in themselves but in this essay we must press on with an approach which we do not have space fully to justify. [4] We will take as our starting point ‘the history of revelation and salvation attested by Scripture and experienced by Christians from the beginning of the church.’ [5] Accordingly, we will structure our brief investigation beginning with God’s opera ad extra - ‘those activities and effects by which the Trinity is manifested outwardly’ – then moving to God’s opera ad intra – His ‘works within the Divine Being’. [6] Much has been written in contemporary theology about the relationship between these two (the economic and the immanent Trinities) but and we will address this question later.
What is mission?
‘Mission’ has been defined in many different ways. [7] As outlined above, we will take ‘the Son’s involvement in the material world’ as definitive for mission. [8] In particular, John 20:21-23 offers important insights. In verse 21 Jesus states that he has been sent by the Father and is in turn sending the disciples. In verse 23 Jesus turns to the focus of the disciples’ mission and states that the disciples will have the authority to forgive others’ sins or to withhold forgiveness. It is clear that this implies divine authority. [9] From these verses, I wish to derive a basic formula: Christian mission means being sent to others by God with divine authority. [10] This is not intended to be an exhaustive definition but merely to lend us a framework for our enquiry.
A. Opera Ad Extra
The Redemptive Missions of Son and Spirit
The redemptive mission of Jesus Christ is so clearly portrayed in the New Testament that it scarcely needs elaboration. [11] Jesus describes his mission in concrete terms. [12] The missionary theme is developed in parables. [13] Jesus is sent in order to preach the good news of the kingdom – his mission is inseparable from his message and its eschatological dimensions. [14] In the mission of Jesus, God becomes both Sender and Sent One. The incarnation represents the most astonishing outgoing event in history. The mission of the Holy Spirit is also clear. The Spirit would continue Jesus’ mission along with Jesus’ disciples. [15] Without entering the filioque debate, we can affirm that the Spirit is ‘sent to others by God with divine authority’. [16]
It may be worth pausing here briefly to consider the nature of mission amongst God’s attributes. Despite the difficulties he acknowledges, Stephen Holmes attempts to classify the attributes or ‘perfections’ of God, including the class of ‘divine condescension’. [17] This class includes perfections such as mercy, grace and long-suffering. [18] It seems to me that the missions of Jesus and the Spirit are supreme instances of God’s ‘condescension’. The attributes of God can be seen as ‘strong’ or ‘weak’, I submit. [19] God’s ‘strength’ consists in his omnipotence, immortality etc while his ‘weakness’ consists in his self-giving, self-sending sacrificial love. God’s attributes work in perfect harmony. When teaching about outgoing love (mission), Jesus told a parable about a banquet. [20] In the context of the kingdom of God (verse 15), Jesus explains how the master sends the servant to invite many. The amazing feature of the divine missions of Son and Spirit is that God is both master and servant – bountiful host and lowly servant facing the affront of rejection. [21] The self-sacrificing mission of Jesus is definitive for the mission of those sent by him. [22]
The redemptive missions of Son and Spirit are depicted very clearly throughout the New Testament. Let us now turn to another question: the participation of Word and Spirit in Creation. Can we demonstrate such involvement from Scripture and if so, is it properly described as ‘mission’?
The Creative Missions of Word and Spirit
The ‘dawn of time’ represents an interesting intersection between God’s internal life and his external activity and this is why Sanders notes that it is a ‘strategic point’ at which the immanent Trinity must be ‘guarded with vigilance’. [23] This is the point at which ‘The Word remains the same but takes on ‘a new way of existing’, acting now in time as well as eternally’. [24] For Thomas, ‘the procession of the Son from the Father by generation is the basis in God’s eternal being for the mission or sending forth of the Son into time and space as the creative and redeeming Word.’ [25] On the face of it, this would seem to match our definition of mission: being sent to others by God with divine authority, with the qualification that this mission brings its target into being! However, we are committed to discovering mission in God primarily through ‘the history of revelation and salvation attested by Scripture’. [26] Does the Bible explicitly describe Creation in terms of divine mission?
Does scripture use missionary terms to describe the involvement of Son and Spirit in creation? [27] Nazir-Ali states that, ‘Particular passages of Scripture such as Genesis 1, Psalm 33 and Proverbs 8 have been understood by Christians as referring to the relation of the different Persons of the Trinity to Creation.’ [28] We cannot consider these passages in detail here but will briefly examine each in turn. It has been asserted that the presence of both Spirit and Word can be discerned in Genesis 1:2-3. The ‘Word of God’ is said to be implicit in the phrase ‘Then God said’ but the most that can be said is that it is a fairly muted reference. The assumed reference to the Spirit in verse two is complicated by translation difficulties so the same phrase can be translated ‘Spirit of God’ (NIV), ‘wind from God’ (NRSV), or even ‘awesome wind’. [29] In any case, neither Spirit nor Word is said to have been sent by - or even proceeded from - God. In Psalm 33:6 we do not face the same translation difficulties as in Genesis since ‘breath’ is clearly associated with the Lord’s mouth. Here we see ‘word’ and ‘breath’ set in parallel and they are clearly the means by which God creates the universe. [30] It is possible to assert that the both ‘word’ and ‘breath’ imply propulsion but I think this can only be a tentative suggestion at best. Proverbs 8:23-31 speaks of wisdom personified rather than word or spirit. It might be suggested that the childbirth connotations in verses 22-5 relate to being 'sent into the world' but the justification seems quite tenuous. [31] Is the theme of creative mission stronger in the New Testament? Passages such as Colossians 1:16 and John 1:1-2 are much more explicit about the creative function of the Word but again, the Bible talks in terms of creative activity rather than creative mission as such.
In this section, we have seen that the redemptive activities of Son and Spirit are described in explicitly missionary terms. The work of Word and Spirit in creation, on the other hand, is not described primarily in terms of divine sending. Let us now turn from God’s works to his inner being.
B. Opera Ad Intra
Credimus in Spiritum Sanctum qui a Patre Filioque procedit [32]
The church fathers linked the missions of the Son and Spirit (ad extra) with the ‘processions’ of the Son and Spirit (ad intra). Indeed, the distinction between eternal procession and temporal mission was not always made. [33] Is there an explicit scriptural basis for the doctrine of the eternal processions of Son and Spirit? Before answering this, it is important to note that ‘the eternal processions’ is, in fact, a schematic term referring to the filiation of the Son and the spiration of the Spirit. [34] The fact that these are two quite different processes should in itself make us consider the usefulness of the combined term ‘procession’. The scriptural basis for the procession of the Holy Spirit is found in John 15:26:
‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.’
The phrase ‘comes from the Father’ was used by the church fathers in support of an ontological relationship with the Father. [35] However, there is a significant consensus in modern scholarship which denies this, understanding the phrase to refer to the earthly mission of the Spirit. [36]
Does Rahner Rule?
In the wake of Barth, contemporary theology has seen a renewed interest in the Trinity. [37] Much recent thinking has focussed on the relationship between the economic and immanent Trinities, that is to say between ‘God’s “inner” life … the self-relatedness of Father, Son and Spirit’ and ‘the self-communication of God in the person of Christ and the activity of the Holy Spirit’. [38] Karl Rahner’s assertion that:
‘The “economic” Trinity is the “immanent” Trinity and the “immanent” Trinity is the “economic” Trinity’ [39]
has been extremely influential. ‘Rahner’s Rule’ gives the theologian perfect confidence in making assertions about God’s eternal being on the basis of His self-communication. LaCugna and Fiddes both assert that the missions of Son and Spirit ‘must’ correspond to intradivine processions. [40] If we accept this approach, demonstrating the temporal missions of Son and Spirit enables us to make corresponding assertions concerning God’s eternal being: in other words, we will have located mission right at the heart of God.
Does matter matter?
Fiddes observes that the processions of Son and Spirit exhibit ‘ek-stasis’ that is ‘being directed outward to others’. [41] It must be admitted that this is indeed a similarity between the processions and mission. But we should also acknowledge the objection that the processions take place within Godself. The act of creation, and the Incarnation seem to me a new event in the ‘history of God’ which brought about change in God. External mission and internal procession cannot be conflated. In my view, Rahner’s approach here runs the risk of ‘flattening out’ the astonishing event of the incarnation by underplaying the difference between what is internal and what is external to God. [42] The inner processions teach us more about the loving community which is the goal of mission than about mission itself.
Mission: hands or heart of God?
In the Son and the Spirit, God sends Himself to the world. When we contemplate the divine missions of Son and Spirit, how deeply do we penetrate the essence of God? Do we simply behold the hands of God or do we perceive His heart, too? Do our reservations about ‘Rahner’s Rule’ leave us with a partial view of God? In answering this question, it will be helpful briefly return to the early Trinitarian thinking of the church fathers. Early trinitarian thought spoke of the ‘essence’ or ‘substance’ of God, and the ‘persons’ or ‘hypostases’ of God. [43] Zizioulas argues that Greek philosophy of the first Christian centuries was revolutionary precisely because it identified 'substance' with 'person'. [44] Speaking of the Trinity, Zizioulas asserts that ‘the substance never exists in a “naked” state, that is, without hypostasis, without a “mode of existence”’. [45] In relation to mission, therefore, it is not possible to separate the missionary natures of Christ and the Spirit from the essence of God. [46] This reflection is happily consistent with the teaching of Christ:
‘Whoever has seen me has seen the Father’. [47]
C. God’s priority in mission
The question we are answering concerns mission as an attribute of God before it is an activity of the church. The resurgence of the missio dei concept initiated by Barth, Hartenstein and the Willingen Conference of the IMC clearly attributed to God priority in missions. [48] We can understand this priority both in terms of chronology and in terms of defining importance. Even if we remain cautious about identifying creation with mission, it is clear that God’s mission began before Jesus was sent to the world. John Stott correctly cites the story of Abram / Abraham as an example of mission. [49] Furthermore, the church itself is clearly the product of God’s mission through His Word and His Spirit. In turn, Jesus sends His disciples on mission to the world so that the church’s mission follows and derives from God’s mission. [50] Apart from the chronological dimension, missio dei is definitive for the church, whose efforts can accurately be described as mission to the extent that they are in harmony with God’s prior, and continuing, outreach. While the church’s mission is derivative, it is not rendered superfluous, or worse, as some have argued. [51]
We can rightly ascribe priority to God in respect of mission. However, it is impossible to drive a wedge between God and the church when speaking of the church’s ongoing mission. We cannot attribute the church’s shortcomings to God but we should avoid degrading Scripture’s view of God’s relationship with the church. Where the church-in-mission is in harmony with Son and Spirit, we witness the Body of Christ empowered by God’s Spirit. [52] The headship of Christ is clearly associated with his priority and so in mission, as in any other area, the church is called to follow. [53] Furthermore, the body of Christ (the church) operates through the power of the Spirit. [54] It is true that mission is an attribute of God before it is an activity of the church but we can say much more than this. Mission is an attribute of the church because it is (first) an attribute of God. The church derives its missionary nature from God, as the ‘family resemblance’. [55] In the missionary activity of the church (His body), God Himself is active through his spirit. [56]
God’s missionary nature and activity predate and sustain the missionary nature and activity of the church. However, we must be careful to avoid suggesting that the church has a monopoly on God’s purposes for the world. Contemporary theology has rejected the ecclesiocentric view of previous centuries. [57] The church, as an instrument or sign of the kingdom, must avoid both triumphalism and apathy. [58] The emphasis on missio dei is an important reminder that God-in-Christ himself is ‘before all things’, that all things were created ‘through him and for him’, ‘He is the head of the body, the church … so that he might come to have the first place in everything.’ [59]
In the Incarnate Word, God shows himself to be both the Sender and the Sent One. God’s mission involves both an opening out of the Trinity towards the world and a drawing up of people into God’s love. In a mysterious way, God is both the bountiful host of an eternal banquet, and the servant issuing invitations at the cost of his life. The strength of intradivine love draws people into communion, while the outgoing Word and Spirit impel the church to serve and suffer, displaying the glory of divine weakness.
Bibliography
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(London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2000)
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Electronic Resources
<http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/TOLEDO.HTM> [accessed 22 December 2008]
[1] Cf. Fiddes, P. Participating in God (2000) Participating in God, Gunton, C. (1985) Enlightenment and Alienation, pp.53-4
[2] cf. Berkhof, L. (1941) Systematic Theology, p.52; and Holmes, S. The Attributes of God in Webster J. et al (eds.), (2007), The Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology, pp. 54-71
[3] Gunton, C. (2002) Act and Being, p.9
[4] cf. Barth, K. (1957-1975) Church Dogmatics 2/I, p.65
[5] Migliore, D. (1991) Faith Seeking Understanding p.61
[6] Berkhof, p.89
[7] cf. Bosch, D. (1991) Transforming Mission, p.391, p.9; Thomas, N. (ed.) (1995), Readings in World Mission, p. xiii
[8] Gunton,(2002) p.76
[9] Matthew 9:1-8
[10] cf. ‘divine sending’ in Karl Barth, Theologische Fragen und Antworten, (Zollikon: Evangelischer Verlag, 1957), 104-5, 114-115; cited in Thomas, N. (ed.) (1995) pp. 105-6
[11] 1 John 4:9-10
[12] Luke 4:43-4
[13] Matthew 21:33-41
[14] Luke 4:43
[15] John 15:26-7
[16] John 15:26; Acts 1:8
[17] Holmes in Webster p.69
[18] Holmes in Webster p.69
[19] cf. 1 Corinthians 1:25
[20] Luke 14:12-24
[21] see also Matthew 21:37-9
[22] Mark 10:45; 1 Corinthians 4:9; 2 Corinthians 6:3-10; 2 Corinthians 4:7-12
[23] Sanders, F. The Trinity, in Webster, p.42
[24] Healy, N. (2003) Thomas Aquinas, pp. 80-81
[25] Healy, p.80
[26] Migliore, p.61
[27] cf. Nazir-Ali, M. (1990) From Everywhere To Everywhere pp. 9-10
[28] Nazir-Ali, M. (1990) From Everywhere To Everywhere pp. 9-10
[29] cf. Hamilton, V. (1990), The Book of Genesis: chapter 1-17, pp.111-114 and Westermann, C. (1974), Genesis 1-11: A Commentary, pp.107-8
[30] Kraus, H. (1993) Psalms 1-59, p.376
[31] Waltke, B. (2004) The Book of Proverbs: chapters 1-15, pp.408-412, and Perdue, L. (2000) Proverbs, p.143, 413; cf. also Moltmann, J. (1981) The Trinity and the Kingdom of God, p.68
[32] Latin version of the Constantinopolitan Creed cited in Berkhof, pp.96-7
[33] cf Marcellus of Ancyra cited in Pelikan, J. (1971) The Christian Tradition, p.212 and Eusebius cited in Bethune-Baker, J (1929) An Introduction to the Early History of Christian Doctrine, pp. 205-6
[34] Berkhof, p.97
[35] Carson, D. (1991) The Gospel According to John, p. 528
[36] Carson, p. 529; Bruce, F. (1983) The Gospel of John, p.316; Morris, L. (1995) The Gospel According to John, p.606
[37] Webster, pp.37-8
[38] LaCugna, C. (1973) God for us, p. 2
[39] Rahner, K. (1970) The Trinity, p.22 LaCugna, p.225
[40] Fiddes, pp.6-7 and LaCugna, p. 213
[41] Fiddes, p.53
[42] cf. on creatio ex nihilo Webster p.42
[43] Zizioulas, J. (1985) Being as Communion, p.27 ff.
[44] Zizioulas, p.36
[45] Zizioulas, p.41
[46] Gunton (2002), pp.112-3
[47] John 14:9
[48] Bosch, pp. 389-390
[49] Stott, J. in Winter, R. (1981), Perspectives on the world Christian movement, pp. 10-18
[50] John 20:21
[51] Bevans, S. and Schroeder, R. (2004) Constants in Context, pp. 290-291
[52] Ephesians 4:15-16; 1:22-3; 3:6; 4:4; Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Colossians 1:18
[53] Colossians 1:18
[54] 1 Corinthians 12:4-30
[55] Lincoln, A. (1990) Ephesians p.310
[56] cf. Anastasios of Androussa in Thomas p.120
[57] Potter, P. cited in Thomas p.115
[58] Ladd, G. in Winter pp.51-69
[59] Colossians 1:16-18
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