What is the Missio Dei? (Mission of God)

Introduction

For perhaps as long as human beings have existed, theologians and philosophers have wondered ‘What is the mission of God?’. Perhaps you have asked this question too and wondered ‘What is God up to?’. Such existential thinking gave birth to the concept that will be discussed in this article, namely, the Missio Dei.

What is the Missio Dei? An overview

The simplest definition of Missio Dei is “Mission of God”. The Missio Dei is a Christian theological concept that has been discussed at least since Saint Augustine in the 4th century.

Understanding the Concept of Missio Dei

The meaning of the term ‘Missio Dei’ is God’s mission – His plan of action, His modus operandi. Understanding the concept of Missio Dei in Christian theology means we ask questions like: What is the big story that God is writing? How can we partner with Him?

God’s story is one of redemption, of making a way to bridge the divide that sin caused between humanity and Himself. It is often described as light breaking into darkness. The foundation it is built on is faith, love, and hope. The Bible is full of stories of God drawing people into His plan and working powerfully in and through their lives.

The Origins of Missio Dei

As mentioned in the Introduction, people have wondered what the purpose of God’s Mission is since the beginning of time. It is one of those concepts we cannot easily give a clear timestamp to because it existed long before we came up with the vocabulary allowing us to speak about it.

One could argue that God’s mission has been going on since page 1 of our Bible and that the very act of Creation was the first act. What we can trace, however, is the historical roots of the term ‘Missio Dei’.

Historical Roots of the Missio Dei (term)

This Latin term’s origin is also a disputed matter. Some say that it dates back as far as Augustine, however, it became widely used after a meeting/conference by the International Missionary Council (IMC) that was held in Willingen, Germany in 1952.

The conversations at that meeting can be summarized like this:
For centuries, people have taken mission into their own hands. This is not right. The mission is God’s. And whatever we do, it has to submit to God’s mission.

Theological Foundations of the Missio Dei

The concept of the Missio Dei has theological foundations. Christopher Wright describes how in the mind of an average Christian, theology and mission don’t have much in common: Theology is all in the head; mission is all the doing. It often operates like two separate teams which is dangerous for both sides.

The possible dangers are that those who are active in mission are not being thoughtful about it & those who are thinkers are not actively living out their beliefs. This is not a new dilemma and can be seen all throughout the New Testament in talk like “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20).

The Impact of Missio Dei on the Church

Missio Dei and the Mission of the Church

The impact of Missio Dei can (or should, perhaps) be most clearly seen in the church. The concept of ‘church’ is a loaded theological concept. Is it a place, a people, or a metaphor? In the Bible the idea of a church gathering as we know it did not even exist until the book of Acts. Therefore, the Missio Dei was in existence long before the church was birthed and received its mission.

How Missio Dei Influences Church Mission and Practice

In Transforming Mission, David Bosch defines mission as an activity that transforms reality, and that is also in constant need of transformation itself. Mission is a broken activity of the church (all God’s people). Our human missionary efforts and practices must submit to and slot into the Missio Dei.

So you might imagine that all church mission and practices are like fruit growing on the tree that is the Missio Dei. At least this is the view of some, like Dutch Missiologist, Johannes Hoekendijk. The church might be considered as one expression of the Missio Dei rather than the end-all of it.

Missio Dei in Christian Theology

How Missio Dei Shapes Christian Theology

The theological statement that the Missio Dei makes is this: God is writing a big story. He is still busy writing that story and it is being written all the time, until Kingdom come.

Did you know that the theological field where mission is studied is called missiology?

The Role of Missio Dei in Biblical Doctrine

We can find the idea of Missio Dei in Scripture too, of course. Christopher Wright said the importance of the Missio Dei is seen all throughout the Bible. It can be considered like the golden thread running through everything. It is not only found in so-called missional texts where people are commissioned.

Missio Dei vs. The Great Commission

Comparing Missio Dei and the Great Commission

The Great Commission is the famous piece of Scripture where Jesus sends His disciples out. It can be found at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, in chapter 28’s final verses.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

However famous the Great Commission might have become in our time, it is not the only (or even the best) expression of God’s mission.

Understanding the Differences and Similarities

The premise of the Missio Dei is closely connected to the Great Commission, yet it is not limited to it. You might argue that the Great Commission is our mission, and the Missio Dei is God’s mission. Again, the whole point of the Missio Dei concept – and where the need for it arose – is that people need a reminder to submit their missional efforts before God.

As Wright said: “Our mission flows from God’s mission”.

Missio Dei in Practice

Real-World Applications of Missio Dei

We need to consider how God’s mission influences Christian practice. The mission of God is for everybody, not only those who feel called into full-time ministry. If it is about God’s mission and not our own, something changes.

We can read about the Missio Dei throughout the whole Bible and we see that it involves fishermen, shepherds, kings, and even widows. The whole Bible is full of examples of how God’s way (the Missio Dei) overlaps with real human life.

At Missional University, this is the very basis of what we have built our courses on so that you can be equipped to live out your part of the Missio Dei in your workplace and wherever you are planted.

How Churches Implement the Missio Dei

When most Christians hear the word “mission” they think of missionaries doing global mission work or church missions/outreaches that might be on the calendar. Missio Dei and evangelism go hand in hand.

Yet some churches do not even have any outwards-focused activities at all, but they are still missional. How can I say this? This is true, because being missional (as in, participating in the Missio Dei) is not an activity or an event, it is a lifestyle. It is about living each day in step with the Spirit and asking God what His mission is for the day.

Challenges and Criticisms

Challenges Facing the Missio Dei Concept

The mission of God that we read about in the Bible is being lived out in a certain cultural and contextual setting. Unfortunately, ‘mission’ for many people outside of North America and Europe has become synonymous with colonization, suppression, and an exclusivist approach with little regard for a people-group’s unique expressions of being made in the image of God. This leads to what is known as a disembodied faith – where a person believes the Gospel message but they do not know how to live it out in their own cultural setting.

This has often been considered one of the biggest challenges facing the Christian faith – to “be in the world, but not of the world” as the saying goes. For the modern person to connect to God and grasp the Gospel message, at least some relevance is needed. Yet, the danger is that the mission strives to be relevant rather than set apart or different.

The Missio Dei does not change, but, whether the way that it is shared with people needs to change or not has been a point of contention.

Missio Dei in Contemporary Christianity

Missio Dei in the Modern Church Context

Spiritual focus: One aspect of the Missio Dei that has not become apparent for many Christians yet is that it is based on the Trinity: God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Modern Christianity is more spiritually-inclined than in previous years and even though people do not call themselves religious, they will claim to be spiritual. Therefore, one might conclude that in the modern church context, the focus of the Missio Dei, for many, will likely be on joining the mission of the Holy Spirit in our world. However, understanding the “Missio Trinitas” (mission of the Trinity) as sharing the whole life of God, Father, Son and Spirit today should expand our focus.
Connectedness: With globalization, the modern world is becoming more and more connected. There are some challenges and opportunities for how the Missio Dei can be lived out in the space of the online church, for example. Most believers are interacting with social media and the internet for (too many) hours each day – This brings up the question: How can the Missio Dei be authentically brought into those spaces?

How Missio Dei Addresses The Modern Believer’s Issues

The story that God has been writing since the beginning of time, the Missio Dei, is about a Kingdom. The Kingdom of God. That Kingdom has a King for a reason. What I mean by this is we were never meant to do it on our own – that was never God’s design. To illustrate this point, let me share with you about a beautiful encounter that I once had with God…

When I was about twenty years old, God showed me a picture of myself running with a burning torch. I ran towards God and asked Him to light the flame and then I ran off again, but as I ran, the flame would die. This happened a few times and I was getting very tired and exhausted. So, I asked God to show me a better way. I expected Him to replace the flaming torch with a battery-powered one or to give me a power bank or a box of matches to carry with me as I ran, but He did not do anything like that. In my vision, He just started walking with me instead and that way my flame never died out again.

It was through this encounter that I shifted my mindset from focusing on “finding my calling” to “walking with the One who calls me” – and it may sound simple now, but looking back, I think that changed my life. My focus shifted from what I could do for God to how I can walk with Him.

A few years later I read a book by author Mark de Vries about sustainable ways of doing ministry where he explained the difference between a match and an oil lamp. A match burns itself out, whereas an oil lamp burns the oil. Oil is a symbol for intimacy with God. Therefore, it is only through walking closely with the One who sends us that we can do any mission that matters.

Conclusion

Summary of Key Points About Missio Dei

In short, the Missio Dei is about understanding God’s mission and asking how we can partner with what He is already doing. The concept became widely popular after the Willingen conference. Missio Dei has implications for how the church lives out its mission and how Christian theology is done.

It is noteworthy that the Missio Dei is not the same thing as the Great Commission and that our often singular focus on the latter is perhaps ill-placed when viewed in isolation. Instead, it should be our focus within the context of the greater scope of the mission of God in the world around us.

The Missio Dei has practical effects for churches and modern believers, and it is not without challenges. We are co-labourers with God and servants of His mission. Or, as I once heard it said: “God’s mission is my mission”.