4 of 4

They are focusing on finishing as opposed to what? As opposed to being faithful as long as it takes. Focusing on finishing meant figuring out exactly what needed to be done. And that meant identifying who the groups are that don't have a viable Christian church movement in their midst.

You'd find that there are people in every one of these organizations who were influenced directly by Ralph Winter. That's what I told Ralph Winter about a year ago. I wrote him a letter because he is sick. I said, "Ralph, I know that you would say the world's greatest missiologist in the 20 century was Donald McGavern, because he was your mentor. But I want to tell you that I think it's you. It's you, because your ideas have been some of the most original, and besides being the most original, you have put it on track. You formed the organizations that caused people to focus on finishing. You focused on people groups instead of nations or geographic regions, and set the stage for actually breaking up the job into pieces and getting those people groups adopted by churches around the world."

I feel that although the job was not finished by the year 2000 the coining of the slogan, "a church for every people and the gospel for every person by the year 2000," focused people's attention on the matter in a very productive way and resulted in a lot more being done than would otherwise have been the case.

Also, I think that Ralph Winter and others were looking at the fact even 20 years ago that the people who support missions from a place like, say, North America are 55 years of age and older. And they said to themselves, if the only people interested in missions are people 55 and older, then our movement is going to be through in a short time. They were looking at ways to galvanize the interest of a younger generation, and they were successful.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

The Changing Face of World Mission is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More about Michael Pocock and co-author Douglas McConnell are available from their seminary websites. More about Gailyn Van Rheenen is available from Mission Alive.

Other CT articles on world missions includes:

The State of Missions | The director of World Inquiry talks about the challenges and priorities of the evangelical missions community. (June 25, 2003)

The Defender of the Good News: Questioning Lamin Sanneh | The Yale historian and missiologist talks about his conversion, Muslim-Christian relations, Anglican troubles, and the future of Christianity. (Oct. 1, 2003)

Reimagining Missions | Two scholars seek to rescue the Great Commission from narrowly evangelistic readings, but their answers may be dangerously wide (2001)

The Future of Missions? | A global gathering affirms new models while developing countries criticize North American approaches. (Nov. 1, 1999)

Beyond the Numbers Game | A veteran missiologist and marketing analyst implores the missions community to tabulate less and pray more (Aug. 11, 2000)

Missions' New World Order | The twenty-first century calls for us to give up our nineteenth-century models for worldwide ministry. (1994)

Why We Go | Recapturing our motivation for missions. (1994)

first page |  4 of 4

share this page

November (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49