Advice (part 3)

DW: As I think about issues which all of you as well as Paul Orjala have wrestled with as Nazarene missiologists, I am amazed that in the 1970’s and 1980’s you were often ahead of your time in addressing issues which did not follow the trends of the church, but which pushed the thinking of the church forward into the mission of God. As a point of wise advice to younger missiologists, what would you consider to be the most pressing or important issues that missiologists today should be looking at?

FC: Item one. Listen. If you do not have the ability to listen, you will not be a good missiologist. Listen to the world. Listen to national leaders. Listen to learn the subtleties of culture and life. Listen to the church. Listen to your heart.
I really do believe that one can read books, theorize about great issues, debate fine points. All that is well and good. But without listening, you can't develop the real context for that information to be of much use.
Item two. Don't expect to be listened to. Church bureaucrats tend to get caught up in their own world of process and detail and not listen to reasons why this or that decision may be missiologically off base. Don't let that unduly frustrate you. In time, and with persistent good heart and good faith, the truth will pop out and became plain to decision makers (at least, most of the time!)

LB: I would add that one must be incarnational in order to truly understand the culture. Having said that, however, being a good missiologist is more than understanding missions and culture, it is moving the church to engage in God's plan of the Great Commission.

FC: Item three. Stay current. It is hard to keep up with the trends, the ideas, and the rapid pace of the world. But a missiologist has to have one foot in the past and one foot in the future. Perspective is everything. Staying current is NOT adopting the latest fad or buzz word.
Item four. Remember that it is the local church that is the primary unit of the Body of Christ. Everything must flow from that, or connect to it. Missiologists cannot live in isolation in either an ivory tower or on Mount Athos.

LB: This is true

CG: Paul Orjala was one of the founders of the American Society of Missiology. During my very first year at NTS, Paul took me to an ASM meeting to hear Andrew Walls--I still have my notes from that meeting. Paul was also active in the Association of Evangelical Professors of Mission. I was at the meeting of AEPM when a letter was read from Donald McGavran suggesting that the name be changed to Evangelical Missiological Society, which was voted. I later served as an officer in both the ASM and EMS. Orjala was a model missiologist in many ways--even in more recent years some of the older members asked about him at ASM meetings. He understood both Franklin's injunction to listen, and Louie's advice to "be", not just to talk or philosophize.
Franklin also makes a good point that Church leaders may not always listen to you. He, Orjala and others had quite a time convincing the church that young people should be allowed to travel overseas! Strange as it may seem in 2011, it was a radical idea back then! But a good missiologist should always be casting a vision for the future--"possibility thinking" for the next century. When I first proposed to a group of African students that some of them should become missionaries,they could hardly wrap their minds around that. But some of the students (Wellington Obotte, Cosmas Mtowa, and others) have done just that. What's next? Could we dream of ALL General Superintendents being from nations outside the USA? Or of having only Regional Directors, with no GS's? Of GMC being located in Sao Paulo or Johannesburg? Of being able to persuade Americans to "bankroll" mission without being in control?
Finally, remember that missiology is exciting, but it is not just about theorizing. I support both Franklin and Louie in their statements reminding us that the local church is the primary unit of the body of Christ.

DW: Thank you, friends. It has been good chating with you.