Mission: A Universal Mandate

Mr Z N Sironbou

Introduction:
Mission must be understood in terms of Missio Dei. That mission stems from the very
heart of God and it is His mission. This paper is only an attempt to understand
mission as universal mandate rather than a narrow denominational perspective. The
first part of the paper tries to understand the concept of mission and the second half its
universal mandate. The paper does not try to coerce anyone into believing what they
don’t want to; rather it just introduces them to the ecumenical truth.

In 2005 when I decided to go for theological studies, a pastor from the Church of
North India advised me on the negative roles of the Church in fragmenting the people
of North east India. And he also advised me that it was a necessity and a clarion call
for the Church to make sure all tribes, denominations don’t fragment more. This has
challenged me. Just a few days back I was having a chat with one of my colleagues at
LGHS,1 We were discussing about a news paper article on Mr Namrijinang/Maipak,
the first Zeliangrong convert.2 First of all it is a shame that this man’s identity is still
being debated amongst us. However I’d like to stress the second point, this is, that if
the RNBA3 invited any non Baptist or “the others” like Methodist, Presbyterians,
Adventist etc for the centenary celebrations, which is planned for December this year
there were some groups of people who will boycott the program. Are we not ashamed
of such incidents? Talking of denominational spirits dominating missions I am
reminded of the book by K. Koyama The cross with a handle. He describes the cross
of Christ as having a handle where different church tradition claims to be the real
owner. All various denominations are selling Christ like hot cakes in their own dukans
shouting “come and buy my Jesus! come and buy my Jesus!” I think we have
monopolized Jesus. What will the unevangelized people think? What will they think
of Christians? Are we not confusing them?
What is Mission: The Canberra statement states 4 that “the purpose of God according
to Holy Scripture is to gather the whole of creation under the Lordship of Jesus Christ
in whom, by the power of the Holy Spirit, all are brought into communion with God”.
(Eph. 1) To this effect mission is not simply fulfilling the spiritual and physical needs
of the people, but, more than anything else, the mission seeks to fulfill the purpose of
God for humanity. The mission of the Church arises from the mission of God which
was set even before the foundation of the world (1 Pt.1:20; Ephe.1:4). Mission is not
just a wing of the Church, but its very life breathe. For the Church exists for the sole
purpose of carrying on the work that Christ came to do, namely, to seek and to save
the lost. Without this mandate the church ceases to be a church. Mission begins with
God and ends with God.
A lesson from history: History of Christianity has various missions belonging to
different denominations have brought much more fruit than doing works divided. This
clearly shown that for missions to reach all the unreached, to take the gospel to the
whole before it is too late we cannot work as fragmented bits. We got to work
together.
1
Langmei Govt. High School
2
Th. Lamboi, Advent of Christian Mission and Its Impact on the Hill Tribe in Manipur
(Churachandpur: N.P., 1997), 69. Also F. S. Downs, The Mighty Works of God.
3
Rongmei Naga Baptist Association
4
A product of the Faith and Order Commission, was adopted by the Seventh Assembly of the World
Council of Churches held in Canberra, Australia in 1991.
Prior to the modern missionary movements there were many other ecclesiastical
synods and councils that gave to the idea of unity in mission. Let us just look at two
of the important milestones in the modern ecumenical movement.
1. World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh 1910: Having learnt from the
past that we must be united in order that the Kingdom of God be extended
many of the missionary societies and associations came together on one
platform to discuss and deliberate action oriented programs. This was the
starting point of faith and order and life and work movements.
2. World Council of Churches: 1948 was an important year as it saw the
merger of the Life and Work Movement and the Faith and Order Movement.
Here are some of the functions of WCC in regards to mission
(1) To facilitate common action by the Churches
(2) To promote co-operation.
(3) To promote the growth of ecumenical consciousness in members of all Churches.
(6) To call world Conference on specific subjects as occasion may require, such
Conferences being empowered to publish their own findings.
(7) To support the Churches in their task of evangelism.5
On the Indian soil mention must be made of
SIMA: In 1897 quite a good number of Anglican, Lutheran, Congregationalist,
Baptist, and Methodist missionaries in South India mobilized a South India
Missionary Association, the target of which was to provide means of consultation and
united action in the interest of mission work. The language school in Bangalore and
the United Theological College are the two living proofs of unity in the South. This
inspired many other bodies in India to come together.
Some methods we can consider in our mission fields:
Know and appreciate the local context: Consider Acts 17: 22-23, Paul’s method or
approach. Appreciate and value their approach towards religious way of life. Keep
local social cultural norms and respect their way of life no matter how different it is.
Method of Adaptation: Robert de Nobili’s method of adaptation of the life to that of
the people is a good example. Another example is his appropriation of harmless
customs and ceremonies for Christian use (e.g. nchom kabiubo). Thorough study of
the vernaculars with a view to fluency of speech and writing must be done.
First things first: When William Carey was new in the Indian soil, one day he was
faced with an awkward situation as he was preaching in the streets. A man came up to
him and told him, first feed me physically or I’ll die before I hear your spiritual good
news. How true! We need to do the same. We must not be too other worldly. First
things first.
Dinning together: There is a saying that the way to every man’s heart is through his
stomach. That was what our Lord Jesus did; he sat down with the tax collectors,
prostitutes, drunkards first in order to change them.
Start small and finish big: The problem with many of our missionaries today is we
need big money to start big projects. Yes it is true to expect great things from God and
attempt great things for God, however we should also not forget every thing has had a
small beginning somewhere. When Francis Xavier came to India as a missionary in
1542 simple chapels of mud and thatch were built, and in these they missionaries
gathered the people together for the daily prayers and lessons.

5
W. A. Visser’t Hooft, The World Council Of Churches: Its Process of Formation (Geneva: Route De
Malagnou, 1946), 174-175.
Look out for leaders among the locals: Missionaries cannot be in all places at the
same time, therefore substitutes and helpers must be trained and appointed. This is
how we have to continue the mission uninterrupted even in our absence.
Sheep stealing: How can we avoid? What must be our approach? Just because the
others are stealing our sheep should we fight over it? What will the people we are
ministering to think of us? What will be their concept of Christ? A divided God? We
need to be careful in this regard. Don’t build on another man’s foundation. In 2
Cor.10:12-18, Paul defends his mission against his rival preachers by saying he would
never boast of another man’s work and in other’s labours. This is an explicit order for
sheep stealers to refrain from going into other’s pen for a mission of stealing sheep. It
was only for mutual encouragement that we visit other’s church.
New hurdles New methods, New people: It’s a race for a goal, and that goal is God
Himself not being any denomination. It is not a denominational competition. We
should not look at it likewise. Since it is a goal to be scored with new hurdles on our
way we need new people, new ideas and game changers in the field. That’s how we
can change the situation to our advantages. With this we can save many tears and
wars. Instead of blaming the ‘others’ why not do our bid (aliu ngam se kam mawi khe
maitu madam khai makjiu)
Some Methods of Approach:
a. Education: Education in terms of formal and non formal means have always
been used by missionaries and this could still be used.
b. Health and medicine: The early missionaries were not trained doctors but
were compelled by situation and thus with elementary knowledge of first aid
and simple treatment the most prevalent diseases were treated.6 Having a small
dispensary could also be done. These methods have proven to be very
effective over time.
Forming Joint Working Groups: The various denominational missions working in
the same mission field must co-sponsor a JWC and meet regularly to discuss issues of
common interest, conflicts and start promoting cooperation. Plenary meetings can be
held annually; an executive group can meet twice annually in between. We have to sit
down and table out something positive so that the mission of God can be
accomplished. We may not belong to the same denomination but we can come
together on mission directives. The goals of the meetings should be to assess the
achievements of the Joint Working Group and its impact on relations between the
parent bodies and to suggest new forms of working together.

Conclusion: Today most of the churches believe mission as their own denomination’s
expansion. It is this problem that is causing so much of hurdles in the expansion of
God’s Kingdom. The infighting has already cost us so much. Mission is also narrowly
understood as belonging to an individual or a particular organization. These narrow
understandings will only make the bitter rivalries more aggravating and intensifying.
Enough trouble has already been caused enough tears have already been shed. Our
Christian identity cannot be in our denomination, but must be in our belonging to
Christ and being part of His body. We need to consider the Missio Dei aspect, taking
mission as the mission of God’s and not ours or our denomination’s. We are only here
to do His mission. That’s our responsibility. We have damaged the credibility of such
a noble mission by too much emphasis on the goals of our association, denomination,
or individual sponsors. Mission should rather be a unified movement where all,
6
O L Snaitang, Christianity and Social Change in North East India, (Calcutta: Firma KLM Pvt. Ltd,
1993), 117.
regardless of any denomination come together, think together and act together. The
statement “doctrines divides service unites” must give us an idea of how we should
work together for the greater goal.