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Theology of World Missions - Lesson 4

The God of the Old Testament is a Missionary God (Part 2)

The book of Psalms is one of the greatest missionary books in the world. Isaiah's description of Messianic fulfillment at the end of history is a reminder of the role of Messianic people within history, similar to the "already but not yet" of the "kingdom of God" in the New Testament. Quiz questions are included at the end to clarify what Dr. Kuzmic thinks are the important points and because he includes some commentary on central issues of missions.

Peter Kuzmič
Theology of World Missions
Lesson 4
Watching Now
The God of the Old Testament is a Missionary God (Part 2)

Psalms and Prophets

 

1. Psalms

2. Examples in the Old Testament of non-Jewish people who worship God

3. Prophets

4. Repentance

5. Worldview

6. Quiz


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Transcript
  • Dr. Kuzmic provides a framework for the class based on 6 specific statements about a theology of missions. Our theology determines our worldview. We must live as citizens of two kingdoms. We need a theologically grounded missiology and a missiological focused theology.

  • Dr. Kuzmic talks about how God saved him and about his cultural background in Eastern Europe.

  • Developing your spirituality and practicing prayer are important elements in achieving a well-balanced theology. The Creator of heaven and earth is Lord of the nations. God promised to bless the whole world through Abraham. Throughout history, different people have applied that promise as a right of privilege for themselves rather than a call to service to others. God calls people, then sends them.

  • The book of Psalms is one of the greatest missionary books in the world. Isaiah's description of Messianic fulfillment at the end of history is a reminder of the role of Messianic people within history, similar to the "already but not yet" of the "kingdom of God" in the New Testament. Quiz questions are included at the end to clarify what Dr. Kuzmic thinks are the important points and because he includes some commentary on central issues of missions.

  • Professor Doug Birdsall first discusses the work of the Church in Asia. He then talks about 3 aspects of missions work: 1. Forming partnerships, 2. Sending churches, 3. Funding. One of the fastest growing groups of the Church in China is composed of urban intellectuals. In India, Mongolia, Nepal and Cambodia, in addition to China, there are great opportunities as well as challenges.

  • Doug Birdsall continues by describing how to establish cross-cultural partnerships. Some of the most important considerations are determining what the needs are, selecting national leaders wisely, and planning for the national leaders to take complete control at some point.

  • 80-2000 project The scope of the Great Commission includes both the nation of Israel and the whole world. Matthew chapters 9 and 10 describe people as lost (sheep without a shepherd) and valuable (the harvest is plentiful). Jesus saw and had compassion. The heart of missions is seeing people the way Jesus sees them and loving them the way Jesus loves them.

  • Discussion of the meaning and application of this key passage of Scripture.

  • Joanne Harding about the AIDs crisis in Africa. It is a tragedy and a major challenge for world missions. A panel of experienced missionaries discusses the calling to be a missionary and practical ways to prepare to be a missionary.

  • Dr David Hilborn, Head of Theology Evangelical Alliance in the UK, discusses the theological framework of universalism, its historical development and the impact that it has on missions.

  • The political and religious climate in Yugoslavia creates unique challenges for people who are preaching the gospel there.

  • Dr. Timothy Tennent points out that the spread of vibrant Christianity in areas of the world besides the west, and the clash of Christianity with major world religions outline the framework for the focus of world missions.

  • Dr. Timothy Tennent shows how Christianity compares to other world religions by citing case studies of discussions with individuals of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. Evangelicals must engage more seriously and more profoundly in the thought world of other religions.

  • What does Christ have to do with culture and what does the Church have to do with the world? Isolationists separate themselves and cannot have a significant impact on the world around them. Secularists identify with the world by compromising core beliefs to match the culture and don't have an impact because they are no different from the people around them. The Church often evangelizes from a distance instead of entering into the lives of people.

  • People will often respond more positively to the Gospel if you first find common ground in practical areas and use culture as a bridge for the Gospel into the world. The Gospel has to be forwarded to a new address for every generation.

  • Chuck Davis from Africa Inland Mission describes mission work in Africa and his personal experiences in Congo, Chad and other African countries.

  • The Gospel is a message that addresses sin in the lives of individuals and transforms society in areas like justice and charity.

  • World missions is a fundamental theme throughout the Bible. The book "Christ and Culture" proposes four models to explain the relationship between the Church and the world. Some people emphasize scriptures that focus on evangelism and others emphasize scriptures that teach the importance of meeting peoples' physical needs.

    Note: The David Bosch Grid and Hans Kung Paradigm chart may be posted in the future but are not available at this time.

  • The Lausanne Conference on World Evangelism provided a forum for Christian leaders from different countries and denominations to establish some common goals and principles for communicating the Gospel and caring for people all over the world.

    Note: The David Bosch Grid and Hans Kung Paradigm chart may be posted in the future but is not available at this time.

Dr. Kuzmič provides a framework for a theology of world missions based on a biblical worldview. We must live as citizens of two kingdoms. Our missiology needs to be theologically grounded, and our theology, missiologically focused. The documents that were written by delegates at the Lausanne Conference on World Missions have had a significant influence in defining and encouraging the practical application of a biblical view of world missions.

Theology of World Missions
Dr. Peter Kuzmič
wm602-04
The God of the Old Testament is a Missionary God (Part 2)
Lesson Transcript

 

Let me just continue for a few more minutes. In this Old Testament meteorological survey, you could call it that way. And then we'll look at some of those other things that you're eager to look at. So we said that the tragedy of the Old Testament is that the people of Israel forgot who their God truly was and what he expected of them. They have made him their national deity and forgot the universal scope of God's redemptive plan. The prophets, of course, have attempted many times to remind them that they need to broaden their outlook and remind them that they are descendants of Abraham, who needed to bless the nations of the world. And we will look maybe at one or two of the prophetic scriptures. But I want to spend a few minutes on the book of from the Psalms. Okay. Now, there is a school of interpretation that says that Then whenever you come across many of those wonderful psalms that call upon the nations of the world to glorify God, they say, Well, that has to do. That belongs to the realm of creation, not to the realm of faith, not to the one hidden called upon to glorify God. It's because God is the creator of all of them, and they forget this emphasis. The emphasis on creation forgets the redemptive, the faith emphasis. George Peters and I think I've put him on the recommended reading list in his book of Biblical Theology of Missions, responds to that, and says that this emphasis on heathen to glorify God because God is the God of all creation, is that interpretation is only relatively true because it is a profound act that the hymns of praise are missionary preaching by themselves, and that the Psalter is one of the greatest missionary books in the world.

 

Now, that is quite a claim. The Psalter is one of the greatest missionary books in the world, though seldom interpret that from that perspective. And Dr. Kaiser, in in his mission in the Old Testament, makes the same point. He has a chapter on the Psalms. Now we have in the Psalms more than 175 references of a Universalist note relating to the nations of the world. And many of these 175 plus references bring a hope of salvation to the nations from this Jewish collection of songs and hymns and poems. Now, especially the following Psalms have a direct missionary message and a missionary challenge in support of our thesis that God of the Old Testament is a missionary God sound to Psalm 33. Salam, 66. And then immediately the next one, 67 also. Solemn 72 Sol 96 in a special way. A 98 also from 100. Then you have Psalm 117 and some 145. Let me show you just a few of these as a reminder. So do. Nations of the world and the ends of the earth. See the universal scope. No time here for exegesis. There are various interpretations of this. Is this a messianic promise? Even if it is a messianic promise, it's a reminder in the context of Israeli nation and faith of the universal salvific scope of God's purposes for the nations. Some 46. Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolation he has brought on the earth, He makes war seems to be to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear. He burns the shields with fire. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted. Now we call this very often be still and know that I am God.

 

And we quoted in a personal We personalize it. Okay, God tells your turbulent soul and your mind that cannot find peace. We still recognize the Lord is God, but read that to the end. He says, I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth, a reminder that he does not want to be exalted just in your heart or just in your nation or people of Israel, but among all nations. 72. All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him. And don't give in to temptation to put this simply into the eschatological messianic future. There's always there's a constant reminder that God loves all the nations, not just the people of Israel. Psalm 86 nine. All donations you have made will come and worship before you all, Lord. They will bring glory to your name. 96. And you may want to preach next time you have an opportunity to preach. So 96, I preach many sermons on that wonderful, very rich sound. Declare his glory. Verse three. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. This is a direct command proclaim how great and glorious our God is among all nations, among the nations, among all peoples. For seven ascribe to the Lord all families of nations ascribed to the Lord glory and strength. Verse nine Worship the Lord in the splendor of His Holiness. Tremble before him all the earth. Notice again the scope verse ten say, Among the nations the Lord reigns. The world is firmly established. He will judge the peoples with equity. Verse 13 They will sing before the Lord. When he comes, he comes to judge the Earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.

 

And again and again you have reminders. I'm just pointing out a few of these in the Book of Psalms. Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known among the nations what He has done. There is a call to glorify God and proclaim His great deeds among the nations or among the families of nations. Various language here is used, and if you have had Hebrew, you may want to look at the two different expressions used there. So over 175 times in the Psalms, you have this universal emphasis that shows that God is concern for the whole created order for all peoples, all tribes, all nations. God of the Old Testament is a missionary God, not a tribal deity. One thing that I will skip over tonight because of the time. You find in the Old Testament a number of individuals that are either heathen that come to know the Lord. And so you see the salvific scope, the international ality, if I may use that modern expression of God's redemption there in their cases. Remember the young girl who testifies? How do you pronounce his name? Naming the heathen ruler who needs help. Remember that the harlot in the book of Joshua and her role? How do you pronounce her name? Rehab, right? I almost had rehab. Rehab. Okay. Remember prophet Jonah? Not that by itself. Can be a very interesting case missionary case study, because where does God send him with a mission. And and see, you could compare Jonah, too, to the apostle Paul. Peter. In the early stages, when Peter has a great problem going to the home of Cornelius, taking the Gospel beyond the Jewish cradle. Peter the Nationalist. Who and this is after the day of Pentecost, needs another supernatural revelation to convince him of what I'm trying to convince this class tonight.

 

That God is not only the Redeemer of Israel, but that he has a plan for the nations, the prejudices, the limited nationalistic worldview, and the way that Israel tried to domesticate God. Really handicapped them and hinder them to be the light to the nations. So look at those individuals who are not Gentiles, individuals who are Jews whom God uses to reach the Gentiles in the Old Testament. Now, when it comes to the prophets, again, for the sake of the economy of time, let me just remind you of a few. The whole book of Isaiah, of course, I say I use the gospel among the Old Testament books. In the last days, The Mountain of the Lord's Temple will be establish as chief among the mountains. It will be raised above the hills and all nations will stream to it. Many people will come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways so that we may walk in his path. The law will go out from Zion, the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. I I'm intentionally putting this scripture first because of course there is a messianic thread here, but that messianic fulfillment at the end of history is always a reminder of the role of the messianic people within history. It's like that foundational doctrine of the Kingdom of God in the New Testament. The Kingdom of God is not to be relegated to Millennium, as it has very often been done, especially in dispensation of theology.

 

There is, of course, the future and there is the consummation. There is the fullness that is promised. I'm drawing a little parallel here, and there is a multifaceted parallel here that one could draw of between the messianic fulfillment and the messianic witness in the present and the Kingdom of God as consummated in the future. But also the Kingdom of God is already inaugurated and at work in history. So that, again, these messianic projections don't give to the people of God an excuse to be messianic witnesses in the present. We are to use the parallel with the Kingdom of God again. And by the way, if we don't understand what Jesus meant when he uttered the word Kingdom of God in the New Testament Greek, which is not what Jesus spoke. He was a spoke about by Basilica in the Greek Basilica today, or by cilia on Iran, on the heavens in plural in Matthew, because obviously Matthew is being addressed to Jews. He a certain era known as a as synonymous to talk of God is foundational and operational principle for understanding who the people of God are and what they are to do in history. But we do not understand who he was and why he came and what he thought and why he died and what happened on that day. If we don't understand what he meant when he uttered those words, The kingdom of God is among you, or the Kingdom of God is near. Because in the first three Gospels alone in the Synoptic Gospels, this is the technical term for the first three Gospels. Okay? In the Synoptic alone, the Kingdom of God is mentioned 121 times. It is the master thought of Jesus. Okay, so the Sermon on the Mount is the ethics of the Kingdom.

 

The Gospel is the manifesto of the Kingdom, the parables, illustrations of the growth of the Kingdom, the miracles of healing and exorcism, the demonstration of the power of the kingdom. And on we go. And then when you come to that crucial passage of the keys of the kingdom, when the first time in Matthew the church is mentioned, the ecclesia, you see how the church not to be equated with the kingdom, which was an Augustinian temptation, although Augustine did not go that far. But he actually started those on that road, especially in his city. Without that to the city of God, his opposite Magnum. And that, of course, led to the medieval Catholic abuse of seeing themselves, especially in the Holy Roman Empire, as representing the absolute rule of God. The church is not the kingdom, but the church is an instrument. Is the. People of the kingdom. It's a sign of the kingdom. It's the community of the king. It's the expression of God's kingdom in history. And the Church of Jesus Christ is truly the Church of Jesus Christ. Only to the extent that it is faithful to the foundation and the vision of the kingdom. So we don't evaluate the church against another church and nation, against another denomination, but against the scriptural teaching on the kingdom. And so the kingdom, although it has the consummation in the future, because we live as between the times we live in, in an interim, we live between the kingdom. Teaching here has the two advent structure. We live between the already and not yet the already of Christ who has come and established his rule and founded his community, the church. And then not yet, because we still live in the world and the church has a historical existence.

 

The church is still tempted and there is still sickness and death and so on. So between inauguration and consummation of this great redemptive central entering of divine salvation into human history, we are ambassadors of the kingdom. We are representatives, representatives, spokesmen of his ideology, ideologies and views. But you know what I mean, of his program, of his teaching, of his purposes for humanity. And so we already live the values of the kingdom now, with all of our limitations and brokenness within the history that is marked by sin. There is the redemptive stream. The future has already come. We are at the Church of Jesus Christ. Everything has changed since the cross and the third day. And next Tuesday night I'll be pointing that out. What did Jesus mean when he says All power, all rule, all dominion, all authority? However, you translate exclusively in heaven and on earth is given to me. Therefore, and here is my translation. And my translation is better than the read translation just okay. Therefore, as you go, make disciples of all nations. Because if there was nothing, if you had your Greek, make disciples is the only imperative there in all of Great Commission. But the Great Commission does not begin. Like I hear so many evangelicals, both the Great Commission go and make disciples of all nations. Soon as you call the Great Commission. In this way you have made two first two linguistic mistakes and then a major one. You forgot the context and the linguistic one. Since then you forgot the connective. They are far. And second, you started with the goal and there is no imperative there for the goal. Just look, there is an imperative force. But the Great Commission started a great foundation, and a great foundation is Christological what Christ has done in history.

 

And so draw a parallel here. I'm jumping a little bit into the into the New Testament here, already announcing what we will do next time he sends them on the basis of his accomplishment. It his mandate, his message in his power. And if you start the Great Commission, just be the goal and you forget this great Christological foundation, you are in danger of doing missions in an anthropocentric, rather egocentric way, whereas today so much mission is done from this country and the wealthy nations of the world. It's a money driven mission rather than what I call on dream and mission. Okay, all power in heaven or not. That says something about the power of Divine kingdom already manifested within history. Well, we will come to that. I'm just. Saying this because I very often meet people who would look at a scripture like this one and say, Oh, that's future. Or when you mention the kingdom and they say, Oh, that's future, that's the millennium. And of course, in an interdenominational seminary like this one, where you have pre millennial and millennial attitudes and even post millennial, we have a professor of systematic theology who is a post millennial list and makes a strong case for post millennial position. So we are not going here to make theological options. I have written a little bit about eschatology and ethics. If you're interested in that, we can discuss this. What we must understand, whatever our millennial views might be. It's the scope, the centrality and the power of the kingdom that is already at the work in history. And so although there will be a perfect fulfillment in the future, there is a constant reminder that some of that hope, some of that message and those values are already to proclaim and be lived out now.

 

Eschatology, then the future not as an escapist gloss, not as an excuse. I believe that if we truly think biblically, that future empowers us in the present. And of course, one of the big evangelical sins is this preoccupation with the speculative. There is a whole and time industry with movies and books. And when I first came to this country and got interested in discovering what American evangelicalism was all about, and I was given books from hall lenses, the late Great Planet Earth, that was the title. Some of you are too young to remember that. Millions of copies. And I said, Wait a moment. What's this neurotic preoccupation? This is almost a religious substitute for astrology. The most central events in history have already taken place. The end of history is not to be speculated about. It's predetermined what happened in the center of history. Let's go back to the Gospels, discovered the cross and discovered the empty tomb, and the whole thing is spelled out. And that's where we find our power and our authority. That's why he says, therefore, it's therefore on the basis of that, that you go. It's not scaring people with Armageddon. Let me do whatever. World evangelism. But this is being empowered by Christ who died and rose and expects his followers to live credibly and communicate persuasively. The good news for the nations. Well, I got into preaching here. I'm sorry. You see so many of you, and we will be discussing that in a few minutes. You are so many stages in your theological journey that I'm trying to do both to bring in the fundamentals, but at the same time stretch and re-emphasize those fundamentals in overarching kind of synthetic ways. For those of you who have done your exegesis or buried yourself in some books of the Bible and are looking forward to that degree and in ministry, whether it will be in the North American pulpits or internationally, we need to always remind ourselves of some of these biblical dimensions because there is a propensity within us to a reductionist view of God, even within us in the New Testament.

 

Yes, because all of us project God. It's not only that God reveals himself and we receive Him. And that's why this intensive theological study in a place like Gordon Conrad is such a wonderful opportunity for you, for a total rethinking and really soaking up the biblical the full fledged biblical revelation, because we come with our little Sunday school or our experiential or our local perceptions, the experiences and very often prejudices. And it's so easy to project God or to domesticate him or to manipulate him and to see God as the one we desire him to be, whether it's a denominational pride, whether it's a strong personal conviction that you have a special line to the Almighty or a special theological insight that others have missed, or as I said earlier, a kind of a patriotic mixing. Okay, Remember that even the God of the Old Testament, once his people of that time to fulfill the universal mission. And even when he promises them that kind of a future, he reminds them at the same time that that is their mission in the present and that they have failed in that mission. Micah 4 to 5. Many nations will come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountains from the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob nations and the house of Jacob. Now, please, we we read back again from our perspective and say, Oh, that's the promise for the future. Just keep in mind that the people of Israel and the listeners there did not project A.D. 2003 New England audience of Americans and a few other nationalities mixed in the log on to go out from Zion, the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. They are to be a center, a light to the nations.

 

He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into the plowshares. That, of course, reminds us of the Isaiah scripture that Ilir Nations will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Every man will sit under his own wine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid. For the Lord Almighty has spoken. All the nations may walk in the name of their gods. We will walk in the name of the Lord, our God, forever and ever. Powerful declarations of the universally applicable and redemptive message of the one who the House of Jacob claims to be their God. He is their God. He has called them especially, but not to lock him in their ethnic and temporal boundaries. Let us conclude this. Have I done enough or do we need to continue convincing you that the God of the Old Testament is a missionary? God, do not forget Genesis 12. Okay. As central. Some of you later when you write a thesis. Sorry, I'm talking about your further future down the road when you write your papers for this class. I love for somebody to look at the goyim tribe's expression, Do a little exegesis just of all nations or all families of nations on all tribes, you know, to various Hebrew ways of views. Okay, let's do a little exercise that I promised last time. And now that I've mentioned the importance of the Kingdom of God, this may be the appropriate moment. But before that, I remind you of a scripture. You all know what the biblical word method means. Those of you who are new on the campus, Netanya is the Greek word for repentance.

 

But repentance doesn't put it because Milton Noyer is a compound. You could put it this way, metaphor and notes, which means the dynamic equivalent translation would be a change of mind. Getting a new mindset to repent does not mean to shed a few tears and feel sorry for your sins and then go and sin again and then feel sorry again and shed a few tears, go to a confessional or whatever and so on. The scriptural method, loyalty is in some ways synonymous with every step of which means turning around. So I met Tanya and Conversion, making a U-turn in some ways synonymous. But meet Tanya has to do with the change of the mindset, the change of the way of thinking. So when you read the Scriptures, you have the mind of Christ you. That means you have been met unused, okay? You have repented, which means that you have adopted a new way of thinking. A very interesting scripture in second Corinthians 635 from verse 14 on that it is emphasis that Christ died for for us. And then it goes on to the Ministry of Reconciliation, and he has given us he's accomplished a work of reconciliation, but he has given us the Ministry of Reconciliation. The message of the reconciliation is that passage where he calls us the ambassadors, okay, we are therefore Christ ambassadors as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore in Christ, be happy, reconciled to the central on reconciliation in Pauline Epistles, you have two central scriptures on the doctrine of reconciliation. This is one of them, second Corinthians five and the other one is Ephesians two. Okay. But it's very interesting. There is a verse here in this context, and I've got many sermons on this passage, but never an explanation of verse 16 birth 16 says, From so from now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view.

 

Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. And then says therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. And what he is implying here, the logic of the text is whoever is in Christ, whoever is in your creation, has a new mind, has a different world view, different way of thinking, different way of perceiving reality. But we have a different perception of reality because we have a different perception of Christ. Are you with me? You following me? Wave your hand if you are with me because I know it's late. Okay. 92% of the class is awake. I am trying to say something important. So follow me, please. If you miss a sentence or two, everything else will not make sense. Okay. So what does it mean by Jesus? From now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view. I was trying to make a point last time that Christians need to have a well developed, full fledged biblical worldview. Christian worldview. Okay. I was putting an emphasis on the fact that Christian worldview is fundamental for a Christian value system. So we move from truth to ethics. And as we get, at least here in the Western world, more deeply and deeply immersed in postmodernity, this will become more and more important. Because if you don't have your epistemology right, if you don't have your truth concepts clarified, if you don't have a coherent, Christ centered, biblical, informed, biblically shaped worldview, you don't have a basis for the attitudes, the values, the moral convictions, the ethics that will be credible expression of the divine, of the Kingdom of God among the kingdoms of this world. I am struggling with this a little bit because I was asked by Jon Stewart, who is the organizing editor, The Visionary.

 

There's a new global library and actually it's called Global Christian Library, JCL 16 books. These are being simultaneously translated into a number of languages, and I have been asked to do a Christian response to global issues. And I'm finding out, as I listed my global issues and discussed this with some friends, including Uncle John, as we call him. I said, You cannot do this unless you develop, you know, a basis for a Christian way of thinking that would be globally acceptable, not culturally conditioned, because as soon as you have a culturally conditioned way of thinking and acting, you are really on the borderline of what was popular in this country some 30 years ago because of Fletcher and other so-called situational ethics. And although we have to have divine answers for every situation, there are universals. There are universally applicable values that we must proclaim in our interdependent add of globalization. But we can do that coherently and convincingly only if we have a foundation. So without the truth, there is no ethics. Without epistemological, there is no basis for morality. Without worldview, there is no value system. And so this is important for world missions, because as you take the gospel internationally, you don't have the same situation in Afghanistan, Nepal, Siberia, Japan, Bangalore, India, or among some tribes up in the mountains of Central America. So what do we mean by world view? Our world view. What does the Apostle Paul mean when he says we don't regard anyone anymore from a worldly point of view? I said earlier that when we view human beings, we must view them always as Imago Day. As bearers of the image of God. That's a different perspective. That's a different point of view. So they are not just social creatures or producing machines.

 

They are not just phenomena that we studied from anthropological perspective. There is a theological perspective. Let me try to illustrate that. Would you do the following exercise? Stretch out your right hand, your right arm and your thumb up. Okay. And focus on me. My direction. I'll focus on one of you. Okay. Close your left eye and I'll make sure that your thumb, in your point of view, covers my head. If you got me eliminated. You got it. All right. Now, switch the ice. Do it several times. Close the one. You do it several times. What's happening? Well, are you observing? What's happening? Come on, tell me. Nothing's happening. I'm jumping, right? And my jumping. Yes. I did not jump at all. I didn't move. You're lying. Sorry. Accusing you of lying. My position did not change. Did you move your finger? No, you didn't. I actually. I did. You did. I did it to move back and forth. One man wandered over. Na na na na. Oh, you did? You tried to eliminate me still. Okay. Now don't do it again. Don't move your in know. Forget. Now focus on my head. And now eliminate me. And then forget. Forget me now. And I'll figure. This is where I jump. Depending on the distance, I jump three yards or one yard or even 40 yards in the back. Yeah. I didn't jump. You didn't move your arm either. What changed? What was a point of view? This is the question of perceiving reality. You know, actually, this this phenomenon, it's something you have in the in astronomy. It's called parallax. If any of you study astronomy, if you did. You know what parallax is? This is parallax. Okay. Now, that's what happens at the point of conversion through metal.

 

NOia your point of view, this is what the Apostle Paul here means. From now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Our point of view was worldly. Now our point of view is Christ. Our point of view was our secular kingdom. Now our point of view is God's kingdom. So forget that you are an American. Your first of all, a citizen of the Kingdom. The fact that you are American is secondary. Secondary. Okay. Don't let your Americanism shape your theology. Let your scripture shape your theology. And this is not just Americanism. I should not be perceived here as one who is an America basher. I I'm not. This is true of the Scottish people and Nepalese or whoever. You know, our primary perspective has to be the divine perspective. The point of view of Christ. Our point of view simply means of you from my point. And every one of us has a point from which we view people. That's what the isms come in. That's what ideologies come in. That's about a philosophy of life. That's where religions conflict and confuse. And this is why it's so extremely important that we have a divine perspective, divine point of view. And I don't know how to put it stronger, but to say a full fledged, biblically shaped understanding of what the Kingdom of God is all about because that it is them that is the most comprehensive and normative biblical concept, the Kingdom of God. Okay, so you want me to be a benevolent dictator? Take out a piece of paper and define or explain the following. Number one, the expression Great commandment. Remember, we are doing this on the basis of Stop. I hope you have found John start. Delightful.

 

He's such a clear writer. Challenging in some ways is a small book stretching in dialog with the ecumenical world. But from a clearly evangelical perspective, what does he mean when he uses that expression? Great commandment. Okay, don't write an essay. Second the fine relationship between evangelism and social responsibility. Define or simply list what start calls gospel demands. The gospel demands. Remember that the gospel promises that are the gospel of generations, that are the gospel witnesses. What are the gospel demands? Okay. Number four. Just give me a definition of the word he uses. A link to. And you will recall it that he even uses it in a subtitle in one of his chapters. The subtitle is The Place of Our Link. For those of you who have had Greek, it comes from the verb to lengthen. This doesn't help those of you who didn't have Greek. I. Just put in the bracket. I have not had my degree yet. Give you a little help. It goes back to that great Dutch theologian and we theologies having a member brother having now he speaks about the missionaries science having a v I am seeking. And again, debrief. I have got to just do more. Give me three arguments for dialog. And three arguments against. Has number six. And John Stewart has written some of the most beautiful pages. They are about the dialog. Tell me honestly, did Jon Stewart convince you that the dialog is a legitimate method and he has alleviated your fears that it leads to a compromise? Well, if you have your point of view. Right. But that's because people don not spiritually mature and not theologically literate sufficiently. Because if you have the right understanding of the uniqueness of Christ and you have a strong rootedness in the Scriptures.

 

Then your dialog from a position of of a healthy self-confidence, kind of a not self-righteousness, because that's that doesn't work. Self-righteous people don't dialog anyhow. They just beat people over their heads with their truth. He gives you the example of he Stanley Jones. And if you have Methodist background, you'll know who Stanley Jones is because he was such a well-known Methodist thinker and practitioner of the reform folks, usually they'll know of him, but he's certainly worth reading. He, Stanley Jones, has done amazing things in India and elsewhere. One of those great missionary statements who practiced dialog in a very fruitful way, not only with the Hindu intellectuals, even when the Soviet Union, he has a book on communism. But this is not something that Jones would mention here. But I happen to have looked at that aspect as we were trying to dialog with Marxist philosophers from as Christian theologians in the late sixties, seventies and eighties, which was not easy because Marxists are more triumphalist, self-righteous than Christian theologians. True. But as they became more and more vulnerable, as they were disillusioned with what their ideology and their totalitarian systems are, they were part of the end and they started searching for some transcendent values and joined humanity. And I was asking questions that were very often of theological nature. I wrote a piece on dialog in the book proclaiming Christ in Christ's Way, which was a book in honor of other well-known German church and mission leader, where I looked at Christian Marxist dialog from an evangelical perspective, and I pointed out some of the things that John studied all the way at that time. We didn't we didn't consult. What we found out through the diagnostic test, some areas are encouraging and some are very discouraging.

 

Only 12 of you really know the Great Commission, the Matthew 28 scripture, that is some of you, many of you knew parts of it, but only three of you were able to listen to other biblical statements related to world evangelism missions. And that concerns me greatly. So I will try to kind of balance out the lacunae, the lack of knowledge, and put a little bit more emphasis here or there. In our lectures, you'll have geographic bias. This class is so either Latin America or Europe biased. Then I am worried that on the horizons of many of your world views, Africa and Asia don't exist. There are very few of you that have a focus and have sufficient knowledge to be a global citizen about these two, especially in those two continents. So I will try to bring in a little emphasis on Africa and Asia here, and we will occasionally view some videos because the majority of you still don't qualify to be global citizens. There is a distinct minority that does and that encourages me, but it's discouraging that it is a minority. I want you at the end of this class to be global citizens who have a global world view. And so I will try with an emphasis in either my presentations or the videos I will bring in and we will bring in guests. Here is what I want you to read for the next session. We are now turning to this magnum opus of David Bach. Remind me to tell you a little bit more about the author next time. And I want you to read pages 1 to 83 for next Tuesday. It basically deals in addition to the general introduction where he discusses the contemporary crisis and the need for more theology.

 

It basically deals with the New Testament models of mission up to look acts. And you've noticed I've put a lot of emphasis on the Old Testament tonight. The reason is because Bosch is very weak in that not only Bosch, your biblical theology of missions. Don't do justice to the Old Testament. Bosh in this book has only four pages on the Old Testament, as you will find out. So remember chapters the introductions in chapters one and two. All right. Have you made a note of that? Go in peace and be a global citizen. Watch the news. Pray for the world. Keep informed.