Missio Dei - #4: It Includes Multiple Contexts

So where were we on this rip-roaring adventure through The Mission of God by Chris Wright that has everybody talking? Well, last time out we were searching for a "missional hermeneutic", and decided that lumping a whole load of texts that speak of "missions" together was not the best approach to interpreting the Bible with mission in mind. This is a dangerous approach to Scripture reading in general, and should be avoided at all costs. We must let the Author of the Bible speak to us holistically, rather than simply listening to the bits we like and screaming "la la la" over the bits we don't like and that don't fit into our purposes.

There is another pitfall to be avoided, which may be called contextual or cultural snobbery. Wright informs us that the landscape of mission has changed dramatically - "The whole centre of gravity of world Christianity has moved south". As such, much of Christian mission is carried out by people from India, Latin America and so forth. The upshot of this shift is that these people from outside of the Western world have a different context in which they read the Bible. They are bringing different traditions, different lifestyles to the table, and so they don't read the Bible with the same eyes as those of us who have been reared in the West. Wright says that,

...a missional hermeneutic must include at least this recognition - the multiplicity of perspectives and contexts from which and within which people read the biblical texts.

This variety is to be embraced, because these different readers can open our Western eyes to things that have gone previously unseen. The Bible was not written for one specific group of people. We in the West do not possess the best context in which to read and interpret Scripture, meaning everyone else has to fall in line with us. Of course we can't change our context, but we can certainly be open to the insights of readers from different cultures. This again is part of what it means to read the Bible holistically.

Of course we do not go to the extreme where one postmodern thinker has gone, claiming that there is no such thing as texts, only readers. Ultimately, it should not be the reader who shapes the text of Scripture, but the text which shapes the reader. The Bible was written by various people in different ages and situations, it is read by a myriad of people all over the world, but there is coherency in the midst of this diversity. James Brownson says that the gospel is the framework where all of this diversity takes place. From Genesis to Revelation, God is unveiling the gospel message. This again goes back to the words Jesus in Luke 24, where He taught us all how to read and interpret the Word of God - in the light of who Jesus is, what He has done, and what He wants to do through us.

The Bible is about God, and God is One. He is a big One, however. You or I don't have all the answers. We only know in part. But we can sharpen one another's knowledge as we allow those from all the nations of the earth to share with us their understanding of the One True God in light of the gospel of Jesus the Messiah. The Church should be a place of diversity, where Jew, Greek, Irish, Indian are accepted and heard. Therefore when we read the Bible with missio Dei as a framework, we must remember that this is a cosmic mission. It is a mission that includes cultures far removed from our own. Therein lies the challenge, but there also lies the excitement - to be part of something much bigger than yourself.