What Three Words? ‘Go’, ‘Make’, ‘Disciples’: Some Expository Notes for Dissenting Preachers
Perhaps because of the widespread decline in church membership, there is some reactionary vogueishness in stressing “making disciples” as being the main purpose of mission. This suggests a somewhat fashion-shaped ecclesiology now emerging throughout most mainstream Protestant denominations in the de...
| Published in: | The expository times |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
2023
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| In: |
The expository times
Year: 2023, Volume: 134, Issue: 9, Pages: 387-398 |
| Further subjects: | B
Salt
B Growth B Organic B Germinate B Commission B Evangelism B Falling B Mission |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Perhaps because of the widespread decline in church membership, there is some reactionary vogueishness in stressing “making disciples” as being the main purpose of mission. This suggests a somewhat fashion-shaped ecclesiology now emerging throughout most mainstream Protestant denominations in the developed world (i.e., not mission-shaped church). These expository notes critique such emphases, and interrogate the deeper and more authentic dynamics that underpin the (so-called) ‘Great Commission’ from Matthew 28. Far from being a rallying call to the church to replicate and reproduce disciples, we argue that Jesus’ call to the church was far deeper, nuanced and revolutionary. In fact, if the church really were to “make” more disciples, it would invest in education and richer transformational pedagogy – not in ever-receding-fantastical targets pursuing greater numerical growth. Using interlocutors drawn from Evangelical and Church of England exponents, we argue that mission is bound up in a very different kind of self-gift and incarnational sacrifice to be offered for the world around us. |
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| ISSN: | 1745-5308 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The expository times
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/00145246221133914 |