When does mission start?; children and a missional reading of Psalm 10; and developing a support network for your studies
Welcome to my newsletter, ‘Bible, Mission, and More’, where I share what’s on my mind as I teach, research, and write on the Bible and mission, children-at-risk in the Bible and contemporary society, Psalms and Wisdom Literature, and a range of other topics. I teach at All Nations Christian College in the UK, though views are my own.
Each Tuesday I’ll share something I’ve read, something I’ve written or recorded, something on learning and teaching, and a quote to reflect on.
Something read – Christian Anderson on God’s mission starting in Genesis 1
When does mission begin in the Bible? Is it with the call of Abram in Genesis 12, which is where a lot of biblical framings of mission focus their attention? Or maybe Genesis 3 with the so-called ‘protoevangelium,’ where God promises that one day the head of the serpent will be crushed by an offspring of Eve? Must we see mission only as a response to sin?
I was really fascinated by a 2017 article by Christian Anderson that addresses these questions. Unsurprisingly, with a title like, ‘Beginning at the Beginning: Reading missio Dei from the start of the Bible,’ Anderson’s take is that a case can be made for understanding God’s mission to have started before the Fall in humanity’s commissioning to cultivate the rule of God within and beyond the garden of Eden. The implications are, he suggests, ‘participating in God’s mission is inherent to being human’; ‘sin is reframed as that which has perverted human partnership in God’s mission’; and it ‘clarifies for the church a single, creation-orientated mission mandate’. (pp. 418-419)
There’s a lot to unpack here but I think he does well to demonstrate that more work is needed on how we relate God’s mission to the very start of the Bible, and how mission relates to creation, sin, and the incarnation. Interestingly, he also acknowledges that his treatment does not really address the very beginning of the story in Gen. 1:1-3, and invites others to do so.
Sadly, the article is behind a paywall, though if you have access to the journal Missiology: An International Review you can pick it up there. In lieu of more, here is the abstract:
‘While Missiological hermeneutics have pointed to the missio Dei concept as key to the entire Biblical narrative, these readings have described God’s mission activity as commencing after the entrance of sin, rather than at the beginning of the Bible. This article argues that a mission hermeneutic ought to begin with the Bible’s opening chapters, where humanity’s vocation in the narratives of Genesis 1 and 2 need not be treated as a separate “creation mandate,” but as involvement in the missio Dei. Iranaeus’ theology provides a precedent for thinking that God’s perfecting work was still at an early stage when sin entered creation; and G. K. Beale’s reading of Eden as a garden sanctuary to be expanded gives at least one exegetical avenue for seeing the creation narratives as continuous with the mission entrusted to Abraham’s descendants. Missio Dei participation, then, is inherent to humanity, and sin’s origins can be framed as a refusal to embrace it.’
Anderson, C. J. (2017). Beginning at the beginning: Reading missio Dei from the start of the Bible. Missiology, 45(4), 414-425. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091829617728533
Something written – coming soon: article on a missional reading of Psalm 10 with reference to unaccompanied asylum seeking children
I have a few pieces of writing in the pipeline that will hopefully be published in the next few weeks or months. One is a contribution to the upcoming Regnum volume Stepping Out of the Traffick: Pausing for Theological Reflection on Christian Response to Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking, edited by Glenn Miles, Christa Foster Crawford, and Bill Prevette.
My chapter is entitled, ‘Connecting a Missional Reading of Psalm 10 with the Trafficking, Abuse, and Exploitation of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children in Europe.’ First I explain some of the vulnerabilities as unaccompanied young people moving across Europe. I then set out an understanding of missional readings in general and then specific to the Psalms. I work through Psalm 10 making connections to the issues raised concerning the exploitation of UASC. I am particularly interested in three questions:
How does Ps. 10 relate to and reflect the existence and nature of the missio Dei? Put another way, how does this text declare God’s kingship in a world that witnesses the exploitation of UASC?
How does Ps. 10 obligate, energise, shape, and equip the Church to work amongst, and advocate for, vulnerable and exploited UASC?
How does an attentiveness to the exploitation of UASC sensitise our reading of Ps. 10?
I will return to this article when it is published.
Learning and teaching – developing a support network for your studies
Every student needs people in their lives who are going to support them through the journey. I’m not talking about financial support here, though of course this is often true as well. Neither am I talking about fellow classmates on your course or in your institution. Rather I’m talking about having a network of people in your life who are going to be committed to you and cheer you on whether things are going well or not.
So how do you go about setting this kind of network up? Here are a few suggestions:
Who are the people that have been cheering you on already? Maybe they think their job is done, now that you have starting studies. Actually there might be a bigger role for them to play. Don’t be afraid to ask them directly to keep journeying with you.
You don’t necessarily need people who are really into the detail of what you are studying but you do need them to be on board with your vision for why you are studying. Find ways to communicate your vision about how the studies feed into a larger picture of what you think God is drawing you into.
Inform their prayers. A former student of mine had a friend who put her assignment schedule on their fridge so she would remember to pray for her in the run up to essay deadlines.
When you need help, be specific and practical. Would a pre-cooked meal take the pressure off your household for that evening? People are generally very happy to do things like this, if only they knew it was needed.
Give them permission to ask uncomfortable questions, like, ‘I thought Friday morning was your study time; what were you doing on Facebook?!’
What other suggestions do you have? Drop them in the comments, below.
Quote – Madipoane Masenya (ngwan’a Mphahlele) on Biblical interpretation and poverty
‘Which efforts do we as Bible scholars put in place towards the emancipation and empowerment of the poor? … Is it reserved to very few who struggle to exert their influence in academia? A handful whose scholarship might be dubbed not that scientific as it hovers on issues pertaining to those on the margins of our communities?’
Madipoane Masenya (ngwan’a Mphahlele). ‘Eating the Louse and its Larva! The Indignity of Poverty as Embedded within Selected African and Old Testament Proverbs’ Scriptura 111 (2012: 3), pp. 452-459. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7833/111-0-27
Thanks for joining the journey and see you next week,
Tim