Book Based Research Paper Mission in the Spirit: Towards a Pentecostal/Charistmatic Missiology by Hunn Choi Introduction Wonsuk and

Julie Ma, born and raised in Korea, were part of the early missionary movement of Korea. They began their missionary service in the Philippines in the late 1970s. Wonsun, Ma, an academic (Old Testament) and missionary, is now the Director of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (OCMS). Prior to this appointment he served as Vice President of the Asian Pacific Theological Seminary in the Philippines. Both he and his wife, Julie Ma, are graduates of Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California. Wonsuk Ma is the founder of Asian Pentecostal Society and two international journals: Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies and Journal of Asian Mission. He has represented the Asian Pentecostal community in various international and ecumenical meetings. Julie Ma, former Editor of Journal of Asian Mission, earned her doctoral degree in intecultural studies, and currently she serves as Researcher Tutor of Missiology at OCMS. Wonsuk and Julie Ma are Pentecostals, and their perspectives are, aptly stated, consistently pentecostal over their past thirty years of missionary engagement, research and teaching. Mission in the Spirit is their first book as a couple, which is, in their view, a culmination of [their] missionary life so far.1 Many chapters of this book originally appeared in other publications, and consequently some of the information was rather dated and some of the chapters contained repetition.2 Yet, though this is a less-than-perfect book, adding this book to the already crowded world of mission publications was necessary in their view

Julie C. Ma and Wonsuk Ma, Mission in the Spirit: Towards a Pentecostal/Charismatic Missiology (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock: 2010), xv. 2 Ibid.

because 1) the majority of important contributions on Pentecostal mission were written from western perspectives; and 2) having a Korean or Asian perspective from a missionary-receiving end can make a siginificant difference and is valuable for practical reasons.3 In regard to the title of the book, they said they had a great deal of struggle to reach the present title. At first, they thought of using empowerment as the major theme of the title, but it was dropped because 1) the idea of power for mission, regardless of its context, can be misconstrued [a]lthough the Pentecostal argument of mission with power has its justification; and 2) the most mature form of empowerment is found not in the demonstration and wiedling of (whatever) power, but in the sustaining power of the Spirit in the faithful obedience of a person to the [missionary] calling of the Lord.4 They selected mission in the Spirit over mission with the Spirit, because the latter fails to recognize the truth of missio Dei, mission that is Gods, for mission in the Spirit recognises not only his lordship and resourcing in mission, but also human partnership in this mysterious plan of God.5 Since Lesslie Newbigin presented a new vision in his book, The House of God, which was in 1953 decades ahead of its time, and called for the entry of the Pentecostal stream into an ecumenical movement hitherto largely confined to the Protestant and the Catholic, Pentecostal theological reflection on mission has come of age. Undoubtedly, as the authors strongly argued in the book, In its short history of slightly more than one hundred years, Penecostal/Charismatic Christianity has not only grown, but has also made a significant contribution to Christian mission.6 In Mission in the Spirit, Wonsuk and Julie Ma, as internationally-engaging Korean Pentecostals, want to present [broad yet deep] reflections both

3 4

Ibid., xvi. Ibid. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid., 7.

from biblical/theological and contextual fronts, with the hope to contribute towards the making of a Pentecostal missiology, and to articulate theological orientation and motivation of certain unique Pentecostal mission practices.7 They divide the book in two major sections: foundational (or theological/theorectical) and practical. In this paper, I will delineate what Pentecost mission and missiology according to Wonsuk and Julie Ma is and offer my personal critique.

Pentecostal Mission At the outset, Wonsuk and Julie Ma concede that for Pentecostals, how mission is understood is better seen in their mission practices. Pentecostal mission is predominantly perceived as soul winning8 which often leads to church planting9 and results in church growth.10 They describe this type of mission as narrowly focused.11 They sum up in the end, A careful examination of Pentecostal mission practice reveals that Pentecostals have been extremely concentrated on the how-tos of mission rather than foundationaly issuess such as the definition of mission. What has always been assumed among Pentecostal mission leaders and practitioners is the narrowly defined evangelical understanding of mission: to establish viable local churches through evangelism.12 Wonsuk himself confesses in the latter part of the book, deploring his narrowness in mission thinking and practice: My understanding of church

Ibid., 6. Ibid., 5. Frequently used in the book are words like evangelism (74 timres) evangelistic (18), witnessing (37), and soul winning (5). 9 Ibid., 5, 17, 25, 42, 57, 58, 64. Church planting is often associated with evangelism. 10 Ibid., 28. The exponential and explosive growth of Pentecostalism or Pentecostal churches are attributed to its religious fundamental orinentation with an extremely conservative theology, which replicates a sort of imperialistic type of mission engagement (ibid., 3). 11 Ibid., 5, 13, 17, 25. 12 Ibid., 276.
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(ecclesiology), the Holy Spirit (pneumatology) and mission was hopelessly shallow and narrow.13 However, it is worthy of note that from the beginning, Pentecostalism has been a mission movement par excellence. Pentecostal identity is indeed largely shaped by the missionary nature of Pentecostalism.14 Agreeing with this general understanding, Wonsuk and Julie Ma point out that there have been three ripples or stages in Pentecostal mission 1) an initial eschatological urgency in evangelism and missionary activities with a greater emphasis on the other side of heaven (classical) giving way to 2) a focus on transforming the world this side of heaven (progressive) with 3) the need now for wider and deeper mission engagement (radical).15 The notable characteristics of the first stage are eschatological urgency, a Spirit-filled sense of missionary calling with deep zeal and commitment (exemplified by one-way ticket missionaries), democratization of mission (everyone is involved in mission), contextual missiology, mission with healing and miracles, priority of evangelism, empowerment missiology, and church planting, whereas the second stages characteristics include quick disappearance of eschatological expectations, spread of prosperity gospel, social and economic upward mobility, proactive response to social issues, and one-person-at-a-time approach. This change and progression is remarkable. Without losing the spiritual dimension (evangelized souls) of the first stage and the primal form of Pentecostal spirituality (experience

13 14

Ibid., 266.

Andrew Lord, agreeing with this, also writes, It is impossible to think of Pentecostal identity without considering its missionary heart (Andrew Lord, Network Church: A Pentecostal Ecclesiology Shaped by Mission [Leiden: Brill, 2012], 10).

Ibid., 8-10. Those who take social service seriously are called progressive Pentecostals. This new term was first used by Donald E. Miller and Yamamori Tetsunao, Gobal Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement (Berkley: University of California Press, 2007). Steven Jack Land uses radical Pentecostals to refer to those whose concern is with social jusice and liberation in deeper and wider levels (Steven Jack Land, Pentecostal Spirituality: A Passion for the Kingdom [Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 203], 213).

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with the divine), the third stage, though taking place on the same social level as the care and service of the second stage, has a new focus on justice in social, economic, political, racial, and environment areas, including reconciliation, ecumenism, peace initiatives, and environmental stewardships.16 Pentecostal mission that was once based on a narrowly-defined concept of mission (evangelism and church planting) and operating in a sort of rescue boat mode of mission17 is now stretching from soul-saving to earth-saving.18 Pentecostal misson has developed over the years, becoming more holistic without losing its initial evangelistic focus.

Pentecostal Missiology For Wonsuk and Julie Ma, this type of Pentecostal thinking is based on an understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit in creation. In the first section of the book, taking note of the fact that Pentecostals typically begin their theological reflection on mission from Acts 2, they present a robust creation theology based on key Old Testament texts all the way from Genesis 1 to Isaiah. Often, Pentecostal pneumatology is based on Lukan accounts and focused on the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, and it has a strong misson motif. Pentecostal mission, drawn from this type of pneumatology has not been holistic in its thinking and practice. Rather, evangelism and church planting have been the primary focus and the full extent of Pentecostal mission until recently. Ecumenism, social justice, povery, and environmental concerns are often ignored.19 Their solution for this inadequacy in Pentecostal mission is to trace Gods mission and the work of the Holy Spirit much further back than in the book of Acts, but to go all the way back to the story of

Ibid., 10. Early Pentecostals, primarily due to their eschatological urgency, viewed the world as the object of Gods imminent judgment. Mission was therefore perceived as a recue operation to save condemned lives from destruction (ibid., 283). 18 Ibid., 13. 19 Ibid., 17.
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creation. The Spirit involved in creation is involved in the re-creation of Gods people. It was Mas pneumatology of Gods creation or theology of creationwhere the Spirit is involved in both creation and-recreationhelps build their Pentecostal missiology. For them, mission is seen as being at the center of Gods activity in history and involves the restoration of Gods creation. The ultimate goal of Gods activity in history is the restoration of his creation, and the mission, the ultimate purpose of the calling of Gods people, is to participate in Gods mission of restoration.20 However, the theology of creation is only one of many bases of Pentecostal missiology. The most influential theological ground for Pentecostal missiology, in their view, is the theology of empowerment, anchored on the unique experience called baptism in the Holy Spirit, which has a direct link with mission.21 Scholars like Andrew Lord agree that Pentecostal missiology is characterized by its emphasis on power or empowerment, or called empowerment missiology.22 In other words, Pentecostal missiology is derived from Pentecostal theology, characterized by the charismatic nature of the spiritual (pneumatic) experience commonly known as the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the unique foundational belief of the Pentecostals.23 Though there has been a narrow understanding of power among Pentecostals (only in the spiritual sense, without including non-spiritual components of power such as economic and political system), the empowerment missiology of Pentecostalism has demonstrated an enormous potential for the mobilization of massive numbers of mission practitioners. Wonsuk and Julie Ma, without any reservation, write, The empowerment theology may have been the main force behind the

20 21

Ibid., 24. Ibid., 27, 33, 34, 39. 22 Ibid., 13. 23 Ibid., 44.

explosive growth of Pentecostalism.24 Gods supernatural work (signs and wonders) provides a breakthrough in mission works (especially, in evangelism). For them, such empowerment mission in micro levels can be easily expanded into a global scope. And this potential makes the Pentecostal mission unique and promising.25 One obvious observation is that the Pentecostal theology of empowerment has a direct correlation with its pneumatology in that the principle purpose of the coming of the Holy Spirit is to empower for witnessing.26 Pentecostal pneumatology is inclusive of the power the Holy Spirit gives for living a holy life, and signs and wonders through the work of the Holy Spirit. However, the power of the Holy Spirit is not only for cleaning up the life but for witness and winning souls, and it has more to do with mission than miracles and healings, or even power-encounter.27 Hence, Pentecostal missiology is pneumatological missiology, or missiology which gives intentional attention to the Holy Spirit, which traditional Evangelical theology has overlooked.28 I think Berkhof is right when he argues, in The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, that to properly understand the Spirit, one must first see the Spirit in a mission context, not an ecclesiological or soteriological context.29 Furthermore, for Ma, a full perspective on mission in the Spirit is only possible if other contributions to the shaping of Pentecostal thinking and practice are considered, for example, Pentecostal eschatology. Early Pentecostal mission was primarily motivated by the

Ibid., 54. Ibid., 56. 26 Ibid., 39. Later, Ma also points out that the possible answer for the continuing missionary zeal even with the quick disappearance of eschaological expectations is the empowerment Pentecostal theology (ibid., 51). 27 Ibid., 43. 28 Ibid., 43. Ma also uses pneumatic missiology. 29 Quoted from Michael W. Goheen, A Critical Examination of David Boschs Missional Reading of Luke, in Reading Luke: Interpretation , Reflection, Formation, Craig G. Bartholomew, eds. Joel B. Green, Anthony C. Thiselton (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 240.
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eschatological urgency. Also, John Corrie and Cathy Ross, in Mission in Context: Explorations Inspired by J. Andrew Kirk, listed the emphasis on premillennial eschatology as one of the most important features of Pentecostal mission. Early Pentecostals believed that the experience of Spirit baptism was a fire that would spread over the world, a last-days universal revival to precede the return of the Jesus Christ. Their one overriding concern was to evangelize the nations before the imminent return of Christ. This permeated the missions by the missionaries and their converts, almost to the exclusion of all other mission activities.30 However, after a generation or so, with the decrease of an eschatological focus in Pentecostalism in general, Pentecostal missionary zeal and mission activity did not decline, which, according to the authors, proves that Pentecostal mission is not motivated primarily by eschatological urgency. One possible answer is the empowerment Pentecostal theology.31 However, they believe, as the focus shifts from the other side of heaven to this side heaven, mission may give ways to church renewal or growth, and the prosperity to empowerment for mission. Hence, according to Wonsuk and Julie Ma, Pentecostals theological abandonment of eschatology is critically worrying.32 The ultimate restoration is an eschatological reality of full consummation. The ultimate restoration is an eschatological reality of full consummation. Christian mission is an attempt to bring a foretaste of kingdom life through proclamation, serving, and miracles, but also with humble surrender to the Almightys sovereignty. In their critical assessment of the concern of the diminishing eschatological focus, they appeal to the following:

Allan Anderson, The Significance of Pentecostalism to Mission, in Mission in Context: Explorations Inspired by J. Andrew Kirk, eds. John Corrie and Cathy Ross (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2012), 231. 31 Ibid., 51. 32 Ibid., 280.

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All good attempts to alleviate human suffering through social development and care, ministry of healing, either through prayer or medical service, transformation of society with justice and righteousness, the restoration of human dignity, environmental justice, and many others, are pressing mission agenda. As mission is fulfilled at the appearance of the Lord, so are the various mission agendas. The motivation for mission engagement does not come with the expectation that the full restoration is viable in this world, but with the commitment that Gods church is a visible sign of Gods reign and hope, thus, Gods people are called to live out its mission mandate. Pentecostals have an understanding that the advent of the Spirit in the modern times is the sign of the beginning of the end of the end time, vis--vis the first outpouring of the Spirit being the beginning of the end. Consequently, Pentecostal mission engagement should be the expression of eschatological conviction.33 Context and Contextualization One of the most interesting yet joyous parts of my reading of this book was Power Encounter in Contextualization, where Wonsuk and Julie Ma thoroughly examine the role of the power manifestation (encounter) from various perspectves (spiritual, religious, communicational, and practical).34 Context is of vital importance in mission and here the Asian context in general and the Philippine context in particular form the backdrop to the practical studies of the book. These are seen as contexts of rapid change and economic poverty and it is in such contexts that Pentecostalism has grown. In such contexts, the process of contextualization is important and necessary, and Wonsuk and Julie Ma proposed power contextualization, based on the earlier work of John Wimber and Charles Kraft. Power encounter is a vital part of engaging with contexts and not just in their spiritual aspect. It has a sociological impact, particularly in tribal societies, and enables communication that transforms world-views. In situations of poverty, power encounter can transform life through healing and the release from fear.

33 34

Ibid., 27. Ibid., 59-70.

Mostly, the Spirit is not seen as a central issue in contextualization.35 For Robert Schreiter, the role of the Holy Spirit in the task of contextualization is not defined, but appears to be one of a background worker of grace in the church: One cannot speak of a community developing a local theology without its being filled with the Spirit and working under the power of the gospel.36 Stephen Bevans mentions the links between the Spirit and life in the African spiritual world understanding in reviewing an example of an anthropological model of contextualization and mentions briefly an inward revelation of the Spirit contributing to transcendental models.37 But this is not in the same degree of the use of the Holy Spirit in power contextualization. Power contextualization is a holistic approach worthy of greater study.38 Wonsuk and Julie acknowledge more a case of the overwhelming imposition of Pentecostal worldview rather than a careful negotiation which gives due respect to the local culture.39 Necessary are careful studies in contextualization of Pentecostalism and its adaptability to various socio-cultural contexts from theological, sociological, and anthropological points of view.

Critique Mission in the Spirit is an excellent reading, though it is not a very well organized book, as noted, because it was never written to be a book. Wonsuk and Julie Ma are not systematic theologians, which was an obvious observation I had reading this book. In other works, Wonsuk describes himself: a Korean OT scholar by training, Pentecostal researcher by interest, and mission leader by profession. It was an extremely difficult task for me to dig from the depth of

Andrew M. Lord, The Holy Spirit and Contextualization, AJPS 4:2 (2001): 203. Robert J. Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies (New York: ORbis, 1985), 24. 37 Stephen B. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology (New York: Orbis, 1992), 54-7, 99. 38 Andrew Lord, Julie C. Ma and Wonsuk Ma. Mission in the Spirit: Towards a Pentecost/Charistmatic Missiology, Pneuma 34 (2012), 122. 39 Ibid., 288.
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their thoughts concepts and terms sparced throughout the book.40 Mission in the Spirit, written by two first-generation Koreans, radically different from Pentecostalor any othermissiologies written by Western authors, unashamedly incorporates insights, case studies, and lessons from Asian contexts. This alone makes the book great reading, highly useful and creative. Overall, this book was very helpful in deepening my understandng of Pentecostal mission and missiology and of future research topics. Here are a few critical thoughts I would like to offer. The first is regarding eschatology. I think the authors have a healthy view of eschatology.41 Healing in the present time is an eschatological reality. Healing for every case is not possible. Arguing for the possibility of healing for every case is problematic. Although not always articulated, the authors suggests, the present life in an eschatology tension appears to have provided a satisfactory explantion.42 It is important to explan both the present and future aspects of the kingdom in Jesus teaching in which he spoke of it being near and among his disciples as well as being that which was to come finally and decisively in the future. The now and the not yet of the kingdom must be held in tension and as offered an understanding of the kingdom that is both physical and spiritual and therefore addresses the vital needs of both the body and the spirit. The now and the not yet of the kingdom has the further advantage of explaining a paradox in human and Christian experience. The second critique deals with ecclesiology. Usually, Pentecostals have a high view of church. They emphasize that where the Holy Spirit is recognizably present with power, there is the church. For Wonsuk and Julie Ma, the church is Gods church, and it is a viisble sign of

40 41

No index of subjects!!! Thanks be to Google! The authors desire a healthy dose of eschatology in the Pentecostal thinking and practice. 42 Ibid., 185.

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Gods reign and hope. In a discussion of biblical and theological perspectives on mission, Kirsteen Kim offers to the shift from an ecclesio-centric view of mission, which saw it as primarily an activity of the church, to a focus on the Trinitarian nature of mission, which shifted the ownership of mission from the church to God. This is known as missio Dei, or the mission of God, which Kim regards as a pneumatological paradigm of mission because it is by the Holy Spirit that God is at work in the world. The churchs responsibility, therefore, is to discern where the Holy Spirit is active in the world and then to join in.43 I am not saying that the conception of missio dei is completely missing, but that there is no coherent, consistent emphasis on missio dei in this book. As seen before, Gods people are called to live out its [not Gods] mission mandate. In fact, missio dei is used only once. Gods mission or mission of God appear altogether nine times. There is no clear shift in the owndership of mission from church to God. Furtermore, there is no emphatic treatment of Kingdom of God in this book. He only footnotes that the theology of the Kingdom of God provides the theological foundation for Pentecostal mission.44 Kingdom is only sparce throughout the book. It seems like Gods Kingdom is equated to Gods Church.45 Thirdly, my next critique concerns about the Pentecostal concept of conversion. Pentecostal conversion is typically more intense than those conversion experienced by typical Christians whose conversion can be solely cerebral, merely a matter of believing a few things and praying a simple prayer. However, Pentecostal conversion, in contrast, is often accompanied by signs of power that convince converts that God is immediately active and present in their lives. Especially in the Two-Thirds World, so-called power evangelism is a potent force for
Kirsteen Kim, Joining in with the Spirit. Concerning World Church and Local Mission (London: Epworth, 2009). 44 Ibid., 44. 45 For example, in reference to John 17:18, written is Accrding to this model of mission, the move from Gods kingom (or church) to the world itself is an act of mission (ibid., 6).
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conversion. Moreover, Pentecostals believe that baptism in the Spirit is distinguished from the conversion experience though the latter accompany the former, which endues power for mission and service. What is neglected here is conversion through socialization. McKnight asserts, For many Christians conversion is a process of socialization.46 We should not forget that Christianity is a matter more of nurture than of decision. Conversion is a process, not just an event. Most conversions take place over time. Fourthlly, I want to say a few words about Pentecostal hermeneutics. Mission in the Spirit provides, in my view, an adequate attempt for a theological formation, faithful to the scripture and relevant to the context.47 They try to be indeed faithful to the scripture, saying that their approach is a descriptive analysis. Based on the reading of the scripture, the book is also intended to point to a direction, if Pentecostal mission is to be faithful to its theological roots.48 Wonsuk Ma writes on Biblical Studies in the Pentecostal Tradition: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow that two thirds of the worlds people in the Third World are more open to the supernatural world enunciated in Scripture than in Western cultures.49 He points out, The Pentecostal movement has longtreasured Scripture. These people of the Book have never questioned the authority of the written word.50 This high view of Scripture is all good; yet, what I was hoping to see was Pentecostal treatment of the scripture, that is, Pentecostal (missiological, or even pneumatic or pneumatological) hermeneutic. What is Pentecostal hermeneutics for mission, or, more precisely, missiological hermeneutics used by Pentecostals? What is the

Scot McKnight, Turning to Jesus: The Sociology of Conversion in the Gospels (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), 5.

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Ibid., 3. Ibid., 6. 49 Wonsuk Ma, Biblical Studies in the Pentecostal Tradition: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, in The Globalization of Pentecostalism:A Religion Made to Travel, eds. Murray W. Dempster, Byron D. Klaus, and Douglas Peterson (Irvine, CA: Regnum International, 1999), 53-69. 50 Ibid., 54.
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Pentecostal hermeneutical framework to understand challenges of the social, political, and economic dimensions of mission? In The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bibles Grand Narrative, Chris Wright demonstrates how a missional hermeneutic is a map that approaches the whole Bible from the perspective of mission. This is the perspective that enables us to grasp the driving dynamic of the Bibles grand narrative. I myself agree that not just the Bible contains a number of texts which happen to provie a rationale for missionary endeavor. 51 If Christopher Wright is right, then the whole Bible is itself a missional phenomenon.52 According to Wright, it is not enough to recognize the Christological focus of the Bible. (And also not enough to recognize the plain, historical, and grammatical hermeneutic.) Of course Jesus is the central interpretative key by which we understand the overall significance of the Old and New Testaments, but we must also recognize the missiological focus of the Bible because God in Christ is on a mission. Lastly, I want to repeat, in spite of the omission of numerous important topics, such as ecumenism, social engagment, ecologicial aspect of mission, and inter-religious dialogue, though it is my desire to hear Korean Pentecostal perseptives on these issues, this an excellent book.

Question for Discussion While traditionally the mission of God is not included in the list of Gods attributes, David Bosch has argued that mission is not primarily an activity of the church, but an attribute of God.53 If this is true, But what is the connection between Gods command that his people be holy and the ongoing redemptive mission of God in this world? If holiness is a
Chrstopher J.H. Wright, Truth with a Mission: Reading All Scripture Missiologically, SBJT 15.2 (2011): 5. 52 Ibid. Italic is his. 53 David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1991), 390.
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critical component to Gods mission why is there so little discussion of it? Thus far, in all of my reading and listening about the mission of God and missional churches, I have heard very little about how it relates to Gods people being holy or Gods holiness. How does the shape of a missional community that embodies Gods holiness before the nations? Perhaps, it is the right season to renew the spirit of John Wesleys missiology or mission in the Wesleyan spirit,54 and develop a Wesleyan missiology and a missional hermeneutic of holiness.

See Darrell L. Whiteman and Gerald H. Anderson, eds. World Mission in the Wesleyan Spirit (Franklin, TN: Providence House Publishers, 2009).

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