Lesslie Newbigin has made significant contributions to ecclesiology. First, along with with Bosch, he helped recover the missionary nature of the church by reminding us that mission is not primarily a task given the church, but the church in her essence is missionary, just as God is a missionary God. His eschatological vision of all people from all over the world under one God, drove his ecumenical spirit to seek to bring what he saw as three ecumenical streams (preaching of the gospel, right administration of the sacraments and the Pentecostal approach) together. He shares the strengths that the various branches of Christianity have, but how all are necessary. He demonstrates through Acts 19 that the main question is: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Not what Protestants might ask, “Did you believe exactly what we teach?” And not what Catholics or Orthodox might ask, “Were the hands that were laid on you our hands” (156)? The Holy Spirit unifies the body of Christ. Finally, Newbigin brought significant clarity to the “relationship between ecclesiology, mission and the contemporary Western culture” (157). He brought to light people’s epistemological presuppositions, thus he has helped the church to both affirm and critique culture; modernity (modern scientific rationality that led to individualism) on the one hand, and the “nihilism and hopelessness” of postmodernity on the other. Newbigin helped us understand the importance of becoming missionaries to our own culture, thus enrichening our understanding of contextualization.
via jrwoodward.net
About my missiological favorite Lessile Newbigin, from my friend JR Woodward. Definately worth a read. Check out his blog.
