The Case for Holistic Missions
As someone who regularly interacts with missionaries, studies missiology, and leads outreach ministries in my own city, I have witnessed the development of a new type of strategy for both overseas missions and local church work.
Before discussing this new strategy, let me first address some of the strategies that evangelical Protestants have employed:
The Pioneer Missionary
Whether we speak of William Carey of India, David Livingstone of Africa, Robert Morrison of China, or Adoniram and Ann Judson of Burma, we realize that there was a time that the primary role of the missionary was to bring to gospel of Jesus Christ to societies that had no previous exposure to God’s Word or His offer of salvation. There are, of course, still missionaries today who are working among unreached people groups and doing pioneer work, but this is not the totality of today’s missionary effort.
The Community Developer
In the 20th century, a new type of overseas Christian worker appeared. Whether influenced by the social gospel movement, or from liberation theology, men and women moved to poor or undeveloped countries to work to improve conditions for the people there.
While pioneer missionaries have been criticized of collaborating with Western colonizers who often were oppressive to local populations, the community developers were the exact opposite. For the pioneer missionaries, the prime goal was the salvation of souls. Much of their time was spent translating scripture into indigenous languages and searching for effective ways to lead people to Christ.
The community developers made the current life condition of the people the prime directive. The emphasis was not only on feeding the hungry, and caring for the sick (something that pioneer missionaries had historically been a part of) but also on the challenging of political and social structures that were unjust. Community developers become involved in workers’ rights disputes, protests of unjust government actions, and the promotion of education.
A common criticism of this type of missionary was that so much effort was placed on the temporal, that they ceased to care for souls. The message of salvation via faith in Jesus was either an accessory or not even mentioned.
Global Pentecostalism
With this dichotomy in mind, I was pleasantly surprised when I read Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement by Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori. This work was based on a multitude of interviews and site visits with Pentecostal churches and ministries around the world. Their research led them to write this book that is filled with inspiring examples of what God is doing via His church around the world…with focus on a variety of Pentecostal movements.
Personally, I am not a part of a Pentecostal church. I have a lot of theological common ground with my Pentecostal brothers and sisters, but we are not in total alignment. Because of this, I really appreciated the perspective of Miller and Yamamori because they are also “outsiders” to the Pentecostal movement. They walked a fine line of looking at these churches with love and respect, while not buying into an unhelpful analysis of “these churches are doing good things because they are spirit-filled…end of story.” I also enjoyed the examples that highlighted churches and ministries in Manila, Bangkok, and Hong Kong… three cities where I have spent a lot of time connecting with local ministries.
Progressive Pentecostals
Throughout the book, the authors propose that a new form of evangelical community engagement is happening around the world. They call this “Progressive Pentecostalism.” In this model, the church is fully engaged in both the salvation of souls and the improvement of the lives of people in the community.
The authors state more than once that the term “progressive” is not to be confused with political liberalism. Even so, it may be difficult for conservatives to see that term and not connect it to the social gospel or liberation theology movements.
It would be a shame, though, to get distracted by the terminology and miss out on the lessons that this book has for the church. This is an inspiring book that opens the eyes of the reader to a wide variety of amazing ministries all over the globe.
Holistic Missions
To be clear, the focus of this book is not missions in the traditional sense. These churches and ministries were indigenous and relatively autonomous. These were not programs led by “outsiders” but were led and mostly funded by locals. As I read Global Pentecostalism, one specific passage stood out…
A former social worker in India argued a related point: after fifteen years of helping people with their social needs, he realized that this was not enough. Material development, he said, was important, but it is not sufficient. People need an internal transformation that realigns their moral compass. When this occurs, there is a lifestyle change that, over time, provides the basis for potential social mobility. Economic programs are not unimportant, but they are not sufficient, in his view. Likewise, he said, a programmatic focus on conversion is also not adequate to help people make their way out of poverty. Rather a holistic understanding of personal and social transformation is more likely to succeed (Global Pentecostalism, page 63).
This concept if holistic ministry, with focus on both the communication of the life-changing gospel message and the loving care of the whole person, is a model that modern evangelical missionaries are often employing today. Not only are missionaries working with local partners to lead people to Christ and plant churches, they are holding parenting seminars, health education, and clean water projects.
I have seen this type of work firsthand at a ministry of Youth With a Mission in Pattaya, Thailand called The Tamar Center. Through this ministry, Prostitutes are not only challenged to make lifestyle changes, they are provided transitional housing and vocational training. Both the soul and the life situation of these women are the focus of this ministry.
Lessons for the Local Church
Today’s churches in America can also benefit by examining the concept of “holistic missions.” In the 21st Century, churches are seeing themselves as partners with their community, not isolated entities. For example, “The Movement” in Oakland California has the mission statement “Overwhelming Oakland with Love.” This church is located in the most unchurched region in America. For them, the starting point to sharing the gospel is for the community to see them as a friend.
In conclusion, holistic ministry is Biblical. Jesus both TAUGHT the masses and FED them. He PREACHED about repentance of sin and HEALED many. Missionaries and church leaders can benefit from following the example of Christ.
Miller, Donald E., and Tetsunao Yamamori. Global Pentecostalism: the new face of Christian social engagement. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2007.
About the Author
Stu Cocanougher
8 responses to “The Case for Holistic Missions”
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Stu, what an excellent well thought-out post. I do appreciate your highlighting the “holistic” missions and ministry aspect. This is important and a core principle for Pentecostal missions. It’s certainly not that any other missions organizations somehow leave something out missional expressions—or that they are not “holistic” in their approach. But it is a good way to describe Pentecostal missions and even to a degree the Pentecostal experience and the church as a whole. I always appreciate your openness and insight even on the points were “we might not be in total alignment.” Enjoyed reading your post.
Stu, you did a nice job of exploring both the book and its thesis on the shift among many churches to engage in holistic mission; but of course, because this is strongly in your wheelhouse! I think so much of what I’ve seen in (church) history is a tendency to pendulum swing– over-correcting an error or shortcoming in our understandings of God and/or how God and we relate to the world. Your summary of pioneer and developer missionaries describes exactly that– an over-correcting a focus on only saving souls, to completely ignoring them. What I hope now, is that we’re hitting a healthy equilibrium, a balance that removes the distinction between soul/body, present/future and neighbors (vb.) with the whole person.
Finally, we have so many things in common– check out what our team in Ethiopia is doing with exploited women: http://yt2fb.com/worth-the-risk-amanda-dunn/
I really enjoyed the “worth the risk” program. When we are in Hong Kong, I can introduce you to a YWAM program called “Son’s and Daughters.” It is not as developed as the program in Thailand, but you might be interested in networking with those who are doing similar ministries.
https://www.ywamharbourcity.org/sons_daughters
Stu, great illustrations of some of the history of missions. (at least Western) And that is one of the things I really appreciated about the book. The authors were not from Pentecostal churches but they gave a very fair evaluation of the “Progressive Pentecostal” movement.
(ASIDE – One of the reasons I am writing a curriculum on women in the Bible is to correct pervasive misconceptions about the women in the Scriptures. Tamar was NOT a prostitute. She dressed up like one, ONE TIME, to get her father-in-law to fulfill his levirate duty as commanded by God. I am so sorry when I see whole organizations misnamed. I don’t blame them; I blame the predominantly male teaching for so many years. Ok, thanks for letting me air out.)
While Tamar was not a prostitute, she was a woman of worth who was taken advantage of and SHAMED by her community. Yet, God honored her.
In an “honor-shame” culture such as Thailand, the story of Tamar is one in which these women can latch on to.
Stu,
A very in-depth blog on the global mission of the church.
I love your write-up on the church in Oakland. It is a great start. We need to present ourselves as servants and not judges of the people.
Thanks for your writeup
Thank you for pointing out the complexity of holistic missions, Stu. It is so important to meet the physical needs of people and to share the amazing news that it is Jesus who taught us to meet those needs because of God’s great love for us. It has to be a symbiotic work so that lives are changed and hearts are transformed. Where I think we so often miss the mark is that we focus on individual “salvation” rather than making it a communal focus, especially in cultures where the community is key (like you mentioned in your response to Mary). Thank you for these great reminders!
As Americans, we have put individualism in the forefront of our culture. I assume that a lot of this comes from the early Protestant settlers…and the first and second Great Awakenings. After just returning from Eastern Europe, where people are “Christians” because of their heritage, but not because of any decision they have made, the concept of a personal relationship with God is refreshing.
Yet, in the book of Acts, we see entire families come to Christ. In collectivist cultures, missionaries are challenged to share the gospel in a way that involves personal decision, but gives families/friends/tribes the opportunity to come to Christ at the same time.