Inclusion, Mission, and Non-Western Theologies

Ubuntu-Shaped Missiology at Work

Welcome to my newsletter, “Global Witness, Globally Reimagined.”

I dream here about mission in a postcolonial world. Every week, I share one thought that has spoken to me, two resources I trust will be helpful to you, and three quotes about mission.

I pray one of these will energise you this week.

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1. Thought I Can’t Shake Off

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Over the past few weeks, I have been trying to explore, by means of an ubuntu-shaped missiology as an example, what non-western missiologies would look like. What would African, Asian, and Latin American Christians do differently if their missiologies were not shaped by Western thought? A lot. For instance, mission in the context of ubuntu will certainly be communal—happening through communities reaching out to and discipling other communities—and spirit-oriented—it will be grounded in prayer and powered by the Spirit of God that gives gifts, liberally, to all without preference of persons. The Spirit that calls Westerners to mission has been poured “upon all flesh” and is at work among Africans, Asians, and Latin Americans, calling them to the same mission. It is this second aspect that has been on my mind this week. A friend of mine, Reinhold Titus, recently wrote a dissertation on the subject of inclusion in mission organisations. (He talks about it below, and his book will be published pretty soon). In the dissertation (and in the presentation below), he tells of the struggles that non-Westerners often have to negotiate to belong in Western mission organisations. His findings do not surprise me at all; mission agencies have an inclusion problem. They are among the whitest of spaces. Generally speaking, they are unable or unwilling to accept non-Westerners among them. Their beloved thought systems and organisational structures (not to mention funding models) make it impossible for others to belong. Many say they want to change but do not understand that they cannot do this by themselves. As a result, the whole endeavour seems to many too exclusive. The very missiological gifts that are needed to help us include others in our mission, such as ubuntu, cannot be accessed because those who bring them are not at the table. Exclusion, as my father says, leads to the diminishing of life, both of the host and the guest. May God help us all.

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2. Resources I am Enjoying

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Podcast: Reinhold Titus, “Fostering Globally Inclusive Mission Organisations”

I mentioned Reinhold Titus above. He works as Chief Strategy and Inclusion Officer on OM Ships. He explored the topic of “Inclusion in Mission Organisations” as a research project for a master’s degree here in the UK. He is currently awaiting the thesis to be published as a book. This is a short-ish presentation that he did for us at Missio Africanus. Take some time to watch or listen, it will be time well spent.

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Video: Re-Imagining Short-Term Missions: Short-term missions for mutual transformation, with Jay Matenga

In this episode, as described by the host, Forrest Inslee of the Reimagining Short-term Mission Podcast (and co-editor of the new book entitled Reimagining Short-term Mission), we have a conversation between Forrest himself and Dr Jay Matenga. Jay is a theologian of mission practice. He is of the Māori people of New Zealand. He serves as the Director of the World Evangelical Alliance Global Witness Department and Executive Director of its Mission Commission. He is also one of the contributors to the book, Re-Imagining Short-Term Missions. Here, they explore a wide range of issues, answering questions such as; What would happen if short-term mission trips were built around values of mutual transformation instead of the usual top-down, one-way dynamic of “service”? What if Christians in the global north really believed that their brothers and sisters in the global south could help them understand God and the world in new, liberating ways? Or that short-term trips could be opportunities for visitors and hosts alike to be changed and challenged by one another through mutually respectful, coequal exchange.

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3. Quotes I am Pondering

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• I argue that, as a church, perhaps, we have dwelt too much on the mission that was carried by the disciples of Jesus, “going to the nations” and neglected the mission that was carried by our Lord Jesus, namely a mission to ones’ own nation – which is demanding, dangerous, deadly mission, for “a prophet has no honour in their own home …. — Musa W. Dube

• Since much of the emerging Majority World church is embedded in a context of religious pluralism and public persecution, we have much to learn from our brothers and sisters around the world about how to be faithful to our public witness in the midst of an unbelieving and, at times, even hostile context. Western missionaries must not go out and reproduce privatized versions of Christianity. — Timothy Tennent

• Theologians from the new (or younger) churches have made their pilgrimages to the theological learning of the older churches. We had no alternative. We have eaten theology with you; we have drunk theology with you; we have dreamed theology with you. But it has all been one-sided; it has all been in a sense your theology… We know you theologically. The question is do you know us theologically? Would you like to know us theologically? — John Mbiti

Thank you, I pray you have a missionally fruitful week.