Between The Times

[This is the second half of a two-part article. You can read the earlier post here.]

Charlotte and Danny on parenting

Having the privilege of parenting four sons was one of the great blessings of our life.  Often we were flying by the seat of our pants doing the best we knew how but not certain it was.  We visited numerous emergency rooms and had our assortment of broken bones, but it was a wonderful experience and we would not exchange it for anything.  Several principles and precepts of Scripture influenced our style of parenting.  While this list is certainly not exhaustive, it summarizes what guided us as we sought to develop godly sons who would love Jesus and live for Him.

First, we always tried to see life from their perspective.  God entered our world through His Son (John 1:14; Philippians 2:6-8) and showed us He loved us, and so we tried to get into the world of our sons as well.  I call this “incarnational parenting.”  We tried to weigh their age, maturity, interest and challenges, and gain their viewpoint about what was going on.  Doing this is easier said than done, but it is essential nevertheless.

Second, we have worked at being good partners.  Good partners almost always make good parents because seeing mom and dad love each other 1) brings security into the world of the children and 2) it models for them a healthy marriage.

Third, we disciplined them.  In our family we tried to provide a big playing field not a small one.  Why?  Because kids are kids and, if the box is too small they will break the rules constantly and you will probably not be consistent in your discipline.  We always told our boys they would establish the size of the playing field.  If they were faithful, truthful and trustworthy, the playing field got bigger and bigger.  If they were unfaithful, untruthful and untrustworthy, the playing field got smaller.  We also adjusted the way we disciplined as they grew older.  We believed spanking, in moderation and always under control, is both biblical and effective when the children are small (e.g. Proverbs 29:15).  However, as they grow older, unless the situation is extreme and exceptional, the rebuke and restriction is a more effective way to mold and shape their character and behavior.

Fourth, we tried to love them with our eyes and tongue (see Proverbs 20:12; James 1:19).  We have come to understand the power of both.  With a look of the eye we can build up or tear down, communicate love or contempt.  Words, of course, are powerful weapons.  They can bless or curse.  Parents will often say things to their child that they would never say to a stranger and seldom to a dog.  We all fail far too often in this area, and it is something we must constantly work at.

Fifth, we learned that love is a beautiful four-letter word.  It is sometimes best spelled T.I.M.E.   When the boys were small, Danny traveled much less.  As the boys got older he was in the churches more often.  We missed him when he is away, but we were glad to share him with others.  Still, he worked hard at being at important events in the life of the boys.  He put football and basketball games on his calendar at the earliest possible date, and he was faithful to not let anything replace them.  When Nathan and Jonathan were seniors in high school, the four boys together played more than 70 basketball games!  We saw almost all of them, and our boys more than once told us how much it meant to them.

Sixth, we made it a habit to hold, hug and kiss them.  “Love touching” took different shapes and forms through the years, but it has always been a healthy and vital part of our family life. 

Seventh, we tried to make life and our home fun.  Indeed, making our house a fun house, a place where the boys would be glad to bring their friends was always a top priority.

Eighth, we tried at appropriate times and in appropriate ways to push them out of the nest and let them develop their own wings.  After all, we knew that one day it would be just them and the Lord. 

Ninth, we invoked seven magical words in English whenever it is needed:  “I am sorry (or “I was wrong).  Will you forgive me?”  We are not perfect and our boys know it.  Why lie about it and lose their respect?  When you blow it admit it and ask their forgiveness.  This is a sure way to raise the respect factor.

Finally, we prayed for their salvation and continually talked to them about Jesus and the things of God.  In His mercy and goodness, God has saved all four of our sons.  Today each is involved in or preparing for ministry.  Nothing this side of heaven has meant more to us as parents.

Putting leadership in the home to the test

In December, 1995, Al Mohler contacted us about the possibility of coming to Southern Seminary as Academic Vice-President and Dean of the School of Theology.  Well, this came out of nowhere and was quite a surprise.  We were extremely happy at Southeastern Seminary where we had served since 1992.  Danny had been working alongside Paige Patterson, his father in the ministry, since 1988, and really never thought of ever being anywhere else.  Furthermore, we had only been in a new house, which we had built, for just over a year!  Well, Danny traveled to Louisville, met with Al (and also his better part, Mary and the kids!) and it seemed that God was in this.  We both remember a Sunday night phone call from Louisville back to Wake Forest.  Charlotte somewhat playfully (!) said if things had gone well with Al she really did not want to hear about it.  Danny responded by saying, “Well, I guess we don’t have much to talk about then.”  God, to Danny’s great surprise, knit his and Al’s heart together almost immediately.  What were we to do?  And, what about the kids?

Both of us have noticed through the years that some sad and unhappy families sometimes show up at seminary.  God has called Dad and we must go, end (actually it never began) of discussion.  To even raise a question would be a clear evidence of sin and rebellion against God.  So, off they go, confused, hurt, whatever.  This is not godly leadership in our judgement.

As the God designated leader of our home, I (Danny) believe I am to lead not drive.  Furthermore, I think there is great wisdom for every husband and father found in Proverbs 12:15, “a wise man is he who listens to counsel” and in Proverbs 11:14, “but in abundance of counselors there is victory.”  As a husband I have always sought Charlotte’s counsel, her perspective.  We have always made “we decisions” in our marriage, and also in our family.  Big decisions like moving from Wake Forest, N.C. to Louisville, KY (and then back to Wake Forest in 2004!) should not be made dictatorially, autocratically or solo.  I was sure God was leading us to a new assignment, but Charlotte and the boys needed to know and believe that too.  For several weeks Charlotte and I talked, and often, about this decision.  We prayed together and individually.  Because of the many lessons God had taught us and His consistent faithfulness, we were united on one thing:  find and obey the will of God.  In January 1996, we took a trip to Louisville to visit and it was then that God made it crystal clear to both of us:  Louisville is to be our new home.  I again want to emphasize, this joint decision was reached over several weeks not several days, and it was one in which I allowed God to work in Charlotte’s heart without forcing the issue. 

Now we turned our attention to the boys.  When they first heard that we might be moving they were not thrilled.  They loved Wake Forest.  All of their friends were there and they were at an age where a move was not on their radar screens.  Again, I did not push and neither did Charlotte.  We prayed and we talked with the boys individually and together and usually in a casual kind of context.  For us that has always worked best and fits my style of managing one’s own household (1 Timothy 3:4).  After a couple of months had passed, I remember we were riding in our van somewhere when, I believe it was Jonathan said, “Dad, we’ve (the boys) been talking about moving to Louisville and we’ve decided if that is God’s will then that is what we should do.  We’re not real excited about it, but if this is what God is telling you to do then He will take care of all of us and we’ll be fine too.”  As a father, I cannot tell you what that meant to me; that my sons had that much confidence and trust in God, and also in their dad.  I must confess that this approach to leadership was foreign to me earlier in our marriage.  Like far too many Christian men, I misunderstood the Bible, believing that leading meant barking out orders and giving commands.  This “my way or the highway” mentality was not only unChristlike, it was sinful, hurtful and ineffective.  To lead you must set an example worth following.  To lead as a Christian you need to follow the example of Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:1).

We have come a long way in our marriage and family.  We have both matured in our roles as husband/father/granddaddy and wife/mother/grandmother.  We have not arrived nor do we expect to this side of heaven.  That will not, however, keep us from pressing on “ ‘til death do us part” or Jesus comes again.  Godly leaders keep their word.  By God’s grace we intend to keep ours.

Tags: Charlotte Akin, Decision-making, Parenting

WHEN CHRIST IS LORD OF YOUR HOME

By Danny and Charlotte Akin 

On May 27, 1978 we began a great journey together.  From the start we had a commitment both to the permanence of marriage and the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  We could never have imagined then where God would take us and what all He would allow us to experience.  We have been blessed with four wonderful sons, 3 beautiful daughters-in-law, 2 grandchildren and a 3rd on the way. Our life together has been a fantastic adventure.  We have laughed and cried, succeeded and failed, been glad, mad and sad.  Through it all, however, we have attempted to follow God’s guidelines found in Scripture for marriage and family.  The Bible has been our compass and we, to the best of our ability, have sought to allow it to chart our course.

When it comes to leadership in the home, we recognize that God has designed distinctive roles and assignments for the husband and wife.  Texts that inform us of what God created and redeemed us to be include Genesis 1:26-31; 2:18-25; Deuteronomy 6:1-9; Psalm 1; 127; 128; Proverbs; Song of Solomon (!); Matthew 19:3-12; 1 Corinthians 7:1-7; 11:2-16; Ephesians 5:18-6:4; Philippians 2:1-5; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 3:4-5; Titus 2:1-8; Hebrews 13:4; and 1 Peter 3:1-7.  There is no want for Scripture to show the way.  We have discovered that obedience, not knowledge, has always been the greatest challenge.

To understand the issue of leadership in the home, it might work best if we each share about what God has shown us, and how we have struggled and grown in what God wants us to be.  Then we will talk about parenting and share a particular experience where we sought to practice what we believe Godly, biblical leadership looks like.  Ladies should always be allowed to go first, so Charlotte will begin by sharing her thoughts.

Charlotte on the wife/mother role

I entered marriage with a lot of hopes and dreams.  I also brought some painful baggage as well.  My parents were alcoholics and divorced when I was 8.  My sister, brother and I bounced from home to home until we were placed in the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home in Palmetto, Georgia.  I was 9, and I lived there until I was 18 and graduated from high school.  While those were difficult years, there were some good times as well.  It was while I was in the Children’s Home that I received Jesus as my Savior and Lord, and God became my perfect heavenly Father (John 1:12).  As we began our marriage I had no difficulty accepting God’s assignment for me as a wife and mother.  The Bible was God’s Word and whatever it said I believed.  Still, believing it and living it are not always the same thing.  The Bible says “submit to your husband as to the Lord.”  That is easy to do when your husband is obeying God and doing what you want.  But what about those times when he doesn’t?  Danny is a loving husband and a very smart man.  However, there are times when I cannot for the life of me understand what he is thinking.  Because I had to watch out for myself as I was growing up, it is easy for me to just do things my way, the way I think is best.  But this is neither honoring to God or to Danny.  When I honor him by following his lead, even when I disagree, I am also honoring Jesus.  This doesn’t mean I cannot voice my concern and give my opinion.  Neither does it mean I follow Danny if he were to ask me to do something unbiblical, unethical, immoral or illegal.  Ultimately my Lord is Jesus not Danny.  Gratefully, I can never think of a time where I had to make a decision like that.

Personally, God’s pattern in Genesis 2:18, along with Ephesians 5:21-24, has been the most helpful to me.  There God says, “It is not good that man should be alone.  I will make him a helper comparable to him” (NKJV).  The word “helper” is used elsewhere in Scripture of God as He condescends to help us.  There is nothing demeaning in this at all.  Danny is a gifted man with strengths and abilities.  He also, like all of us, has areas of weakness.  One of the joys of my life is filling those gaps.  Danny often compares marriage to a football team.  To be successful you need a head coach and a quarterback.  It is also essential that they work well together as a team.  Danny is my head coach and I am his quarterback and God is president.  Good teamwork requires mutual love, respect and understanding.  I believe Danny is really good at being a man, husband, father and leader.  That is the way God planned it.  I also believe I am really good at being a woman, wife, mother and helper.  This is also the way God planned it, and when we follow his plan the family works well.

Danny on the husband/father role

Being the leader of our home has been an awesome assignment and one I am completely inadequate to fulfill on my own.  I will be the first to admit that when we were first married I had a lot to learn.  I tended to be selfish and self-centered.  I was delighted for Charlotte to wait on me hand and foot and meet my every desire.  However, over the past 30 years God has been growing me in my understanding of what it means to lead your wife and family.  Two truths in particular stand out when I think about Charlotte.

First, I am to love her.  That is the thrust of Ephesians 5:25-33.  The love described there is quite detailed and particular.  I am to love her sacrificially, “as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her.”  Such love is volitional.  It is an act of the will, which seeks the best for another.  I do not love her “if” or “because” … I love her period, including those times when she is unlovely.  I love her sanctifyingly with a goal of aiding and encouraging her to be more like Jesus.  My love is to be sensitive.  “Husbands ought (there is a moral imperative) to love their wives as their own bodies.”  Care and concern should characterize my love.  My love should be satisfying, “nourishing and cherishing her just as Christ does the church.”  I always knew Charlotte had as goal of her life to make me a success.  I now understand that one of my goals as a Godly leader is to make her a success, not before the world, but before God.  Nourishing and cherishing love is essential.  My love is also to be specific.  Verse 33 says “nevertheless, let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself.”  This verse has taught me the importance of being a “one woman kind of man.”  There should never be any doubt in the mind of Charlotte or the boys, family, friends or foe that Danny Akin is in love with and committed to only one woman, and that woman is his wife.  In trying to provide a model of leadership Charlotte can trust and our sons Nathan, Jonathan, Paul and Timothy can follow:  I committed, when we were first married, to never be alone with a woman other than Charlotte.   That commitment has caused me to be criticized as a Neanderthal, sexist, Pharisee.  It has also won the heart of my wife and the confidence of my sons.  I can live with that.

Second, I am to know her.  First Peter 3:7 says that a husband is to love his wife according to knowledge or with understanding that his prayers will not be hindered.  Charlotte is a very talented and gifted woman, far more than she realizes I believe.  But Charlotte, like all women, has some very particular needs because of the way God made her.  She needs me to be a spiritual man of conviction, courage and commitment.  She needs to know I appreciate her for all the many things she does as a wife and mother.  She needs romance and affection, and in a language she appreciates and understands!  Sex may or may not be a part of the package.  She also needs me to be honest and open and engage her in heart to heart conversation.  She needs me to bring security to our home by my presence and involvement, and she needs to know that after Jesus, nothing is more important in my life than she and our family.  As I strive to be a man of God my priorities look something like this:

1) Jesus
2) Charlotte
3) Family
4) Wake Cross Roads Baptist Church
5) Southeastern Seminary

I do not always follow these as I ought, but I continually keep them before me as I seek to be the spiritual man and leader God wants me to be.

[This is the first in a two-part article. The second part of this article will be posted tomorrow.]

Tags: Charlotte Akin, Marriage, Parenting, Wake Cross Roads Baptist Church

It seems to me that there is an unhealthy false dilemma that has arisen in the discourse within the Southern Baptist Convention over the last few years. There are some Southern Baptists who talk quite a bit about the gospel. There are others who talk about the importance of Baptist identity. Particularly in the SBC blogosphere, these two emphases are often pitted against each other, whether intentionally or not. This is surely not healthy.

The great shame of the false dilemma between the gospel and Baptist identity is that I doubt very many people actually believe one to the exclusion of the other. I have no doubt that the vast majority of “gospel Baptists” strongly affirms Baptist identity. But it seems sometimes like gospel Baptists divorce the gospel part from the Baptist part, or at the very least like they are a bit embarrassed by the Baptist part. I think this happens for at least two reasons. First, as a general rule, gospel Baptists spend most of their energy debating and defending the good news, not ecclesiology, which is the most visible aspect of Baptist identity. Second, many gospel Baptists are willing to cooperate at various levels with gospel-centered evangelicals in other traditions, which raises the ire of Baptists who are suspicious of other types of believers.

I also believe that the vast majority of “identity Baptists” believes the gospel; it would be very bad news if they did not! But it seems sometimes like identity Baptists also divorce the gospel part from the Baptist part, or at the very least like they are suspicious about too much talk about the gospel without giving due deference to Baptist distinctives. I think there are also at least two reasons for this tendency. First, as a general rule, identity Baptists tend to emphasize the differences that Baptists have with other Christians rather than commonalities. Second, because identity Baptists spend most of their time debating and defending ecclesiology rather than the gospel, other Baptists get the impression that identity Baptists are more concerned with the jots and tittles of Baptist principles than they are with the main thing: the good news of Jesus Christ.

The dilemma is further complicated by code language, arrogance, and sectarian tendencies in both streams of thought. For some gospel Baptists, the word “gospel” is really code language for five-point Calvinism. Take, for example, Together for the Gospel, where the lineup of speakers (including the Baptists) at least suggests, even if unintentionally, that the conference is really Together for Calvinism. Other Calvinists are quite intentional, bandying about Spurgeon’s infamous dictum that Calvinism is nothing more or less than the gospel itself. Though very few Calvinists will go so far as to argue that non-Calvinists are non-Christians, there is a discernable sectarian streak among some Calvinists who equate the gospel with their own theological convictions.

For some identity Baptists, the phrase “Baptist identity” is really code language for Landmarkism, or at least Landmark-like interpretations of some Baptist distinctives, particularly baptism. Blogs, articles, papers, and conference addresses indicate that there are some Baptists who think “Baptist identity” really means their personal interpretation of Baptist distinctives. (This is most curious in a tradition that has, as a general rule, been quite diverse because of our emphases on freedom of conscience and local church autonomy.) It is also clear that some identity Baptists are uninterested in cooperating with other Christians at almost any level, though I trust very few would go so far as to argue that non-Baptists are non-Christians. There is a discernable sectarian streak among some identity Baptists who assume—or at least imply—that real Baptists are the ones who agree with their opinions, even on matters not tightly defined by the Baptist Faith & Message.

So how do we move past this unfortunate impasse? I would humbly suggest to my fellow Southern Baptists that all of us do a better job of clearly articulating the gospel and grounding our Baptist identity in that gospel. We must reconcile the gospel and Baptist identity.

We have to clearly define and proclaim the gospel. All Southern Baptists, regardless of their views about Calvinism, must believe and preach the good news of all that God has done through the person and work of Jesus Christ, even if we articulate aspects of that good news in slightly different ways. We cannot downplay the holiness of the Triune God who created all things. We cannot go soft on human sin in general and our own sin in particular. We cannot deemphasize Christ’s incarnation as the God-Man and his position as the final Adam. We cannot ignore the saving work of Christ in perfectly fulfilling God’s law, paying the penalty for sin on the cross through his own shed blood, absorbing the wrath of God on our behalf, defeating the powers of darkness in his atoning death and victorious resurrection from the dead, and securing the final redemption of the cosmos. We cannot undermine the truth that sinners are justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And we cannot downplay the need of every person on earth to personally repent of their sin and trust in the finished work of Christ for their salvation. All Southern Baptists must embrace and proclaim these truths, lest we find ourselves clinging to individual pieces of the gospel rather than the entirety of the good news.

Southern Baptists must also define and defend our Baptist identity as the ecclesiological fruit of the gospel. A regenerate church membership includes the people created by the gospel as they covenant together in a local visible community. Believer’s baptism by immersion visually depicts the gospel, is the public, personal owning of the gospel, and identifies a believer with the people created by the gospel. Healthy congregational church polity is the gospel lived out in community by gospel people. Responsible local church autonomy reflects the freedom of gospel people in a specific gospel community to pursue gospel ends. Defending religious liberty for all protects the freedom of the gospel to be commended, believed, and embodied by present and future gospel people. The priesthood of all believers means that the people of the gospel minister that gospel to one another and to those who do not yet believe the gospel, because of the continuing mediation of the final High Priest who is at the center of the gospel. Redemptive church discipline protects the integrity of gospel communities by rescuing gospel people who have strayed and removing from the community those people who show no evidence of embracing the gospel. It is not enough to proof-text Baptist distinctives; our identity must be grounded in the gospel itself and commended to others as the most consistent application of that gospel to all ecclesiological matters.

This post is not intended to answer every question about the relationship between the gospel and Baptist identity. But it is intended to start what I pray is a healthy conversation that can help to bridge the gap between different types of Southern Baptist conservatives. If we are to move forward and embrace a Great Commission Resurgence, we must be sure that we know who we are, that we know why we are, and that we know what to preach to others as we make disciples of all people and baptize them in the name of our Triune God. We must be a people of the gospel. And we must be a Baptist people. And I believe that we can humbly, but firmly, argue that we are the latter because we embrace the former.

Tags: Baptist Identity, Gospel, Great Commission Resurgence

I write this as my wife Charlotte and I return from Southeast Asia. We have spent a week with precious brothers and sisters in Christ who are faithfully serving King Jesus in very difficult and, for many, dangerous locations. These men and women, along with their families, are heroes of the faith for me. My assignment for the week was to minister the Word to them. I did my best to be a faithful expositor and theologian, and to encourage them in their divine assignment. However, Charlotte and I were the ones who were encouraged. We heard story after story of how the gospel is going forth tearing down the strongholds of the evil one and setting free those who had been captive to sin and the false idols of darkness. With a humility that’s genuineness shown like a brilliant light, one after another after another shared what great things the Lord had done and was doing. Even in the midst of personal tragedies and sorrows, they praised our King for His grace, His mercy, and His faithfulness. More than once Charlotte and I prayed and cried with our family.

However, one experience was not a good one. I cannot recall a time that my heart was pierced as it was on this night. Charlotte and I had asked several couples to let us take them out for dinner. As we were headed to our restaurant, our driver turned down a street where I was totally unprepared for what I saw. Suddenly on both sides of the road, for at least a half of a mile, hundreds and hundreds of prostitutes lined the sidewalks. Some could not have been more than eleven or twelve years old. They were actually dressed in seductive uniforms that were similar to what you would see in a private Junior High or Middle School. The faces of these little girls and women I will never forget. Sadness, emptiness and hopelessness was etched across their countenance. Smiles, if there was one, seemed forced lacking any sense of genuineness. Later I was informed that most of these girls and women had been deceived and basically kidnapped. Sex slave traders prey on ignorant and unsuspecting parents, especially in rural areas, promising a better life for their children in the “big cities.” As I looked into these tragic faces, it hit me. Somewhere they have a mom and a dad. Do they have any idea what has happened to their precious daughters? I was overcome with a sense of sorrow and despair I have seldom experienced. God you must do something. We, as your ambassadors, must do something!

Later my friend Don informed me that once he and two others marched down prostitution row giving out more than 15,000 pieces of Christian materials. Tracts, Bibles, and the Jesus film were distributed to these ladies of the night. He shared with me that the women would chase after them, not to pull them into a “massage parlor,” but to receive the materials telling them about Jesus. He told me the smiles of the women stood in stark contrast to the angry glares of the men who were there to take advantage of these unique and special creations of our great God. He told me as they walked back up the street after giving out all their materials they were startled to see the Jesus film being played as videos in massage parlors. Needless to say Satan took a serious hit, at least on this particular night, on one of the many prostitution rows!

I have since discovered that the IMB has a specific ministry to reach out to and rescue these ladies from the sex slave industry. I learned we have many openings but few laborers. Granted the work is dangerous and filled with risk. But where did we ever get the idea that serving King Jesus is suppose to be safe?!

The lostness and darkness of a world without Christ came home in a new and unexpected way the night I was taken down prostitution row. The need for Southern Baptists to get radically serious about the gospel and the Great Commission never seemed more urgent. The nations are crying out for hope, and we have it. The nations are crying out for deliverance, and we have it. The nations are crying out for life, and we have it. The nations are crying out for salvation, and we have it.

Do you need a little motivation to pray and work for a Great Commission Resurgence? Take a short ride down prostitution row. I think you will find it will be all that you need.

Tags: Great Commission Resurgence

Note: This series of posts deals with the relationship between doctrine and practice in general, and between theology and missiology in particular. It argues that sound theology should provide the starting point, trajectory, and parameters for missiological practice. It seeks a “theologically-driven” missiology both for the United States and international contexts.

A Hindu once asked Dr. E. Stanley Jones, ‘What has Christianity to offer that our religion has not?’ He replied, ‘Jesus Christ.’” Indeed, Jesus Christ is central to Christian belief and practice, and is the driving force in our missiology. He stands at the center of the universe, at the center of the Scriptures, and at the center of our missiology.

Jesus Christ is Supreme

Jesus Christ is pre-eminent—All things were created by Him, through Him, and for Him (Col 1:16). It is only through Him that man is saved (Acts 4:12) and only through Him that the church is built (Mt 16:18). It is in Christ, as Ajith Fernando asserts in The Supremacy of Christ, that “The Creator of the world has indeed presented the complete solution to the human predicament. As such it is supreme; it is unique; and it is absolute. So we have the audacity in this pluralistic age to say that Jesus as He is portrayed in the Bible is not only unique but also supreme.”

He is the Center of the Scriptures

In Christian mission, we are proclaiming the Scriptures, which proclaim none other than Christ himself. Both the Old and New Testaments are Christocentric—Christ Himself is the axis of the testaments, the linchpin of the canon. The purpose of the Scriptures is to present Christ (Luke 24:27).

How do the Scriptures present Christ? We may begin by saying that the central promise of the Scriptures is that God would send Messiah. Riveted to that is the further promise that Messiah would win the nations unto himself and indeed reconcile all things unto himself. From the third chapter of Genesis onwards, we see the triumphant march of God to fulfill that promise, in spite of seemingly impossible obstacles. God fulfilled His promise, in that Messiah came and dwelt among us. He was crucified, rose again, and ascended to heaven, where he is now at the right hand of God the Father. And God will further fulfill His promise, in that Messiah will come again and bring with Him a new heavens and a new earth.

He Has Commissioned Us

It is between the first and second coming of our Lord that we now live and minister. We live “between the times,” and our commission is to join Him as He wins the nations and reconciles all things unto Himself.

In Matthew’s gospel, we are given Jesus’ command:  “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

In the first phrase, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth,” it is made clear that the follower of any other lord must repent and follow Jesus, and that this is on the basis of the supreme authority of the Lord of the universe. He created the universe; he sustains it; indeed, in Him all things hold together. He has authority over Satan, evil spirits, the forces of nature, the human race, and indeed all of the created order. We go in confidence.

Next, Our Lord gives the imperative, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” In this command, we are instructed to make disciples, and not merely professions of faith. Moreover, we are given directives for disciple-making. We are to do so through baptism (and therefore in the context of His church) and in the name of the Triune God (who alone can save).

Moreover, making disciples includes “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” The missiological implications of this are manifold. Here are two:

First, the “commands of Christ” are contained in the Christian Scriptures. There is no true evangelism or discipleship apart from the proclamation of the Word of God. Any other tool that we may use, such as apologetic dialogue, is preliminary and is for the purpose of engaging that person with the Word of God.

Second, the “commands of Christ” are not limited to those statements in the New Testament in which Jesus speaks in the imperative. Indeed, the entirety of Scripture, including Old and New Testaments, teaches us what God has done through Christ. Anything that Scripture teaches, Christ teaches. There are some who would say that this is “bibliolatry,” that we are making a paper pope of the Bible. They would set Christ in opposition to the Scriptures, and then claim that their allegiance is to Christ but not to the Scriptures. They “just want to follow Jesus.” And it is our conviction that the only way to follow Jesus is to follow him back to the Bible. We follow him, for example, to Mt 5: 18, “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” All Scripture is inspired by God, and hence also bears the insignia of Christ. Our evangelism and discipleship, therefore, will include the clear teaching of the entire canon of Scripture.

He is the Impetus for Missiology

In the final phrase of Mt 28:20, our Lord promises, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” This is our confidence, that we go under the authority of Christ and in the very presence of Christ. Missiology is at its heart Christological. There is perhaps no better picture of the Christological nature of missiology than Rev 5, where we see the Lamb-Like Lion receiving the worship of the nations, as the nations sing, “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”

We now live in anticipation of His Second Coming, when He will be seen in all of His splendor as the King of the Nations. Until that time, and upon His authority, it is our charge to proclaim the gospel to all tribes, tongues, peoples, and nations, whether they be found far or near. 

Tags: discipleship, Great Commission

One of the complaints I sometimes hear from students is that their church history and Baptist history classes are not “practical” enough. Instead of asking, with Tertullian, “what does Athens have to do with Jerusalem,” many of them want to know what any of it has to do with Burnt Hickory Baptist Church. Many of these same students complain similarly about their theology, ethics, biblical languages, and philosophy classes. My response is always to try and convince my more pragmatically minded students that history actually has a unique role to play in their theological education and can lend practical help to any number of contemporary concerns.

As Timothy George likes to say, there is a whole lot that happened in church history between Jesus and your grandma. Because we have two thousand years of Christian history behind us (as well as 400 years of uniquely Baptist history), we do not have to repeat the same mistakes that have already been made. We do not have to commit the same theological errors. We do not have to get trapped in some of the same practical quandaries. Our 21st century ministries can be informed by our forefathers from previous centuries. We can learn from their mistakes, and we can benefit from their successes. Your ministry should not occur in an historical vacuum.

William Carey understood this well. The second section of Carey’s famous An Enquiry into the Obligation of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens was devoted to historical precursors in foreign mission. Carey discussed New Testament mission, medieval Catholic mission, Reformation mission, New England mission, and especially Moravian mission. Though he is often known as the “father of the modern missions movement,” Carey was keenly aware that he stood in continuity with a long tradition of Christian cross-cultural evangelism. And he applied his knowledge of history to both his personal piety and his ministry.

History influenced the missiology of Carey and his associates. Scholars argue that the Moravians, David Brainerd, and John Eliot were all taken into consideration when Carey, Joshua Marshman, and William Ward drew up their famous Serampore Form of Agreement. In other words, Carey and friends understood that there was nothing new under the sun and they wanted to learn from the successes and failures of missionaries who had gone before them. History was used in the service of cross-cultural evangelism and church-planting.

In at least one case, history also served as an aid to Carey in his personal piety. Carey tells us in his journal and correspondence that he read regularly from David Brainerd’s famed diary. Like thousands of missionaries who have come after him, Carey found Brainerd a source of spiritual strength and missional inspiration. History was used in the service of personal piety.

My own desire is that we would use history in the same ways as Carey. As with Carey, ministry examples from the past have much to offer 21st century Baptists. We have much to learn from the preaching of John Chrysostom, Ulrich Zwingli, and B. H. Carroll. We have much to learn from the evangelistic zeal of Francis of Assisi, Pilgram Marpeck, and Daniel Taylor. We have much to learn from the pastoral theology of Martin Luther, Richard Baxter, and Andrew Fuller. And we have much to learn from the missionary zeal of St. Patrick, Adoniram Judson, and Samuel Zwemer.

Past saints also have much to contribute to our present pursuit of godliness. We need the devotional theology of Athansius, John Owen, and John Dagg. We need the fire of Savonarola, John Wesley, and Charles Spurgeon. We need the gospel-driven piety of John Bunyan, David Brainerd, and Robert Murray M’Cheyne. We need the same God-centered commitment to Christian scholarship as Jonathan Edwards, John Gill, and J. Gresham Machen.

William Carey resolutely believed that the sovereign Lord of all creation was moving history toward a glorious denouement when He will make all things new. Those who preceded Carey in the faith were a part of that history, even as he himself was a participant in all that God was doing to make His name great among the nations. You and I are also a part of that history, and it is my prayer that each of us will own Carey’s God-centered view of history as we seek to live rightly before God in our own time “between the times.”

Tags: David Brainerd, John Eliot, Serampore Form of Agreement, William Carey

Southern Baptists are a Great Commission people. We have been infected with the gospel of Jesus Christ and missions and evangelism are in our blood. It is the heartbeat of who we are. Without a “hot heart” for soul we will die and our death will be deserved.

Our passion is to live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We receive our marching orders from Him. Two passages in particular lay the foundation for who we are and what we are about in the context of missions and evangelism:

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, NAS).

He [Jesus] said to them … but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall by My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth (Acts 1:7-8, NAS).

Jesus said go and so we must go. Jesus said witness and so we must witness. Anything less is blatant sin and disobedience. Deep within our soul is the conviction that heaven is real and hell is real and Jesus is the only difference. This “soul conviction” does not mean that we do not love and respect those of other faiths or those who have no faith at all.

Because of our unrivaled commitment to religious liberty we would willingly die for their right to believe as they choose. However, it is because we do love them that we go, witness, share and tell, that we build relationships and live missionally wherever it is that God has placed us. We cannot escape the words of our Lord who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). We are haunted again by our Savior’s warning, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36).

It was exactly this kind of conviction that launched the Modern Missionary Movement through a British Baptist named William Carey (1761–1834) as he spent his life in India.

Reflecting upon our awesome task he wrote,

As our blessed Lord has required us to pray that his kingdom may come, and his will be done on earth as in heaven, it becomes us not only to express our desires of that event by words, but to use every lawful method to spread the knowledge of his name (emphasis mine).

This same hot passion burned in the heart of the American Baptist Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) and his wife, Ann. It sent them both to serve and die on the mission field in Burma. This burden for souls stirred the heart of Luther Rice (1783-1836) and set him criss-crossing America to raise support for those who were evangelizing around the world.

Southern Baptists, in particular, recognize that we may be out of step with many current trends in theology. So be it. We reject outright as unbiblical heresy any theology that weakens the missionary/evangelistic mandate. We stand against the modern and post-modern mindset which says,

The task of the missionary today … is to see the best in other religions, to help the adherents of those religions to discover, or to rediscover, all that is best in their own traditions … The aim should not be conversion … an attempt to establish a Christian monopoly … The ultimate aim … is the emergence of the various religions out of their isolation into a world fellowship in which each finds its appropriate place (“Rethinking Mission: A Layman’s Inquiry after 100 Years,” in Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions, p. 456; emphasis mine).

No, we look for encouragement and motivation from another Baptist, the great British preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1842). Challenging the pastors of his day he said,

The minister who is sent of God has spiritual children, they are as much his children as if they had literally been born in his house, for to their immortal nature he stands under God in the relationship of sire …. No minister ought to be at rest unless he sees that his ministry does bring forth fruit, and men and women are born unto God by the preaching of the Word.

Spurgeon also had a needed and pointed word for parents in this context, and one certainly needed among Southern Baptists today.

It is very grievous to see how some professedly Christian parents are satisfied so long as their children display cleverness in learning, or sharpness in business, although they show no signs of a renewed nature …. When a man’s heart is really right with God, and he himself has been saved from the wrath to come, and is living in the light of his heavenly Father’s countenance, it is certain that he is anxious about his children’s souls, prizes their immortal nature … If you are professing Christians, but cannot say that you have no greater joy than the conversion of your children, you have reason to question whether you ought to have made such a profession at all.

Spurgeon knew evangelism in the church starts at the top, with those God has called as pastors. Spurgeon also knew that there was no better place for evangelism to begin than in the home. The people called Southern Baptists must well understand that our very reason for existing is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We must also be very much aware that there are many things we can do to glorify God in this life and in the life to come. However, there is one thing we can do now to bring our Lord glory that we cannot do in eternity. That one thing is to share the gospel and tell a lost soul about a Savior whose name is Jesus. And so we go, share, witness and tell. Why? Because we know and understand that lost people matter to God, and therefore, lost people should matter to us. Paige Patterson puts it well,

More than 6 billion souls populate our globe. If the biblical message is true, then hell is a tragic conclusion for those who have not come to God through Christ. The potential of forgiveness and eternal life with God demands that all avenues of evangelization be pursued. The urgency of the task is the most compelling of any assignment the believer has been given.

This assignment is ours and this assignment we will endeavor to fulfill.  We must, for the eternal destiny of men and women demands it. Our Lord demands it too!

Tags: Adoniram Judson, Charles Spurgeon, Great Commission Resurgence, Paige Patterson, William Carey

WHY WE BELIEVE CHILDREN WHO DIE GO TO HEAVEN

By R. Albert Mohler, Jr. and Daniel L. Akin

Few things in life are more tragic and heartbreaking than the death of a baby or small child. For parents, the grief can be overwhelming. For the minister, to stand over a small, white casket and provide comfort and support seems to ask for more than he can deliver.

Many console themselves with the thought that at least the child is now in a better place. Some believe small children who die become angels. They are certain these precious little ones are in heaven with God.

However, it is important for us both to ask and answer some important questions if we can. Do those who die in infancy go to heaven? How do we know? What evidence is there to support such a conclusion? Sentimentalism and emotional hopes and wants are not sufficient for those who live under the authority of the Word of God. We must, if possible, find out what God has said.

It is interesting to discover that the Church has not been of one mind on this issue. In fact, the early and medieval Church was anything but united. Some Church Fathers remained silent on the issue. Ambrose said unbaptized infants were not admitted to heaven, but have immunity from the pains of hell. Augustine basically affirmed the damnation of all unbaptized infants, but taught they would receive the mildest punishment of all. Gregory of Nyssa offered that infants who die immediately mature and are given the opportunity to trust Christ. Calvin affirmed the certain election of some infants to salvation and was open to the possibility that all infants who die are saved. He said, “Christ receives not only those who, moved by holy desire and faith, freely approach unto Him, but those who are not yet of age to know how much they need His grace.” Zwingli, B.B. Warfield and Charles Hodge all taught that God saves all who die in infancy. This perspective has basically become the dominant view of the Church in the 20th century.

Yet, a popular evangelical theologian chided Billy Graham when at the Oklahoma City memorial service he said, “Someday there will be a glorious reunion with those who have died and gone to heaven before us, and that includes all those innocent children that are lost. They’re not lost from God because any child that young is automatically in heaven and in God’s arms.” The theologian scolded Dr. Graham for offering what he called “. . . a new gospel: justification by youth alone.”

It is our conviction that there are good reasons biblically and theologically for believing that God saves all who die who do not reach a stage of moral understanding and accountability. It is readily admitted that Scripture does not speak to this issue directly, yet there is evidence that can be gleaned that would lead us to affirm on biblical grounds that God receives into heaven all who have died in infancy. Some evidence is stronger than others, but cumulatively they marshall strong support for infant salvation. We will note six of them.

First, the grace, goodness and mercy of God would support the position that God saves all infants who die. This is the strongest argument and perhaps the decisive one. God is love (1 John 4:8) and desires that all be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). God is love and His concern for children is evident in Matthew 18:14 where Jesus says, “Your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.” People go to hell because they choose in willful rebellion and unbelief to reject God and His grace. Children are incapable of this kind of conscious rejection of God. Where such rebellion and willful disobedience is absent, God is gracious to receive.

Second, when the baby boy who was born to David and Bathsheba died (2 Samuel 12:15-18), David did two significant things: 1) He confessed his confidence that he would see the child again and, 2) he comforted his wife Bathsheba (vs. 23-24). David could have done those two things only if he was confident that his little son was with God. Any other explanation does not do justice to the text.

Third, in James 4:17, the Bible says, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” The Bible is clear that we are all born with a sin nature as a result of being in Adam (Roman 5:12). This is what is called the doctrine of original sin. However, the Scriptures make a distinction between original sin and actual sins. While all are guilty of original sin, moral responsibility and understanding is necessary for our being accountable for actual sins (Deuteronomy 1:30; Isaiah 7:16). It is to the one who knows to do right and does not do it that sin is reckoned. Infants are incapable of such decisions.

Fourth, Jesus affirmed that the kingdom of God belonged to little children (Luke 18:15-17). In the passage he is stating that saving faith is a childlike faith, but He also seems to be affirming the reality of children populating heaven.

Fifth, Scripture affirms that the number of saved souls is very great (Revelation 7:9). Since most of the world has been and is still non-Christian, might it be the untold multitude who have died prematurely or in infancy comprise a majority of those in heaven? Such a possibility ought not to be dismissed too quickly. In this context Charles Spurgeon said, “I rejoice to know that the souls of all infants, as soon as they die, speed their way to paradise. Think what a multitude there is of them.”

Sixth, some in Scripture are said to be chosen or sanctified from the womb (1 Samuel 1:8-2:21; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:15). This certainly affirms the salvation of some infants and repudiates the view that only baptized babies are assured of heaven. Neither Samuel, Jeremiah or John the Baptist was baptized.

After surveying these arguments, it is important for us to remember that anyone who is saved is saved because of the grace of God, the saving work of Jesus Christ and the undeserved and unmerited regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Like all who have ever lived, except for Jesus, infants need to be saved. Only Jesus can take away their sin, and if they are saved it is because of His sovereign grace and abounding mercy. Abraham said, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25). We can confidently say, “Yes, He will.” When it comes to those incapable of volitional, willful acts of sin, we can rest assured God will, indeed, do right. Precious little ones are the objects of His saving mercy and grace.

CONCLUSION

On September 29, 1861, the great Baptist pastor, Charles Spurgeon, preached a message entitled “Infant Salvation.” In that message he chastened some critics who had “. . . wickedly, lyingly, and slanderously said of Calvinists that we believe that some little children perish.” Similar rumblings have been heard in some Baptist circles of late. Spurgeon affirmed that God saved little ones without limitation and without exception. He, then, as was his manner, turned to conclude the message with an evangelistic appeal to parents who might be lost. Listen to his plea:

Many of you are parents who have children in heaven. Is it not a desirable thing that you should go there too? And yet, have I not in these galleries and in this area some, perhaps many, who have no hope hereafter? . . . . Mother, unconverted mother, from the battlements of heaven your child beckons you to Paradise. Father, ungodly, impenitent father, the little eyes that once looked joyously on you, look down upon you now and the lips which had scarcely learned to call you “Father” ere they were sealed by the silence of death, may be heard as with a still, small voice, saying to you this morning, “Father, must we be forever divided by the great gulf which no man can pass?” If you wilt, think of these matters, perhaps the heart will begin to move, and the eyes may begin to flow and then may the Holy Spirit put before thine eyes the cross of the Savior . . . if thou wilt turn thine eye to Him, thou shalt live . . .

Little ones are precious in God’s sight. If they die, they go to heaven. Parents, who have trusted Jesus, who have lost a little one, if they have trusted Jesus, can be confident of a wonderful reunion someday. Are you hopeful of seeing again that little treasure God entrusted to you for such a short time? Jesus has made a way. Come to Him now and someday you will see them again.

[Note: This article and hundreds of other resources are available at http://www.danielakin.com.]

Tags: Albert Mohler, Billy Graham, Charles Spurgeon, Infant Salvation

Note: This series of posts deals with the relationship between doctrine and practice in general, and between theology and missiology in particular. It argues that sound theology should provide the starting point, trajectory, and parameters for missiological practice. It seeks a “theologically-driven” missiology both for the United States and international contexts.

The doctrine of God is absolutely central to all of the church’s life. Ironically, however, we seem to have the most difficult time allowing this doctrine to drive our practice. How does such a lofty and majestic doctrine speak to concrete and even mundane practices? How do God’s Trinitarian nature, His creativity and His sovereignty affect our strategies and methods? To begin with, here are several:

God as Trinity

One of the central tasks of proclamation is to communicate the gospel across cultures and across languages. We are called to communicate the precious truth of a God who took on human flesh, who lived and died and rose again, and who will return and bring with him a new heavens and a new earth. And we are called to do so with people who speak different languages and who live in cultures far removed from our own.

This challenge lies at the heart of missiology. Entire forests have been chopped down to make way for the books, articles, and essays on cross-cultural communication and contextualization. But nearly all of these publications fail to recognize that the success of this enterprise rests squarely on the shoulders of the Triune God. In fact, the Trinity is a model of accomplished communication. The Triune God is God the Father (the One who speaks), God the Son (the Word), and God the Spirit (the one who illumines and guides and teaches); God the Father speaks through His Son and we as humans are enabled to hear and understand that communication by His Spirit. The Trinity is a demonstration, contra Derrida and others, that accomplished communication is possible.

God as Creator & King

It is God who created this world in which we minister and God who gave us the capacities to minister. As Creator, he gave us the world in which we now live, and it is a good world. It is ontologically good and—although it is morally corrupt—we ought to use any and all aspects of God’s world to bring Him glory. We are able, like Abraham Kuyper, bring the gospel to bear upon the arts, the sciences, and the public square. We may, as Martin Luther urged, bring the gospel to bear upon our multiple callings—workplace, family, church, and community. In short, we have the great opportunity to give God glory across the fabric of human existence and in every dimension of human culture.

Indeed, it is God who made us in his image, capable of being spiritual, moral, rational, relational, and creative. Although it is Jesus Christ who is Himself the image of God (Col 1:15), we human beings are made in the image of God. Moreover, salvation includes the conforming of sinful men to the image of the Son (Rom 8:29), in which we are remade into the image of our Creator (Col 3:10). The gospel, therefore, affects all aspects of man in the image of God, and further all aspects of man in the image of God ought to be used to minister in God’s world.

Furthermore, it is this same God who claims sovereignty over all of his creation, and directs His church’s mission to extend across all of creation. He is the Lord over every tribe, tongue, tongue, people, and nation—over every type of person who has ever lived across the span of history and the face of the globe. And he is the Lord over every facet of human life—over the artistic, the scientific, the philosophical, the economic, and the socio-political. “The Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Ps 24:1).

God and His Name

The Scriptures describe how God does all that He does for the sake of His name, for His renown, for His glory. He created man for his glory (Is 43:7) and chose Israel for His glory (Is 49:3). God delivered Israel from Egypt for His name’s sake (Ps 106:7-8) and restored them from exile for his glory (Is 48:9-11). He sent our Lord Jesus Christ so that the Gentiles would give Him glory (Ro 15:8-9) and then vindicated His glory by making propitiation through His Son (Rom 3:23-26). He sent the Spirit to glorify the Son (Jn 16:14) and tells us to do all things for His glory (1 Cor 10:31). He will send his Son again to receive glory (2 Thess 1:9-10) and will fill the earth with the knowledge of His glory (Hab 2:14; Is 6:1-3). Indeed, all of this is so, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10).

Indeed God in all of his blazing glory stands at the center of the universe. He is the fountainhead of all truth, all goodness, and all beauty. And it is the increase of His glory that is God’s ultimate goal and man’s ultimate purpose.

One implication of this for mission is that we have the great joy of proclaiming that God’s goal to be glorified enables man’s purpose, which is to be truly satisfied. The Psalmist writes, “O God, You are my God; early will I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water” (Ps 63:1). Man’s deepest thirst turns out to be God’s highest goal—for man to bring glory to God in all that He does. The road toward pleasing God and giving Him glory and the road toward knowing deep happiness are not two roads; they are one. The message we bring to the nations is one that, for them, is profoundly good news.

Another implication of this for the missional Christian is that if our ultimate goal is God’s glory, then we are set free from unbridled pragmatism. Our ultimate goal is to please God, not to manipulate or coerce professions of faith, church growth, or church multiplication. And so, we are directed away from the temptation to engage in evangelism and discipleship that subverts the gospel or the health of the church, and are free to proclaim the gospel God’s way and leave the results to God.

God’s Mission

Finally, and this point will be expanded upon at a later time, mission finds its origin in God. Mission is God-centered rather than man-centered, being rooted in God’s gracious will to glorify Himself. Mission is defined by God. It is organized, energized, and directed by God. Ultimately, it is accomplished by God.  The church cannot understand her mission apart from the mission of God.

Tags: Creation, Trinity

One of the things we hope to do at Between the Times is provide readers with helpful introductory bibliographies on topics we consider to be important. We hope these bibliographies will be a valuable resource for those who desire to live rightly before God between Christ’s first and second comings.

The following is a list of recommended books devoted to the history of Christian mission, one of my areas of scholarly interest. Though this list is just beginning to scratch the surface, I believe it is a good starting place for those interested in the topic. It is officially a “top ten” list, though you will see that some of the recommendations are multi-volume works. I have also recommended one whole series in addition to the list itself. No single-volume missionary biographies are included in this list; I will save those for a separate bibliography in the future.

Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of the Expansion of Christianity, 7 vols. (New York and London: Harper, 1937-1945). This is the most extensive history of mission published to date, though the work is obviously a bit dated. This is still a great place to look to fill in details about specific periods, and it builds upon the work of late 19th and early 20th century scholars like Harnack. The series is out-of-print, but can still be purchased online from a number of used booksellers.

Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions, 2d ed. (New York: Penguin, 1986). This is the best one-volume introduction to this topic. Neill’s interpretation is strongly influenced by mid-20th century ecumenism. If you only puchase one book for your personal library, this should be the one.

David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in the Theology of Mission (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1990). Bosch’s work is arguably the most significant constructive work in missiology published in the last quarter century. Part 2 of the book, covering over 150 pages, is a helpful introduction to the dominant missiological paradigms that reigned during different periods of church history. Highly recommended.

Ruth Tucker, From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions, 2d ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004). This book is a wonderful popular introduction to the history of mission written from an evangelical perspective. As the title indicates, Tucker’s book is actually a collection of several dozen short biographical essays of key mission leaders. This would be the perfect book to use in a small group context in a local church.

Eckhard J. Schnabel, Early Christian Mission, 2 vols. (InterVarsity, 2004). The history of Christian mission actually begins with the first century. Schnabel’s highly acclaimed work addresses mission in the New Testament era. Written from an evangelical perspective.

Andrew F. Walls, The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission and Appropriation of Faith (Maryknoll: Orbis, 2002). See below.

________, The Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1996). Both this work and the above book are collections of essays written by one of the leading historical missiologists in the world. Walls is especially strong on matters of the history of contextualization. Written from a perspective that is generally friendly to evangelicalism.

Dana Lee Robert, American Women in Mission: A Social History of Their Thought and Practice (Macon: Mercer University Press, 1996). This is a very helpful work on the contributions of American women to cross-cultural mission over the last 200 years. Robert helpfully surveys evangelical, mainline Protestant, and Catholic mission efforts.

Lamin Sanneh, Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007). Sanneh is another one of the leading historical missiologists in the world today. This book, his most recent, is a helpful introduction to Christianity as a world movement, an increasingly popular theme among historians and various types of social scientists of religion.

William R. Estep, Whole Gospel, Whole World: The Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1845-1995 (Nashville: B&H, 1994). Because my own ecclesiastical home is the Southern Baptist Convention, I would recommend you read the institutional history of our denominational mission board. Far from a dry history, Estep’s volume is written with great passion for the topic and will point readers to dozens of helpful books and dissertations related specifically to the history of Southern Baptist mission. Out-of-print but still widely available from used booksellers.

See also the fine series Studies in the History of Christian Missions, published by Eerdmans. Sixteen volumes have been published thus far, most of which relate to mission in the modern era. Highly recommended.

Tags: Bibliography