Christian Mission From The Periphery -- By: Orlando E. Costas

Journal: Faith and Mission
Volume: FM 01:1 (Fall 1983)
Article: Christian Mission From The Periphery
Author: Orlando E. Costas


Christian Mission From The Periphery

Orlando E. Costas

Thornley B. Wood Professor of Missiology,
The Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary

The amazing reality of the Christian faith is the fact that it begins not simply with the incarnation of God’s Son, but with his coming as Jesus of Nazareth. He comes as a man of flesh and bone to fulfill God’s redemptive mission. As the first missionary, Jesus Christ is culturally situated; he is conditioned by his time and space. He undertakes his mission as God’s anointed servant in a specific moment of history and a particular cultural setting. Thus there is no other Christ than Jesus and there is no other Jesus than the Jewish carpenter from Nazareth in Galilee.

One need not engage in a very profound study of mission in the New Testament to see its dependence upon the missionary practice of Jesus Christ. Especially in the Gospels, but also in Acts and the Epistles, we are given a clear demonstration of the mission of Jesus Christ as the starting point and model for the church’s missionary vocation. The early church did not limit itself to a passing, illustrational or inspirational reference to him. Rather it structured its mission in accordance with his own practice. Thus Jesus Christ was not only conceived as the “pioneer and perfector” of the faith (Heb. 12:2), but as its communicator par excellence.

In the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, we find one of the earliest summaries of Christ’s mission and message. In this passage it is clear that Galilee bears a special significance for Mark’s understanding and exposition of the person and work of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, Galilee is not only a “key” to understanding the Gospel of Mark,1 but also to unlocking the meaning of the evangelizing mission of Jesus Christ. Indeed it presents a unique, contextual model of mission and a fundamental reference for the church’s mission at all times and everywhere.

Jesus The Galilean

Galilee was a cultural crossroads.2 It was a commercially oriented region that had long been inhabited by Gentiles as well as Jews. During the time of Jesus, Jews lived side by side with Phoenicians, Syrians, Arabs, Greeks and Orientals. This racial mixture had given it the name Galilee, which means “circle of heathens” (el. Is. 8:23). Hence Isaiah speaks of “Galilee of the nations” (Is. 9:1).

In this mixed, commercially oriented society, there was a natural, ongoing biological and cultural mixt...

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