INTRODUCTION: THE ECCLESIO-CENTRIC
AND THE THEO-CENTRIC
UNDERSTANDING OF MISSION
1. How do you define or describe a
missionary?
2. Do you consider yourself a missionary?
Why or why not?
Change is a necessary part of
life. As we grow, we change.
Something becomes different. But
something also remains the same.
Such changes happen also in how
we see many things. As Christians,
there can be changes even as
regards how we understand our
role and mission.
Jesus Sending the
Seventy-Two ( Lk.10:1-23 )
In the early Church, mission was
literally going to places to preach about the
Good News. The early Christians had to
have companions so that they could support
one another. In the present text, Jesus sends
His disciples on a mission. Their mission is
primarily Jesus’ mission. They are
participants in the mission and have to do
the mission in accordance with the will of
the one who sent them. They cannot do it
their way, or on their own.
So that in the end, those who were sent
have to report to the sender. As Jesus called
the 72 and sent them, so He continues to
call us today to do mission according to His
will but in a changed situation. We do not
need to travel to places to be missionaries,
although it is also possible. We can be
missionaries wherever we find ourselves in;
because to be a missionary is essentially to
“preach” Christ to others by our words and
actions.
A shift in understanding mission from
(Ecclesio-centric view):
a. Mission as primarily belonging to the
Church
b. Even if there is the acknowledgment that
God is the origin and source of mission,
this idea is not emphasized.
c. Excludes others outside the Church in the
doing of mission. Since mission is primarily
the work of the Church leaders and
members only.
d. Mission therefore is equivalent to
converting others to become
members of the Church. Sometimes
evangelization is the same as
proselytizing.
e. The number of converts, indicated
by baptismal records, is an
important gauge for a successful
missionary activity.
f. Such an understanding resulted in
insensitive attitude towards
indigenous views and practices in
mission territories.
g. Such a narrow view of mission has
been criticized in modern
missiology as very limited and
unfaithful to the inclusive and
tolerant spirit of the vision and
practice of Jesus.
To an understanding of mission as one
that affirms the following(Theo-centric)
view:
a. God’s redemptive mission: the source –
The source of the Church’s mission is the
work of God in redeeming creation. God
always takes the initiative to reach out to
human beings in their varied cultural
situations.
b. Jesus: the embodiment of God’s mission –
God’s mission of redemption is concretized
in the person and ministry of Jesus. The
Church’s mission has to pattern itself to the
Jesus event as testified to by the New
Testament writings, especially the Gospels.
c. The Holy Spirit: the Power for the Mission –
In the Gospels and in the Acts, Jesus and the
disciples’ mission is always inspired and
directed by God’s Spirit so the Church must
be open to this inspiration and guidance in
her mission.
d. Church: an instrument for the mission –
The Church participates in God’s
mission of redemption. The Church
does not own the mission and so it has
always to discern God’s will in the very
concrete situations where she finds
herself in.
e. Cultures: the context of the mission –
Understanding and dialoguing with
cultures is a necessary prerequisite
to doing effective missionary
activities.
By shifting to a Theo-centric
understanding of mission, we are all
called to:
❖ Be active participants in God’s
redemptive action in the world and the
whole of creation: as priests and
ministers, as religious/consecrated life,
layperson – doctor, teacher, worker,
parent, student, etc.
❖ We can participate in the mission by:
1. praying for our missionaries;
2. becoming members of
organizations/groups that work
for peace and social justice in our
communities;
3. volunteering to do civic works in
our barangays, towns, or cities;
4. joining ministries such as social
action and liturgy.
