• Directories
    • Business Directory
    • Church Directory
    • Organization Directory
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Help
  • Log In

MENUMENU
  • Learning
        • Leader’s Edge
          • Author Interviews
          • Book Summaries
        • Book Reviews
          • Book Look
          • EMQ Book Reviews
        • Publications
          • Anthology
          • Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ)
          • Missiographics
        • Podcasts
          • The Mission Matters
          • Members Only Feed
          • Missions Podcast DirectoryNew
        • Topics
          • COVID-19 Resources
          • Diaspora Missions
          • Global Issues Updates
          • Member Highlights
          • Mobilization
          • Muslim Missions
          • Support Raising
          • UkraineNew
        • Media Library
          • Conferences
          • Global Issue Updates
          • On Mission
          • Thought Leader Briefings
          • Webinars
          • Workshop
          • View All
  • Programs
    • Accreditation
    • Bible Certificate
    • Church Missions Coaching
    • Cohorts
    • Cybersecurity
    • ImproveNew
    • Mission Jobs
    • Missions DataNew
    • Publish
    • RightNow Media
    • The Mission App
    • Women’s Development
  • Events
          • Calendar
          • In-Person Events
          • Virtual Events
          • Event Recordings
          • Awards
        • Premier Events
          • Mission Leaders Conference
          • On Mission
        • Upcoming Events

          • Pocket Guide to Being a Missions Pastor: 5 Things Every Missions Pastor Needs to Know
            Wed Jun 1 2022, 01:00pm EDT
          • From Harlem to the World - the Local Church Mobilized for Global Missions
            Wed Aug 3 2022, 01:00pm EDT
          • Innovation Leaders Discussion
            Mon Aug 8 2022, 01:00pm EDT
        • View All Events
  • Research
          • Missions DataNew
          • Missiographics
          • Research Reports
        • Popular Research
          • Compensation Reports
          • COVID-19 Resources
          • Field Attrition Report
          • View All Reports
        • Contribute
          • Current Research Projects
          • Volunteer
  • About Us
        • Who We Are
          • Our Contribution
          • Meet the Team
          • Board Members
          • History (1917–present)
        • Our Beliefs
          • Statement of Faith
          • Community Standards
        • Awards
        • Partner with Us
          • Advertise
          • Donate
          • Sponsorships
          • Volunteer
        • Help
          • Contact Us
          • Advertising Specs
          • Branding Guidelines
  • Join
        • Learn
        • Learn what you cannot learn anywhere else.

        • Meet
        • Meet people you otherwise won’t meet.

        • Engage
        • Engage in a community like none other.

          • Benefits
          • Benefits for Churches
          • Pricing

Sponsored Content

Upcoming Events

  • Pocket Guide to Being a Missions Pastor: 5 Things Every Missions Pastor Needs to Know
    Wed Jun 1 2022, 01:00pm EDT
  • From Harlem to the World - the Local Church Mobilized for Global Missions
    Wed Aug 3 2022, 01:00pm EDT
  • Innovation Leaders Discussion
    Mon Aug 8 2022, 01:00pm EDT
  • Peer 2 Peer for Communications and Marketing Staff: Communications and the Mission of God: Aligning organizational communications with God's purposes
    Thu Aug 18 2022, 01:00pm EDT
  • Women's Development Weeks
    Thu Sep 8 2022

View all events »

Topics

author interview CEO Church Church Missions Church Mission Team Church Planting COVID-19 Cross Cultural Skills Diaspora Disciple Making Discipleship Focus Future Innovation Islam Justin Long Leadership Management Member Care Missiology Missionaries Mission Finance and Administration MLC2019 MLC2020 MLC2021 Mobilization muslim Muslim Diaspora Networks Partnership Podcast Presenter Pursuing Partnerships Series Research Risk Short-Term Missions Spirituality support raising Training Trends Unengaged Unreached Weekly Roundup Women Women in Leadership

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Ted EslerApril 1, 2012

by Michael W. Goheen

Baker Academic, P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516, 256 pages, 2011, $22.99.

—Reviewed by Marcus W. Dean, associate professor and chair, Intercultural Studies Department, Houghton College; former missionary in Colombia and Puerto Rico.

A Light to the Nations could be called A Light to the Church. Michael Goheen compellingly demonstrates the missional nature of the Church. His stated goal is to fill a gap in missional ecclesiology with a book that is biblical-theological and exegetical (p. ix). He meets this goal and keeps you reading. This is a text for undergraduate mission classes and pastors and serious lay leaders in the church.

Goheen defines “missional” as “the very essence and identity of the church as it takes up its role in God’s story in the context of its culture and participates in God’s mission to the world” (p. 4).  This concept is to shape the Church’s identity and mission. However, throughout church history the problem has too often been that the Church is instead shaped by its cultural context.  

In chapters 2 and 3 Goheen traces the Old Testament expectation that God’s people be involved in his mission to the world. The account begins with Abraham’s call and focuses on Exodus 19:3-6, showing that God calls his people to live in holiness and be a blessing to all nations and creation. While Israel’s history shows God working in their context to enable them to be missional, each stage in Israel’s story produced failure. Goheen holds that by the time of Jesus the Jews basically hated the Gentiles, seeking separation from them rather than being a light to them.  

In chapters 4 to 7 Goheen explores the New Testament emphasis. From the Gospel accounts he shows that Jesus’ ministry was a call to Israel to renew its role to bring salvation to the nations. The death and resurrection of Jesus is the means by which the community of believers, which becomes the Church, is empowered to be missional and live a distinctive life that leads to not just individual salvation, but to the creation of transformed communities of disciples in all places.  

The Church in Acts is the continuation of the ministry of Jesus through the Holy Spirit as a witness of God’s work in Jesus to the whole world. Goheen highlights the different images of the New Testament Church in the Epistles that reflect its missional nature. Together, these images (e.g., “the people of God”) link the Church to the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit as God’s way to share the message of salvation through Jesus. The Church is to live holy lives to attract, and be missionary people to carry the message to others.

In the final two chapters Goheen summarizes the biblical role of the Church in God’s mission of redemption. He ends with thirteen topics for a local church to explore if it wants to become missional, which adds a distinctive practical aspect to the book.

I appreciate that Goheen emphasizes that the Church’s involvement in God’s mission is holistic. Our message is about more than a salvation limited to life after death, yet he keeps us firmly rooted in the fact that personal redemption is at the center. Further, I found his emphasis on the communal nature of the Church refreshing in our increasingly individualistic West.  

Check these titles:
Stetzer, Ed and David Putman. 2006. Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community. Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman and Holman Publishers.

Van Engen, Charles. 1991. God’s Missionary People: Rethinking the Purpose of the Local Church. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House.

…..

EMQ, Vol. 48, No. 2, pp. 241-242. Copyright  © 2012 Evangelism and Missions Information Service (EMIS).  All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from EMIS.

 

GoToOlder PostNewer PostAll PostsBook ReviewsEMQSectionVolume 48 - Issue 2

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Our Mailing List

Keep up to date with our community.

Menu

  • Home
  • Directories
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Contact Us

Join

  • Join
  • Benefits
  • Learn
  • Meet
  • Engage

Help

  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Cookies Policy

About Us

  • Who We Are
  • Statement of Faith
  • Awards
  • Resources
Missio Nexus Logo

© Missio Nexus. All rights reserved.
As an Amazon Associate Missio Nexus earns from qualifying purchases.


PO Box 398
Wheaton, IL 60187-0398

Phone: 770.457.6677
678.392.4577

Annual Sponsors

ECFA Logo Brotherhood Mutual Logo

Subscribe to our Mailing List

Membership website powered by MembershipWorks