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

257 Pages·2011·3.463 MB·English

by  Michael W. Goheen

“Like a skillfully constructed symphony, the main theme of A Light to the
Nations is announced in the first two chapters. Succeeding movements trace
the triumphs and failures of God’s missional people in the Old and New
Testaments. The final two chapters reprise the theme, showing its indispens-
able importance for the people of God today. Michael Goheen effectively
blends careful scholarship and passion for full-bodied participation in God’s
mission today.”
—Wilbert R. Shenk, Fuller Graduate School of Intercultural Studies
“It is so encouraging to see the revived interest in missional interpretation of
the Bible flourishing and bearing fruit. This marvelous book by Mike Goheen
moves the discipline significantly forward. It roots our understanding of the
church’s role and mission in the whole of the Scriptures, showing how forma-
tive the Old Testament was for Jesus and his New Testament followers and
remains for us. The nourishing meat of rich biblical reflection is sandwiched
between a historical analysis of the cultural roots of the contemporary church
and a challenging conclusion as to how a church today can be truly missional
and biblical. This is biblical theology in the service of the mission of God
through God’s people for the sake of God’s world.”
—Christopher J. H. Wright, Langham Partnership International;
author, The Mission of God and The Mission of God’s People
“The renewed conversations about the ‘mission of God’ have begged for this
book to be written! And there is none better equipped to write it than Goheen.
His sweeping grasp of the biblical narrative and his pastoral sensitivity to the
missional path today’s churches are traveling combine to tell the fascinating
story of the people of God so thoroughly embedded in the story of God’s
love-borne intentions for the world.”
—George R. Hunsberger, Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Michigan
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A L ig h t

to t he
N At io N s
T he M issional Church and
the Biblical Stor y
M I C H A e L W. G O H e e N
K
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© 2011 by Michael W. Goheen
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516–6287
www.bakeracademic.com
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the
prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Goheen, Michael W., 1955–
A light to the nations : the missional church and the biblical story / Michael W. Goheen.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes.
ISBN 978-0-8010-3141-0 (pbk.)
1. Mission of the church. 2. Mission of the church—Biblical teaching. I. Title.
BV2073.G58 2011
262.7—dc22 2010024316
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the HOLy BIBLe, TODAy’S NeW
INTeRNATIONAL VeRSION®. TNIV®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture quotations labeled NASB are from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright © 1960, 1962,
1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the HOLy BIBLe, NeW INTeRNATIONAL VeRSION®.
NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan.
All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Ver-
sion of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian education
of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of
America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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To Howard McPhee, Andrew Zantingh, Tim Sheridan,
Peter Sinia, David Groen, and Andrew Beunk—
pastoral colleagues in nurturing a missional church
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C
ontents
Preface ix
1. The Church’s Identity and Role: Whose Story? Which Images? 1
2. God Forms Israel as a Missional People 23
3. Israel embodies Its Missional Role and Identity amid the Nations 49
4. Jesus Gathers an eschatological People to Take Up Their Missional
Calling 75
5. The Death and Resurrection of Jesus and the Church’s Missional
Identity 101
6. The Missional Church in the New Testament Story 121
7. New Testament Images of the Missional Church 155
8. The Missional Church in the Biblical Story—A Summary 191
9. What Might This Look Like Today? 201
For Further Reading 227
Subject Index 229
Scripture Index 237
vii
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P
refaCe
My primary concern in this book is to analyze the missional identity of the
church by tracing its role in the biblical story. A plethora of books on mis-
sional ecclesiology has appeared in the last couple of decades. These books
vary in quality, but even in the best there is little sustained biblical-theological
and exegetical work. Moreover, to the degree that the authors make forays
into Scripture, the Old Testament has been conspicuously neglected. I have
written this book to fill this gap.
My primary audience is theological students, as well as pastors and leaders
in the church. But this book is not intended for the pragmatic and impatient
pastor looking for quick-fix strategies. It is scriptural and narrative theological
work struggling with our biblical identity and role in the original historical
context. It is not a technical book but will demand more than a reader seek-
ing fast answers may be willing to invest. My hope is that, on the one hand,
scholars will find its substance sufficient to engage them and that, on the other,
the serious layperson can read this book with profit.
The reader has a right to know the context out of which this book emerges.
At least five factors from my background shape this book. The first is my doc-
toral dissertation on Lesslie Newbigin’s missionary ecclesiology.1 I spent the
better part of a decade attempting to get into Newbigin’s skin to understand
his view of the church. My understanding of the missional church is deeply
indebted to him, and this will be especially clear in the last chapter when I
discuss contemporary implications.
1. This was published as “As the Father Has Sent Me, I Am Sending You”: J. E. Lesslie New-
bigin’s Missionary Ecclesiology (Zoetermeer, Netherlands: Boekencentrum, 2000). An electronic
version of this book can be found at http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/dissertations/1947080/
inhoud.htm.
ix
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