"Orthodoxy has to tell the world what the world needs and what that need truly is...This is missiology, this is mission outreach, Missiology doesn't say come to the Orthodox Church because we're the true Church or because we have the true Tradition and only with us will you find salvation....missiology says I can help you understand yourself in ways you never imagine...and that is what we mean when we sing God is the Lord and has revealed Himself to us..."
Does Orthodox mission re-position the question of mission in our modern understanding? Does the Orthodox Church adopt a triumphalist approach to her missiology? Does the witness of the Church examine need and then redefine that understanding of need and desire?
I think Professor Schneider's statement about Orthodox mission suggests deep anthropological questions that are often reframed by Orthodox theology and Orthodox liturgical life. Perhaps this is a reframing which identifies beauty and what it means to become human.
Perhaps Orthodoxy reveals and asserts true humanity. Since Christ is Fully Human, THE Human being par excellence, all our modern questions (and even the prophetic questions Orthodoxy is called to address twenty years from now) are rooted in a theological and lived liturgical vision.
Are we not to embrace the kentotic call of the Cross? Are we not called to encounter the world and witness Truth? What does this say about identity? What does this say about Orthodox responses to the many social, ethical and philosophical issues of today? What does this say about what Orthodox Church is called to do?
Perhaps there are no simple answers to these questions, but Professor Schneider's statement on the presuppositions of mission resonates deeply with another Orthodox missiologist who says:
+ Professor Richard Schneider
And Mary said:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever.”
+ Luke 1:46-55
I think Professor Schneider's statement about Orthodox mission suggests deep anthropological questions that are often reframed by Orthodox theology and Orthodox liturgical life. Perhaps this is a reframing which identifies beauty and what it means to become human.
Perhaps Orthodoxy reveals and asserts true humanity. Since Christ is Fully Human, THE Human being par excellence, all our modern questions (and even the prophetic questions Orthodoxy is called to address twenty years from now) are rooted in a theological and lived liturgical vision.
Are we not to embrace the kentotic call of the Cross? Are we not called to encounter the world and witness Truth? What does this say about identity? What does this say about Orthodox responses to the many social, ethical and philosophical issues of today? What does this say about what Orthodox Church is called to do?
Perhaps there are no simple answers to these questions, but Professor Schneider's statement on the presuppositions of mission resonates deeply with another Orthodox missiologist who says:
"The purpose of mission is not the conquest of the world or the imposition of a Christian state which exercises control over all, but the transmission of the word and grace of God, revealing His glory which, in Christ, "is and is to come." Its aim is not to increase the power of an organized religion, but to constitute a ministry offered to the world in all humility and aiming at "its salvation." Its aim is the realization of the presence of God, who is Love."
+ Archbishop Anastasios of Albania, Mission in the Way of Christ, 73
"What our brothers and sisters in the isolated corners of Africa and Asia or in the outskirts of our large and rich cities long for, in their depression and loneliness, is not vague words of consolation, a few material goods or the crumbs of civilization. They yearn, secretly or consciously, for human dignity, for hope, and to transcend death. In the end they are searching for the living Christ, the perfect God-man, the way, the truth and the life. All, of whatever age and class, rich or poor, obscure or famous, illiterate or learned, in their heart of hearts long to celebrate the Resurrection and the " certification" of life. In this the prospect of a mission "in Christ's way" reaches it culmination."
+ Archbishop Anastasios of Albania, Mission in the Way of Christ, 13
"The saints of the Church did not simply speak for the poor, but, above all, shared their life. They voluntarily became poor out of love for Christ, in order to identify with Him, who made Himself poor."
+ Archbishop Anastasios of Albania, Mission in the Way of Christ, 11
"The matter of social justice assumes Christological dimensions in the thinking of the Saints. In their eyes, the person who is wronged, poor, sick, despised is the person of Christ. "As long as there is time, let us visit Christ, serve Christ, feed Christ, clothe Christ, offer hospitality to Christ, honour Christ," wrote Gregory Nazianzus. The struggle of the Saints for freedom from the bonds of personal egotism is, directly connected to "being joined with all men," to the sense of unity in society where one affects all, for the improvement of its structures. The demand for justice is interwoven with the proclamation of the Kingdom. "For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. . ." (Rom 14:17). On behalf of the righteousness which makes man, more than anything else, to resemble God, the faithful are obligated to struggle with word, with silence, with their active or passive resistance, with their martyrdom. But it would be naive and superficial to identify the coming of the Kingdom of God with sociopolitical struggles and romantic messianic conceptions."
+ Archbishop Anastasios of Albania, Mission in the Way of Christ, 132
"Blessed are those who can see the radiance of the glory of God in the patient participation in the sufferings of humanity; in the poverty of the poor of this world, in the weakness of the weak, in the thirst for justice; in partaking freely in the pain and the sufferings of others with genuine selfless love. The decisively new in the love which Christ revealed is not to "love one another," but primarily what follows: "as I have loved you," that is, with selflessness, with fullness, with respect for human freedom, and with all the consequential dimensions of suffering. "The gospel of the glory of Christ" (2 Cor 4:4) constantly calls us back in line, placing us before the harsh and demanding form of the glory of the Cross. Thus the doxological stance and way of life does not mean a hymnological escape into some closed idyllic environment. Rather, it means a universal openness, participation in the problems of the whole of humanity, particularly those of the humble and the wronged. It means to stand by in defense and support for all; it is an uninterrupted breath and radiance of the fire of the Holy Spirit. Directly connected with the meanings of "light" and "power," the "glory of God" expresses something particularly dynamic. The surprising and brilliantly shining lives of the Saints reflect such a living doxology of the humility and the love of Christ, preserving a missionary conviction that is timely for every person, every age, and every society."
+ Archbishop Anastasios of Albania, Mission in the Way of Christ, 173
