Missions, in light of "Love Wins"

Since reading “Love Wins” by Rob Bell I have been considering my response as a mobilizer of missionaries. If Pastor Bell is correct in his assertion that death might not end God’s graceful redemptive effort of souls (something also proposed by C.S. Lewis), how would the missionary effort change? Should it change??

Certainly the focus of cross-cultural work could, and probably should, broaden to more fully embrace care for physical and emotional needs along with its effort toward spiritual wellbeing. In fact, if we were to model our efforts more after Jesus’ ministry we would reveal him through lives of care for the hurting, as he did. I see this as a “both/and,” as opposed to an “either/or,” situation.

Certainly, also, the Great Commission still applies to us today. We are to be witnesses, for those we come into contact with, of the power and grace of God in our lives; our encounter with Jesus. Though, with Bell, we may agree that God is not limited to our traditions and understandings of faith in the revelation of himself in Christ to everyone, we are not free from his command to witness to the Christ who captivated us, altering the course of our lives through his mercy. It is obvious that God is still using our understanding of faith to bring tens of thousands to a knowledge of, and a faith in, himself daily around the globe.

I would relate this to the view of missions of a past age in light of Calvin’s premise of “Limited Atonement.” One would think, in a belief system where man’s salvation was totally a work of God’s sovereignty and where salvation only applies to the “elect,” that missions would be a low priority. On the contrary, missionaries from reformed traditions flooded the global scene from the late 1800s through the late 1900s with a great passion for the lost and hurting.

No matter what we believe about “Love Wins,” our response to Jesus command to be his witnesses in our “Jerusalem,” our “Judea,” our “Samaria” and the rest of the world can ONLY be one of obedience. We must answer with Isaiah, “Here am I, send me!”