Jesus,friend of sinners: A three-party kerygmatic model of mission

Abstract

“Jesus, friend of sinners” is the Christological image from the written Gospels that frames the proposed model of mission. This article begins with the case of a Pentecostal pastor in the hillside slums of Caracas, Venezuela, and the shift in her paradigm when she realized that Jesus was a friend of sinners. Through the missional experiences of her congregation and a careful selection of Gospel texts, the article examines this paradigm as a model of mission. According to this model, the evangelist engages outsiders and fellow insiders in the same kerygmatic event. The article makes use of the categories of in-groups and out-groups, and the adversarial nature of insider–outsider relations. The three-party nature of this model stands in contrast to the prevailing two-party paradigm of insider-to-outsider evangelism. The missional implications that result from including fellow insiders as a third party in evangelistic ministry are identified for further exploration.