“What the hell do you want to build missiles for?!”

Abstract

The following speech was delivered at the 50th anniversary banquet of the American Society of Missiology, held at St. Mary’s College, University of Notre Dame, on June 17, 2023. Its content addresses two guiding questions posed by Darrell Whiteman: “Why am I passionate about missiology,” and “What do I hope to see in the field of missiology and in ASM in the next 50 years?”

Introduction

I would like to begin by thanking ASM and Darrell Whiteman for inviting me to speak tonight. I am flattered to have been asked and consider it a great honor.

Given the banquet setting, I have opted to answer Dr Whiteman’s first question, “Why I’m passionate about missiology,” with an entertaining approach: two brief stories and a quote. I will lay them out sequentially before pulling them together into a direct answer.

Why am I passionate about missiology?

The first story recounts the time that I told my dad that, after a decade and a half away, my wife and I would be returning to the Midwest for my PhD at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS). After a brief moment of contemplation, absorbing the fact that I was undertaking yet another degree program, he inquired, “Well, tell me now, what are you going to be studying this time?” I replied, “Missiology.” Observing him, I could see the gears turning in his mind as his gaze shifted upwards, ruminating on my answer with some puzzlement. After a few beats, a moment of apparent clarity seemed to hit. He suddenly fixed his eyes on mine and, with a blend of shock and unease, exclaimed, “What the hell do you want to build missiles for?!”

The second story harks back to my time at Harvard Divinity School during my Master’s program. There, I had the honor of assisting Jacob Olupona in his research on congregations in the Boston area, and, on occasion, we discussed the prospect of my carrying on with this project at the doctoral level. Hence, my anxiety was palpable and certainly noticeable when I finally sat across from him in his office to explain my shift in focus to missiology and my intention to pursue a PhD under Craig Ott at TEDS.

Patiently, Dr Olupona listened as I nervously overexplained everything. When I finally came to a halt, he responded with a kind smile and said, “The weight of Christianity has shifted Southward, and theirs is a Christianity that is increasingly missional. This is one of the most important things you could focus on right now. Do let me know if you need a reference.” I was stunned. And we went on to spend the next hour chatting about missions.

Finally, I wish to present a quote from Andrew Walls, a luminary in our field. From Crossing Cultural Frontiers, the words hold a profound significance for me as they comprise the final three sentences of the last book he ever wrote: “Is there any more exciting vocation at the present time than missiology? I, who am nearing the end of my course, must envy those of you with many years to serve. May God speed you” (Walls, 2017: 266, emphasis added).

To tie all this together and address your query directly, Dr Whiteman, I am passionate about missiology because I share alignment with Jacob Olupona in viewing missiology as one of the most important areas of contemporary study, and because I heartedly agree with Andrew Walls that missiology is also the most exciting of all present vocations. And because, truthfully, I cannot imagine doing anything else!

Now, I will unpack more about what I mean by “important” and “exciting” as I move to answer the second question posed by Dr Whiteman, which is, “What do I hope to see in the field of missiology in the next 50 years and with ASM specifically?”

My hopes for the next 50 years of ASM and the field of missiology

Given the time constraints of this speech, there is obviously no time for detail. As such, I will simply lay out three aspirational directions for ASM and the field of missiology in the coming 50 years.

My first hope is for the field of missiology to exist in what I am calling “a continuous state of becoming.” It is increasingly evident that the world in which missions will take place in the next 50 years will be very different than the world of the last half-century. While missiology will and should ask many of the same questions that it did in the last five decades, the shifting landscape will require that we thoughtfully retool certain questions as we simultaneously craft fresh questions. Thus, to remain relevant and vital in an evolving environment, I believe the field of missiology would do well to be a proactive and anticipatory missiology operating on the front side of the change curve. Or, as I have described it, in “a continuous state of becoming.”

Secondly, and given the changing world, I hope to see the field of missiology grow in its disciplinary depth and breadth. By depth, I mean doing the hard work of developing new models and paradigms in tandem with the changing world. By breadth, I envision expanding our disciplinary repertoire to include areas such as economics, law, business, urban studies, ethics, social psychology, and micro-sociology, to name a few. Simply put, as the world grows increasingly complex, so should our interdisciplinary approach.

Finally, and speaking specifically about the future of ASM, I hope that our community will root itself firmly in the best traditions and practices of the last 50 years of ASM. Specifically, I believe that we are at our best as an ecumenical community with a plurality of relevant voices, and as a community comprised of both practitioners and scholars, who calibrate one another. Additionally, and recognizing that we all view and interpret the world through a set of situated lenses, it is paramount that we, as a community, amplify recent strides toward realizing greater diversity. This commitment, I contend, must intentionally continue both on the frontstage with our conferences and on the backstage with our leadership.

Conclusion

This, in closing, is a vision for the field of missiology and ASM that I find both important and exciting. And to the degree that we realize this vision, our field, and our professional society will rightly grow in influence and prominence. Such that, in the year 2073, it is my hope that the student representative at this microphone at ASM’s 100th-year anniversary banquet will be rarely, if ever, confused for someone who builds missiles for a living!