What Is Integral Mission?

By C. René Padilla

Over these last years, the integral mission movement has flourished admirably, in Latin America and around the world – especially in the Majority World. Testimonies of its proliferation are the Micah Network and Red del Camino para la Misión Integral en América Latina (The Way Network for Integral Mission in Latin America), two organisations I have had the honour of directing. Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done to get the majority of local churches around the world to commit to transforming the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, we can only praise God for the progress we have seen in the practice of integral mission. We will be satisfied if this publication contributes to extending and deepening that practice even more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Regnum Books International
• Release date: Mar 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781913363956

Book preview

Preface

Dear readers, please excuse me if I start by stating that almost all my writing is writing from the trenches, so to speak. Although one or two were the result of careful investigation into the subject, whatever it may have been, almost all were the result of the pressure of circumstances – as a response to pressing issues – without a lot of time for academic work. Of course, this has its pros and cons. The biggest advantage is that what one writes this way is simpler and more spontaneous, and it reflects the reality surrounding it more clearly. The biggest disadvantage is that it runs the risk of improvisation and generalisation. The reader is free to judge up to what point the author has made the most of the advantage and avoided the disadvantage.

All these chapters, except for the first one, have already appeared in book form, although they were first written as editorials for the magazine Iglesia y Misión (Church and Mission, formerly just Mission). What’s more, several of them appeared in an edition of World Vision Magazine and also in Discipulado y Misión: Compromiso con el reino de Dios (Discipleship and Mission: Commitment to the Kingdom of God), a book published by Ediciones Kairós in 1997. As for the first chapter, it originally appeared in the magazine Apuntes Pastorales (Pastoral Notes) in 2004.

The reason these chapters were reprinted is that they received a welcome across the length and breadth of Latin America that far exceeded this author’s expectations. Indeed, although the date of each one is indicated and they reflect the circumstances of the moment they were written in, nothing I have written has been as widely used as these articles have been in Bible studies, churches and even in institutions of theological education. I believe that the only reason for this is that reading these articles does not require a great deal of time: they are brief, cut to the chase and do not waste words – they are reading for busy people. This time the reprint is even more justified because each short essay is accompanied by an activity guide for dialogue and group study, designed by Claudia Lorena Juárez and Juan José Barreda Toscano, whom I want to thank from the bottom of my heart for all their hard work.

Over these last years, the integral mission movement has flourished admirably, in Latin America and around the world – especially in the Majority World. Testimonies of its proliferation are the Micah Network and Red del Camino para la Misión Integral en América Latina (The Way Network for Integral Mission in Latin America), two organisations I have had the honour of directing. Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done to get the majority of local churches around the world to commit to transforming the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, we can only praise God for the progress we have seen in the practice of integral mission. We will be satisfied if this publication contributes to extending and deepening that practice even more.

C. René Padilla

Buenos Aires, July 2006

Introducing C. René Padilla

I recall numerous encounters with René Padilla. For many years, I had the privilege of participating in the Latin American Theological Fellowship (FTL in Spanish and Portuguese) as a member, then as Executive Secretary for Brazil, and finally as President. One of my enduring impressions was René’s participation in the meetings of the FTL Executive Committee. He was our Publications Secretary, ever-mindful and taking note of everything.

I remembered René at the Clade III (Congreso Latinoamericano de Evangelización (First Latin American Congress of Evangelisation) in the city of Quito (Ecuador) in 1992. René stood behind a small table at the back of the auditorium (gymnasium), ensuring all presenters stayed on schedule for their lectures, taking the 5m and 3m signs and finally, the last one saying over. When people turned their necks to see him lifting the sign, he smiled.

Another memory I have of René was in Cape Town 2010 for The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation. We had a long talk-interview about the integral mission movement in Latin America. He mentioned the importance of Latin American theologians at the 1974 Lausanne Congress in writing Paragraph 5 of the Lausanne Covenant, which was one of the critical elements for the promotion of integral mission. He also shared Rev. Dr. John Stott’s close relationship with Latin America and that they had traveled together across several countries in Latin America. Uncle John became one of the supporters of the integral mission movement.

René was born in Quito, Ecuador in 1932. Like me and most children in Latin America, René came from a poor family. Those who have lived in poverty and are impacted by the Gospel of the Kingdom of God cannot forget this sad reality that afflicts millions of people. René’s background was probably one of the factors that contributed to his development of integral mission.

He studied at Wheaton College (Wheaton, Illinois, USA), pursuing a BA in Philosophy and MA in Theology. His doctoral study (PhD) was from the University of Manchester in the field of the New Testament, having as his mentor Dr. F. F. Bruce. In 1992, Wheaton College awarded him the honorary title of Doctor of Divinity (DD).

It is impossible to capture in just a few words the ministry and impact of René Padilla on mission thinking and practice in Latin America, and globally. Impact is the fruit of underlying commitments and I will highlight some of René’s.

The Word of God and Contextual Hermeneutics

Those who follow René’s life and trajectory will soon realise the centrality of God’s Word in his life and reflections. Anyone who hears an exposition by René, whatever the theme, will hear a profound biblical-theological foundation. Writing in the very first Theological Bulletin of the FTL, published in 1981, he entitled his paper: ‘The Interpreted Word: Reflections on contextual hermeneutics’. This article has become a classic throughout Latin America and a must-read, especially for theology students even today. It was René who introduced the notion of the hermeneutical cycle and the need for contextual hermeneutics.

Integral Mission

The participation of René at the Lausanne Congress in 1974 was decisive, reflected in the concluding Covenant and specifically Paragraph 5 (on Christian Social Responsibility):

Here, too, we express penitence for our neglect and for having sometimes regarded evangelism and social concern as mutually exclusive. Although reconciliation with other people is neither reconciliation with God, nor is social action evangelism, nor is political liberation salvation, nevertheless we affirm that evangelism and socio-political involvement are part of our Christian duty. For both are necessary expressions of our doctrines of God and Man, our love for our neighbour and our obedience to Jesus Christ. The message of salvation implies also a message of judgment upon every form of alienation, oppression and discrimination, and we should not be afraid to denounce evil and injustice wherever they exist. When people receive Christ, they are born again into his Kingdom and must seek not only to exhibit, but also to spread its righteousness in the midst of an unrighteous world. The salvation we claim should be transforming us in the totality of our personal and social responsibilities. Faith without work is dead.

It is easy to see here words commonly used in Latin American theology and missiology, such as alienation, oppression, discrimination, and injustice. René, along with other Latin American theologians such as Orlando E. Costas and Samuel Escobar, had a major influence on this paragraph. This document opened the door for a new orientation in Latin America: salvation has to do with the transforming totality of personal and social responsibilities and relationships.

René is certainly one of the most significant theologians in the development of integral mission theology and praxis in Latin America and consequently, around the world.

Ministry Participation and Initiatives

René participated in many ministries with global impact. I mention some, such as:

•Co-founder and General Secretary of the Latin American Theological Fellowship (FTL);

•Founder and President Emeritus of the Kairos Community & Foundation, Buenos Aires (Argentina);

•Former Director of Ediciones Certeza;

•General Secretary for Latin America and Travelling Secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (Comunidad Internacional de Estudiantes Evangélicos);

•President Emeritus of the Micah Network, a global community for integral mission.

David C. Kirkpatrick (2016:353), in an article reproduced and updated at the end of this volume, wrote:

René Padilla played a central role in the rise of both Majority World leadership and holistic themes in World Christianity in the second half of the 20th century; that in order to do justice to this reality, teachers of late modern Christianity should use the language of integral mission…

René Padilla deserves this honor and much more! Our gratitude to René and his family for all their efforts to make us understand that God’s mission is an integral mission!

It is a thrill to see this small but influential book finally available in English.

Dr. Jorge Henrique Barro

Former President of the Latin American Theological Fellowship

Co-founder and Academic Director of the South America Theological

Seminary (Faculdade Teológica Sul Americana, Londrina, Brazil)

1. Integral Mission and Transcultural Mission

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Although the expression integral mission has become fashionable, the approach to mission that it represents is not so recent. Indeed, the practice of integral mission goes back to Jesus Christ and the first century church. It is also worth noting that there are a growing number of churches who practise this concept without actually using it to define what they do – integral mission is not part of their vocabulary. Of course, practicing integral mission is much more important than using this novel expression to refer to it.

The term integral mission arose mainly from within the Latin American Theological Fraternity in the early 1970s. It was actually an attempt to highlight the importance of understanding the church’s mission within a theological framework that was more biblical than the traditional one – that is, the one that had settled into evangelical circles, especially with the influence of the modern missionary movement. Over the course of the last few years, the concept has spread to such a point that the literal translation of the Spanish term into English (misión integral = integral mission) has slowly