The Re:New Book Two

Re:Form, The Holy Spirit and the Revitalization of Christian Mission

Renewal, Revival and Awakening are usually used to describe broad-scale movements of the Holy Spirit’s work in renewing Spiritual vitality in the Church and in fostering its expansion in mission and evangelism”

—Richard Lovelace

The mission of the present-day Church is to be the ambassadors of God’s good news of salvation through Christ to a world that is often suffocating in sin and spiritual death. A valid case for spiritual renewal should then include at least two orientations—the individual revitalization of Christians and an improvement of how the Church goes about its evangelistic mandate in this world. The result will be the harvest of many to the saving knowledge of Christ. This is what this book is about. It is intended to present biblical models for missional renewal. For when our Christian mission is renewed, the Church will mount up with wings like an eagle and, with the power and precision of the Spirit, fulfill its God’s given mandate to be witness to Christ in this world.

Again, the bible is the first place we need to look for the suitable paradigms for missional renewal in the 21st century Church—particularly the New Testament. There, we see the evangelistic models present in the early Church when the Christian movement began to spread outwards from Jerusalem— its initial centre. To be better equipped at fulfilling our mandate to evangelize the world, we need to examine how Jesus—the founder of the Christian movement—and the early apostles (his initial appointed ambassadors) went about their mission to evangelize their world. And when we do, we will discover some fascinating facts about an effective Christian mission. First of all, as a common denominator—they all depended heavily on the person of the Holy Spirit as their primary source of power and guidance for all their work.

In this book, I present a case for missional renewal by arguing that foundationally and biblically, the Holy Spirit is, and should continue to be, the ultimate power that guides and empowers all our Christian service. And I use the lives of key biblical figures —Jesus, Peter, Paul, Philip the Evangelists and Stephen the martyr—as paradigm missionaries that the 21 century Church needs to emulate. I further propose a vision for Christian mission that effectively pairs the Gospel’s proclamation with the demonstration of the Gospel in compassion and Justice. Some call this ‘integral mission.’

So, in Part One of this book, I open up this conversation by stating three preliminary reasons missional renewal, through the power of the Spirit, is urgent in today’s Church. (a) My first argument for missional renewal focuses on the existing clergy-laity divide that requires healing; (b) Secondly, the discovery of the Holy Spirit as the power for Christian service is still ongoing and needs better visibility in the Church—especially in the West; (c) Thirdly, the ongoing restoration of Missional Ecclesiology in the West is important. Yet, it needs to take a few more steps forward. I conclude with something I consider a reliable sign of missional renewal in the Church—a Christ-centered outward-facing posture of our faith. Such a posture means the local community is always looking to Jesus, constantly proclaiming the good news of Jesus to those who do not yet know Jesus, and continuously forming new communities.