Why "Theology & Mission"?
The vision for this site
6/18/2026
At the end of his book, Theology of Mission: A Concise Biblical Theology, J. D. Payne offers some helpful conclusions regarding Scripture, theology, and global missions. One of those conclusions addresses the unfortunate, yet common, separation of theology and mission. It is worth quoting at length. He writes,
"The church must bring biblical scholars, missiologists, and missionaries together.
There is a long western tradition of dichotomizing biblical theological studies from what used to be labeled "practical theology," a category that eventually included missions after missions became a department within the church's plethora of activities. While this has been a most unhealthy separation and categorization within the academy, the church has also suffered deeply. Biblical scholars must move beyond theory and study divorced from field-based realities. Missiologists and missionaries must move beyond field-based realities divorced from Scripture. These parties deeply need each other. Paul had much to say to the Corinthians about how the body suffers when one part suffers. Sometimes these parties look askance toward one another. One party views the other as atheological, prooftexting methods and strategy, and more concerned with telling stories grounded in social studies. The other party is troubled when men and women pour hours of time into examination and discussion of a Greek or Hebrew word and never make any connection to gospel advancement among the five billion people who are lost without Christ. Brothers and sisters, we are not in competition with one another. Rather, we are collaborators in the mission of God." (148)
I could not agree more with his observation and heart. In my experience, there is often little emphasis on the influence of theology on missionary practice as well as the missional end of theological study. In fact, this was the topic of my ThM thesis. But this unfortunate divide should not be so. Missions is a uniquely theological task and must be guided by theological and biblical studies. Theology has as its aim the knowledge of God and all things in relation to him. This is a uniquely missional goal.
This site is a place to explore topics on the Bible, Christian theology, and global missions. My hope, though, is that they will always inform one another. Much more will be discussed in future posts.
Follow along as we think theologically and missionally!