Concordia Publishing House is excited to be releasing a new series of compact books! The first title in our new series of polemic and apologetic books has been released, but perhaps you have not bought a copy quite yet. You may, like others, be waiting to hear from trusted friends what they think about the book. It may also be that the title itself has given you pause: Justification as the Formative Power of Mission.
Mission Work Is for Everyone, Not Just Missionaries
I’m pro-missions, but I’m not a missionary, so I don’t really need to think too much about that technical stuff, right?
I have to confess that this question came to my mind when I first saw this book. I have been a pastor for nearly two decades now and have supported several of our foreign missionaries and the mission work of the LCMS, but little did I know how much I needed to read this book!
The first clue that I should have had was that my former professor, Dr. Detlev Schulz, took time out of his schedule as a busy professor and the general secretary of the International Lutheran Council to translate this book. Dr. Schulz has a passion for missions that, as one of his students, I recall as being simply contagious. If he thinks that this book is worth studying, then I probably should too!
So, after reading it—and then rereading it—what have I learned? Here, I will paint with broad strokes because I don’t want to take away the experience of studying this topic from you.
An Overview of Justification as the Formative Power of Mission
This book is no fluff. It is a serious treatise on missions that will demand your careful attention and reflection. In it, Vicedom identifies the crisis that missions was facing in the middle of last century, but that is not dissimilar from the way that Satan has always attacked the work of God. Vicedom identifies the errors in belief and practice that have plagued mission work, and then he helps his readers begin again to think scripturally about missions. He begins with the affirmation that missions are the work of God to save sinners from the coming condemnation. Jesus is both the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and the Judge who will come again to judge the living and the dead on the Last Day. This Law-and-Gospel reality is a theological tension that must be maintained in the missional proclamation of the church. That proclamation centers on Christ and His work of justification that He desires all people to receive. Christ has made the proclamation of His saving Word the very form and purpose of His church, and by uniting believers to Himself, He has made His will and work their own. Therefore, missions is not primarily the believer’s work of obedience to the Great Commission; it is the living fruit of what Christ is necessarily doing in the world because He Himself was sent for this purpose by His Father. By the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the church proclaims the Word to believers and unbelievers alike as the instrument of His saving work.
Vicedom goes into much more detail than this short synopsis affords, and he tackles several other important theological points. Time spent reading and studying this book is time well spent. Readers will find Vicedom’s work to be both convicting and inspiring. They will be taught to think of missions, not as a separate specialty for some, but as God’s ongoing work in their lives—and in the lives of their neighbors—for the very life of the world. Rather than despairing and feeling overwhelmed about the task of evangelism and the world’s resistance to the Gospel, readers will be comforted and motivated by considering Jesus’ perfect atonement and the power of His saving Word that has been given to them to proclaim.
Who Is This Book For?
Ideally, I’d love to say “everyone,” but the reality is that this book is probably best suited for Christians who are at least of high school age or older (although I think parents could have very fruitful conversations with younger children around the themes of this book). Even though this is a compact book, the theology that it presents is complex, and I really do think that pastors, students, parents, and everyone will benefit from having conversation partners who will help one another uncover the many gems that are scattered throughout this book. And that’s how this book will have a beneficial impact on the life of the church—it will get fellow believers focused on Christ and His work. It will bring clarity to the way that we think and speak about missions in our congregations, because it will ground us in the way that Scripture speaks about missions. I thank God that our church body has been blessed with many such resources!
Coming Soon to the Series
Speaking of other resources, the next volume to be released in this series is The Two Realms and the Separation of Church and State by Joel Biermann. Justification as the Formative Power of Mission has a blue cover because it is considered a polemic title—primarily because it highlights the distinctive Lutheran doctrine of justification over and against some of the motives for missions that exist in other church bodies or mission societies. Dr. Biermann’s book will have a burgundy cover because it is an apologetic title.
Biermann’s offering differentiates between the modern concept of “the separation of church and state” and Luther’s teaching on the two realms. It not only distinguishes these two teachings but also articulates faithful Christian citizenship as informed by Lutheran theology. You can learn more about the upcoming volumes on this series’ page.
Take a look inside Justification as the Formative Power of Mission and pick up your own copy by clicking the button below.
