The Emerging Challenges to Christian Mission Today (Revisioning Mission from Religious, Cultural, Historical & Women Perspectives)

Today, in the globalized world, the mission of the Church is challenged by many external and internal forces. It faces the challenges of secularization and the revitalization of faith. In Asia, Christianity remains a minority religion; its members are under pressure from governments and other faiths. In some countries, Christianity, even faces the threat of extinction. Burning, destruction and closure of churches is not uncommon.

In order to face these emerging challenges and to be dynamic and achieve its God-given mandate, Christian mission must rediscover its movement character for our contemporary times. For this, Christian leaders must objectively and critically look at the present world and analyze the logic of its predicaments and respond creatively to bring the meaning of Christ to today's world. The researched articles in this book by renowned scholars aim towards responding to contemporary challenges to Christian mission.

Christian ethical reflections contained in these articles can contribute to the world of today for the shaping of its future towards a humane world. This book, therefore, is the fruit of this Christian hope towards a better tomorrow. It may be utopian. But the utopian hope is a good antidote against the fear of the present, which paralyzes people to inaction. The signs of the times and the movements of the Spirit need to be embraced by the Christian community since they respond to the challenges of our world.

Sebastian M. Michael SVD is the Director of Ishvani Kendra, a Missiological Research Institute of the Society of the Divine Word, Pune, India and the Coordinator of Master's Programme in Missiology at Jnana- Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune. He is Professor Emeritus of Cultural Anthropology, University of Mumbai. He is a Consulter to the Pontifical Council for Culture, Rome; and also the SVD Zonal Coordinator for Asia. He was also the Chairman of the Bombay Archdiocesan Commission for Inter- Religious Dialogue. Among his several books, the edited volume Dalits in Modern India: Vision and Values (1999) was a best-seller of Sage Publications. It has been translated into several languages.

Jose Joseph SVD is the Programme Coordinator at Ishvani Kendra, Pune. He has done his Licentiate in Biblical Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome; and his Ph.D. on "Participation in the Life of Jesus: An Exegetical Study of 2 Cor 4:7-15" from the Catholic University of Leuven in the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies. He teaches subjects related to Biblical Theology at Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth, and at Ishvani Kendra, Pune.

Since the Resurrection of Jesus, a new world has begun to take shape among people, that of the presence of God among us through the Risen Christ. John, the Evangelist, gives us a hopeful vision of this new world in the making:

"I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, and the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice call from the throne. You see this city? Here God lives among people. He will make his home among them; they shall be his people, and he will be their God; his name is God-with- them. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone.' Then the One sitting on the throne spoke: 'Now I am making the whole of creation new"" (Revelation 21:1-5).

The mission of the Church is in participating in this new creation of fullness of life promised by Jesus (John 10:10). This mission motivated the timid, discouraged and disillusioned apostles to share their New Life in the Risen Christ to people of all cultures by crossing the seas and mountains and facing all persecutions. Thus began the Christian Movement.

Today, in the globalized world, this movement is challenged by egoistic ethnocentrism, narrow cultural nationalism, non reflected religious pluralism, dictatorship of relativism' and post-modern liberalism. It faces the challenges of secularization and relativization of faith. The process of secularization and hedonistic values expressed in excessive consumerism and atheism undermining Christian values in today's world. In Asia. Christianity remains a minority religion; its members are under pressure from governments and other faiths. In some countries Christianity even faces the threat of extinction. In several other parts of the world where Islam is dominant religion. Christians face persecutions and are forced to follow shari'a law. Burning, destruction and closure of churches is not uncommon.

Internally, the Church also faces the challenge of lack of credibility and witness from the scandal of sexual abuses from some clergy and religious. The Church is over burdened by non committed structures which either lacks the original charism for which they came into existence or they have compromised themselves with the current trends of the world. All these have brought lack of clarity, confusion and consequent lack of commitment to the Christian mission.

In order to face these emerging challenges and to be dynamic and achieve its God given mandate, Christian mission must rediscover its movement character for our contemporary times. To do that Christianity must first take stock of the present predicaments of the world. We need to have a clear understanding of the socio-political and ideological make-up of the contemporary world. As Christian leaders, we need to objectively and critically look at the present world and analyze the logic of the present predicaments and think creatively in order to look ahead and bring the meaning of Christ to today's world.

In order to do that, Ishvani Kendra, a National Missiological Institute organized a National Conference on the above theme, namely, "The Emerging Challenges to Christian Mission Today: Revisioning Mission from Religious, Cultural, Historical & Women Perspectives" from 05-09 October, 2015. This conference was intended at finding new paths in mission in the context of the emerging challenges. Renowned and competent resource persons presented their research papers.

**Contents and Sample Pages**