For months, I have been biting off large chunks of Christopher J.H. Wright’s hefty The Mission of God. It is dense, rich, protein-laden meat for the journey of a disciple desiring the strength to walk what Nietzsche calls “a long obedience in the same direction.”*** Today, I bring a few of his thoughts on redemption and mission:
“How big is our gospel? If our gospel is the good news about God’s redemption, then the question moves on to, How big is our understanding of redemption? Mission clearly has to do with the redemptive work of God and our participation in making it known and leading people into the experience of it. “
Wright turns to the Exodus for a fuller understanding of what it meant to an Israelite to say she was redeemed:
“YHWH is not merely intent on liberating slaves but on reclaiming worshipers.”
“The spiritual dimension of the exodus, then, is that God makes it clear that his purpose in the whole process is that it should lead to the knowledge, service, and worship of the living God. The implication is that all three of these were difficult if not impossible as long as they were in the depths of bondage to Pharaoh.
In the exodus, God responded to all the dimensions of Israel’s need. God’s momentous act of redemption did not merely rescue Israel from political, economic, and social oppression and then leave them to their own devices to worship whom they pleased. Nor did God merely offer them spiritual comfort of hope for some brighter future in a home beyond the sky while leaving their historical condition unchanged. No, the exodus effected real change in the people’s real historical situation and at the same time called them into a new relationship with the living God. “
Redemption is about mission. It is exercised in our history and has implications for our past, present, and future. A disciple knows her stories of redemption. Do you remember stories of how God moved in an oppressive situation to free you from bondage so that you might know, serve, and worship Him?
***Yes, Nietzsche said this well-known phrase, and Peterson will be the first to tell you he borrowed it for his book on discipleship.
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