A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story

by Michael Goheen

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2011

Overview

There is a growing body of literature about the missional church, but the word “missional” is often defined in competing ways with little attempt to ground it deeply in Scripture. In A Light to the Nations, Michael Goheen unpacks the missional identity of the church by tracing the role God’s people are called to play in the biblical story. Goheen examines the historical, theological, and biblical foundations of missional ecclesiology, showing that the church’s identity can be understood only when its role is articulated in the context of the whole biblical story—not just the New Testament. He shows that the Old Testament is essential to understanding the church’s missional identity. Goheen also explores practical outworkings and implications and offers field-tested suggestions, putting Lesslie Newbigin’s missionary ecclesiology to work in shaping the contemporary church. The book is written at a level easily accessible to students in missions, pastoral, worldview, and theology courses as well as pastors, church leaders, and all readers interested in the missional church.

In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.

Key Features

• Unpacks the missional identity of the church
• Examines the historical, theological, and biblical foundations of missional ecclesiology
• Offers field-tested suggestions

Contents

• The Church’s Identity and Role: Whose Story? Which Images?
• God Forms Israel as a Missional People
• Israel Embodies Its Missional Role and Identity amid the Nations
• Jesus Gathers an Eschatological People to Take Up Their Missional Calling
• The Death and Resurrection of Jesus and the Church’s Missional Identity
• The Missional Church in the New Testament Story
• New Testament Images of the Missional Church
• The Missional Church in the Biblical Story—A Summary
• What Might This Look Like Today?

Top Highlights

“A second landmark from the gospel is the central theme of this story” (Page 19)

“‘God’s mission is what fills the gap between the scattering of the nations in Genesis 11 and the healing of the nations in Revelation 22. It is God’s mission in relation to the nations, arguably more than any other theme, that provides the key that unlocks the biblical grand narrative.’³ God chooses to carry out his grand mission in and through his people; God’s mission should never be severed from the people he chooses and employs for his redemptive purposes.” (Pages 49–50)

“If the church is to recover its God-given identity and role in the world, it needs to be intentional about recovering the biblical story and its images.” (Page 6)

“God’s mission involves God’s people living in God’s way in the sight of the nations” (Page 25)

“Preaching that nurtures a missional identity will be narrative, centered in Christ, and missional—all three in all sermons.” (Page 204)

Praise for the Print Edition

Based on the whole biblical narrative, this book is a powerful presentation of what it takes for a missional church in the twenty-first century to be ‘A Light to the Nations.’ It is both compelling and persuasive!

—Gerald H. Anderson, director emeritus, Overseas Ministries Study Center, New Haven, CT

In the face of the weakened ecclesiology of a church mired in a postmodern, consumeristic, entertainment-oriented morass, Michael Goheen in A Light to the Nations masterfully calls his readers to a renewed missional imagination. Goheen traces the missional theme through Scripture, enabling us to see that his vision is not really new but the rediscovery of the robust, missional ecclesiology that has always characterized the people of God at their best. Goheen leads us into an expansive vision of what it means to be God’s called, eschatological people embodying the new creation. If you long to understand what it really means to be a missional church, not as a simple slogan but as our deepest identity, then this book is the indispensable road map. I heartily recommend it!

—Timothy C. Tennent, president and professor of world Christianity, Asbury Theological Seminary

Product Details

• Title: A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story
• Author: Michael Goheen
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2011
• Logos Release Date: 2011
• Pages: 256
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Mission of the church; Mission of the church › Biblical teaching
• ISBNs: 9781441250773, 9780801031410, 1441250778, 0801031419
• Resource ID: LLS:BB1CAC4F316BE8A1D2666F1E65BD8BF9
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T22:03:15Z

About Michael Goheen

Dr. Michael W. Goheen, professor of missiology at Calvin Theological Seminary, served as the Geneva Chair of Worldview Studies at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, and teaching fellow in mission studies at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia.

He has taught worldview, biblical theology, mission, and world Christianity at Redeemer University College and Dordt College. He began his professional life as a church planter and pastor in the Toronto area. He is also recognized as a leading scholar on the thought of Lesslie Newbigin.

Dr. Goheen has authored several books, including A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church in the Biblical Story (Baker, 2010) and As the Father Has Sent Me, I am Sending You: J.E. Lesslie Newbigin’s Missionary Ecclesiology (Zoetermeer, 2000). He also coauthored the best-selling Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story (Baker, 2004), Living at the Crossroads: An Introduction to Christian Worldview (Baker, 2008), and The True Story of the Whole World: Finding Your Place in the Biblical Drama (Faith Alive, 2009). He has also coedited two volumes on globalization and the gospel, and on the unity of the church.

Dr. Goheen lives in the Vancouver area where he is minister of preaching at New West Christian Reformed Church. He’s been married to his wife, Marnie, for 33 years and has four married children and four grandchildren.