Chris Wright, notes in The Mission of God, p40, that, ‘It is the common witness of those, including myself [Wright], who have lived and worked in cultures other than their own that reading and studying the Bible through the eyes of others is a challenging, mind-blowing and immensely instructive privilege’.
This year we have the privilege of welcoming Laurence Gatawa, a Filipino scholar and lecturer in New Testament Studies as our visiting scholar. In his first lecture on Luke-Acts he challenged the class to read Luke 9:1-6, (Jesus sending out the 12 saying, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics….” (ESV)), from a position of someone from the Majority World/Global South. Following this line of thought he asked ‘What would their interpretation be? Would they hear this as a call to mission, if so what would be their response?’
Is it easier for those from the Global South/Majority World to follow Jesus’ teaching here?
He further challenged the class to reflect on how we (the West) have a tendency to build resources first before embarking mission. Do we neglect this passage in our Missional understanding?
How would you respond to both the lecture questions and the Biblical passage?
Centre for the Study of Bible & Mission 