Major Ideas of Al Tizon’s Whole and Reconciled and Application to Ecumenism

Tizon (2018) proposes that in our diverse, fragmented, and globalized world the ministry of reconciliation is central to a current concept and practice of mission (p. xvi). The church’s mission must be holistic in a way that goes beyond uniting word and deed, but that puts the world back together (p. xvi). As a work of missiology, Tizon defines the term as the investigation of the point of contact between faith and culture which informs those who promote the fruitfulness of this interaction (p. 1). 

A globalized world needs to experience the love of God in the small actions of individual believers (p. 19). This world can be described as post-Christendom as the faith has lost coherence in societies significatively founded upon its influence. On the bright side, this reality makes the need for a mission of reconciliation a clear priority. Current post-colonial ideology poses a challenge to the church as it rightfully disassociates itself from shameful distortions of mission while seeking to restore the true biblical vision. The practice of collective repentance is proposed as a legitimate practice accompanied by practical restitution wherever possible. False and half gospels of bigotry, prosperity, apathy, and social liberation lead millions of sincere seekers astray from the essence of the biblical vision (p. 63). A kingdom vision can be summarized as manifest where God’s reign exists, resulting in reconciliation with God, with fellow humans, and with creation – vertical, horizontal and circular (p. 28-86). 

The biblical vision of human being is integral, consisting of body and soul as inseparable, ideally in communion with God, others, and creation (p. 98). The trinity is the foundation for the church’s mission as an expression of God’s nature, in wholeness, community, diversity, and reconciliation. As the church has spread across the globe this reconciling mission places it in a prime position to spread this intergroup healing wherever conflict exists. This mission is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit, sustaining joy in suffering and bringing holistic transformation. But such spirituality does not ignore the historic and present injustices that exist between human individuals and groups. Although the non-holistic concept of mission is largely a Western one, it has been largely exported to the church of the Global South, and therefore must be addressed across the globe. A complete vision of mission has developed through emphases such as societal transformation, signs and wonders, ecumenism, and social justice. This vision can be seen ultimately in Revelation 7 in what can be termed the Great Reconciliation (p. 112-168). 

Holistic mission cannot be reduced to a reconciliation of streams in Christianity that argue for the supremacy of evangelism versus social concern, beyond a balance between word and deed (p. 173). Again, the vision of integral mission must be vertical, horizontal, and circular – moving from a concept of Great Commission to Whole Commission. In conclusion, in a world of fragmented groups that shock against each other in a sea that all share, the church cannot ignore the mission of reconciliation. This must be done on the individual, intimate level of human relationships, not on big picture notions of ideological unity. This will require humility, vulnerability, confession, forgiveness, lament, and continuous steps towards justice. And all these efforts must be done in the fellowship of Christ’s body, not realized bey separate groups self-satisfied with their good works independent of their global brethren (p. 176-205). 

Questions After Reading

During the reading, I wondered about how the author’s experience has been different than my own as a person of color. As an immigrant to the U.S. from the Philippines, Tizon has experienced alienation and marginalization that a while male like me has not. Reading this book caused me to question how much I am aware of my privilege in US-American society, even as a missionary overseas for most of my life. Tizon does not shy from critical analysis of many aspects of Western Christianity, particularly US-American Evangelicalism. Tizon explores the extension of Western Evangelical doctrinal and practical phenomenon to missions. As a product of US-American missions I was stung by some of Tizon’s denunciations and wondered if he ran the risk of dishonoring a valuable legacy.

I wondered if certain aspects of Western Christianity that can be seen in the Global South – such as megachurches, individualism, and disembodied rationality – should be seen as the product of collaboration and synergy. Someone like Tizon and myself who have been steeped in the experience of US-American Christian institutions may erroneously diminish the agency of Global South Christianity as it has developed. Care should be taken against this type of reductive analysis even when the church of the Global South shares similarities to Western Christianity in several key areas. 

Implications for My Research on Iberian Postcolonial Ecumenism

I have been engaged in the Iberian diaspora world of Spanish and Portuguese speaking post-colonial nations from childhood through my career as a missionary. My research includes addressing questions of race and identity among descendants of both the colonizers and colonized in the Spanish and Portuguese speaking world. This is a vast demographic, but they are linked in ways that are particularly important for theories of race that still divide the world and the body of Christ. As I travel between Ibera and Latin America, I seek to bring awareness to the distortion in church history that resulted from the treaty of Tordesillas that gave the Spanish and Portuguese empires a colonizing mission directly from the Vatican. Tizon’s work is relevant to the question of the identity of the people of God as it was conceived by the Spanish and Portuguese colonizers. These sailors, traders, and missionaries received an identification that abolished the notion of Jew and Gentile described by Paul in Ephesians 2:12-17 as the new man. Instead of the body of Messiah being seen as the reconciliation of two formerly exclusive and adverse groups, the first division in the history of the church occurred. 

As I advocate at ecumenical gatherings of Catholics, Orthodox, Protestant, Messianic Jewish, and Pentecostal believers in Christ, the motif of mission as reconciliation is central. Tizon’s vision goes to the heart of what the ecumenical projects I serve in Europe and the Americas seek to address. However, I feel a sense of caution when critiquing the foundation of modern missions which I inherited. I consider myself to be someone standing on the shoulders of missionary giants who went before me. I am aware of the liability that the color of my skin and eyes, my language and my sex, all of these represent those of the Western Christian colonizer in all its ambiguity. Tizon’s work encourages me to seek constant awareness of the privilege I enjoy – even as to say these seems today like a politically correct troupe of self-abasement. However, Tizon’s contribution, in comparison to much postcolonial writing, is highly practical and specific. Therefore, this work provides me with not mere guilt and speculation of the sickness and wounds that are present in the global church today. Tizon provides a roadmap towards healing that Christians from many streams of the faith can follow. 

References

Tizon, Al (2018). Whole and Reconciled: Gospel, Church, and Mission in a Fractured World. Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.