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Mission Under Scrutiny: Confronting Current Challenges

Author:	J Andrew Kirk
Published By:	Darton, Longman and Todd (London)
Price:	£12.95
ISBN:	0 232 52657 5

Reviewed by Chris Skilton.

Andrew Kirk will be well-known to many readers of ‘Ministry Today’ as an author and speaker on the subject of mission. This book, by his own admission in the introduction, is not so much a developed argument, but a series or chapters tackling a number of important themes and issues on mission today. The common threads running through the book are how Christians engage with the all-pervasive secular culture of the Western world and what might it mean to be the people of God in mission today.

The early chapters explore how the church might listen and speak to a secular culture (ch.2); how it can rediscover its missionary calling in telling the story of Jesus (ch.3); and how the community of faith is addressed by and gives expression to the truths of Scripture (ch.4). Kirk has a conservative understanding of evangelism: “sharing with all who care to listen a message about Jesus Christ” (p.103).

The themes of the ensuing chapters seem a little more arbitrary and it’s not totally clear why it is these themes that are being addressed. That said, the chapters on religion, conflict and violence (ch. 6-7) were for me the most powerful and stimulating in the book and show deep sympathy with the advocates of non-violence, whilst asking significantly critical questions of the position. The chapter declaring a conservative stand on same-sex relationships as an example of the way in which church and culture interact seems a strange intrusion in the book, and Kirk does not spell out exactly what he might mean by saying that the church may have to split on this issue (p.193).

Readers will be challenged, stimulated and infuriated by different parts of this book and, if that is the case, the author will have done his job well! It would be a worthwhile read both for ministers and all who want to explore these issues further.

Two small quibbles - there is a somewhat patchy and selective index, and the bibliography might have been better set out as “further reading” at the end of each chapter, rather than as a long alphabetical list at the end.