Picturing Theology

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P i c t u r i n g T h e o l o g y

Empowering People for Freedom, Wholeness, and Justice Theological and Ethical Foundations for World Impact’s Development Ministries Don Davis and Terry Cornett

A Theology of Development

Love of God and love of neighbor have been pivotal themes of both Old and New Testament theology from their inception. From the time of the early Church forward, there has been a concern to demonstrate God’s love and character to the world in word and deed, through faith and works, by both evangelistic proclamation and acts of justice and mercy. Starting with its forerunners in Puritan, Pietistic, Moravian, and Wesleyan reform and revival movements, and extending into the modern Protestant missions movement, evangelical missionaries have combined a strong emphasis on evangelism and the establishment of churches with a serious attempt to engage in action that would foster justice and righteousness, especially on behalf of the poor and oppressed. Evangelical reformers and missionaries have started schools and hospitals aimed at being accessible to the least advantaged segments of society, formed orphanages and worked for the reform of child labor laws, established businesses and cooperative ventures among the poor, supported legislation to abolish slavery and to ensure the protection of human rights, worked to upgrade the status of women in society, and mediated conflicts between warring groups and nations. 1 Although Christians generally agree that evangelism and social action are important responsibilities of the Church, there is considerable variation in both the terms that are used to designate these responsibilities, and the way in which they are defined and placed in relation to one another. As a missions agency which is engaged in both of these activities, it is important to establish our definition of terms and a statement of the theological relationship which exists between these two tasks.

Prologue

1 See Paul E. Pierson’ article, “Missions and Community Development: A Historical Perspective,” (Elliston 1989, 1-22) for an introduction to the history of development work in evangelical missions and Donald W. Dayton’s book “Discovering an Evangelical Heritage” (Dayton, 1988) for a helpful look at evangelical reform movements.