Gethsemane and Beyond: Mission Disruption as Mission Advancement - by Stan Nussbaum

Abstract

The current disruption of mission activities and structures by COVID-19 is comparable in many ways to Gethsemane, where Jesus faced massive disruption of his normal mission activities of proclaiming the kingdom, healing, and training the disciples. It was a soul-searching time, the crucible from which a new identity emerged, and that identity took him where his previous mission activity never could have. By looking at Gethsemane through the lens of our current crisis and vice versa, we may discover a new identity and strategy for evangelical mission during and after the pandemic. Surprisingly, this new identity is well aligned with several missiological principles that are already widely accepted, though their implementation was always difficult during the era we used to consider normal.