Is Modern Missions Colonialism All Over Again?

Before we can answer this question, we must first define colonialism. My dictionary defines it as, “Domination of a people or area by a foreign state or nation; the practice of extending and maintaining a nation's political and economic control over another people or area.”    

The most well-known examples of colonialism include England, France, Spain, and other European countries “discovering” the Americas in the 15th century and claiming portions of those continents for themselves. These explorers were not the heroes I was led to believe while colouring maps in grade school! While their exploits may have been courageous, their deplorable treatment of indigenous peoples can’t be overlooked. 

Similar stories can be told about Africa, India, Australia, and much of Asia. 

Not only did colonial powers claim land as their own, but they typically imposed their own languages, laws, taxes, and religion on the indigenous peoples of the countries they colonized.

Sadly, missionaries often opened the doors that colonial powers walked through. Having learned local languages, they acted as translators and established diplomatic relations between colonizers and local leaders, often sharing the colonizers’ beliefs that European culture was “better” than others. 

We cannot deny that missionary work has been associated with colonialism—in Canada and around the world. Yet, flawed as it has been, the Church’s global outreach has done much good. Around the world, millions of lives have been transformed by faith in the Saviour who loves them. We are ashamed of the sin and abuse in our past but, like the Apostle Paul, we must not be ashamed of the Gospel (Romans 1:16). 

The question remains: What right do Christians have going to other cultures and critiquing their religions in of Christianity? 

Simply put, reaching the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ is at the centre of the biblical message.

 In Genesis chapter 12, God called Abram (whose name was changed to Abraham), promising to make him into a great nation and to bless him. “And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3). This wasn’t a one-time promise; it’s repeated multiple times throughout Scripture (Genesis 22:17-18; 26:2-4, Deuteronomy 1:10, Jeremiah 33:22, Galatians 3:16). God’s intention from the beginning was to use His people to bless all the peoples of earth. 

There are many ways that God blesses people, but the greatest, most far-reaching blessing was sending His own Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Saviour of the world. Jesus was a direct descendant of Abraham, the one who was promised to him in Genesis 22:18. “Through your offspring all the nations on earth will be blessed.” 

The Apostle Paul takes the guesswork out of this interpretation for us. In speaking of Gentiles being saved through faith in Jesus Christ, he wrote, “Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you’” (Galatians 3:8).

What right do we have to go to other cultures and introduce them to Jesus? Jesus Himself gave us that command. After His death and resurrection, just before returning to His Father, Jesus gathered His disciples and told them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20). We have the right, and responsibility, to take the gospel to the nations because the one who has all authority has commanded us to do it. But we must do it with humility, recognizing that we are prone to sin, including arrogance and blindness to our own cultural bias. 

What, then, is the difference between biblical mission and colonialism?

The first distinction is that colonialism destroys cultures, assimilating them into the culture of the colonizers; biblical mission respects cultures. Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations. The word translated ‘nations’ is, in Greek, ethne, from which we get the English word ‘ethnic.’ This is not about geopolitical countries (of which there are currently 195 in the world), but about people groups (of which there are over 17,000 in the world), distinguished by things such as language, ethnicity, culture and religion.   

We can be confident that this mission will be successful. In his beautiful vision of the throne room of heaven, the Apostle John reports seeing, “A great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9). Heaven is not a giant melting pot where all people lose their languages and cultural distinctives. Every “nation” will be represented; every language will be spoken. 

Throughout history, colonialists imposed their languages on the regions they colonized. While some missionaries do work through translators, large numbers of them learn the language of their host culture. Most workers sent out with the Alliance Canada spend their first two years in their country of service studying the language and culture of the people they are working amongst. 

God is not interested in merging all people into one culture! Biblical mission does not elevate one culture over another.

A second difference between colonialism and biblical mission is that colonialism imposes its culture, values and religion on others. Biblical mission only extends an invitation. 

We believe that people deserve to hear the story of God’s word and of salvation in Jesus Christ in order to decide for themselves who they will follow. But we will not force them to believe or to adopt our religious customs, as some other religions do. 

Even Jesus let people walk away. On one occasion, a wealthy man asked Him what he needed to do to be saved. “Jesus looked at him and loved him” (Mark 10:21) and proceeded to tell him he needed to sell everything, give his money away and follow Him. Hearing this, “the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth” (10:22). There was no coercion or bargaining; the man had made his choice. After all, Jesus wants devotion in the hearts of His followers, not just a display of outward submission. 

A final difference between colonialism and biblical mission is that colonialism is about economic gain at the expense of the colonized. In contrast to this, biblical mission is about giving what we have freely received—spiritually and physically (Matthew 10:8). This often includes contributing to the local economy.

Biblical mission is about sharing the Good News that Jesus commanded us to share with the world; it is not about the extension of political or economic control. It is quite different—in both motivation and practice—from colonialism. 

Where do we go from here? A friend of mind from the Caribbean nation of Antigua told me that he is grateful for missionaries who went to his country, without whom he and his family would not know Jesus. It’s important to remember the shortcomings, but also the successes, in the history of our movement.

While biblical mission is not colonial, we must acknowledge that there were times in our past when the mission movement appeared to value the cultures and prejudices of its sending countries than it did the biblical mandate. Acknowledgment is a good start, but it doesn’t necessarily lead to correction. One author suggests that in order to course correct, “We must partner with the very people we say we long to serve.” A West African proverb says the one who lives in a house knows where the roof leaks. We need to be very careful not to assume that we understand the challenges in our host countries, or that we know the best way forward in a given ministry. We need to listen to locals and seek ways to empower them to lead. 

Further, we will be less likely to fall into past errors as we recruit a more diverse force of international workers. Very encouraging steps are being taken through the Alliance World Fellowship as more and more partnerships are being established. I believe there is still a role for the Western Church to play in making disciples of the nations, but in many cases, we are no longer the lead partner. In recent years, we have increased our support of the Church in the Global South as they take the lead in various initiatives worldwide.

We need to correct, but not over-correct and abandon our assignment. We have been given a task from our Master, the one with all authority. He has commanded us to make disciples of all people groups on earth. With humility and a desire to learn, we must carry on. 

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations [people groups], and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).