You Will Be My Witnesses: Theology for God’s Church Serving in God’s Mission by Brian A. DeVries (Crossway, 2024), 320 pages
What do you think of when you hear the word ‘mission’ and how does mission relate to the calling of the church? The answer to these questions can often reveal quite a bit about a person’s theology and convictions about Christian engagement in the world.
For some, the concept of mission can be broadened to encompass any and all good that Christians could possibly do in the world. And so, ‘everything becomes mission’. Others may ring fence missions as only those activities that involve those who are completely unreached by the gospel. Still others may acknowledge the strong connection between mission and the work of outreach, as opposed to viewing it in overly general terms, but may veer off into pragmatism in promoting ‘whatever works’ to promote the growth of the church.
The only way in which we can effectively counter reductionistic, and possibly erroneous, views of mission is to go back to Scripture to recover a full-orbed understanding of the calling of the church in the world. This is exactly what Brian DeVries does in “You Will Be My Witnesses”. This book, 2024 winner in the Mission and the Global Church category of the Gospel Coalition Book Awards, provides a solidly biblical, theologically rich, historically informed theology of mission that seriously wrestles with the complexities and challenges of the modern world.
DeVries does not write from the ivory tower. He serves as President of Mukhanyo Theological College in South Africa, one of the largest providers of theological education on the African continent as well as being the pastor of a local church in Pretoria. As a North American missionary to Africa, he also had to work through his own personal response to the call to mission. These factors combine to ensure that this book speaks to us with a depth of experience and richness that can sometimes be lacking in more purely academic works on the mission of the church.
At the heart of the book is the reminder that ‘bearing witness’ is not just one thing, amid a myriad others, that the church could be doing. Instead, it is a defining characteristic of what it means to be the people of God (cf. Acts 1:8). DeVries shows how this insight can be traced throughout Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. Mission is the mission of God, and His people bear witness to his grace, goodness and salvation. This theocentric framing of mission does much to change our perspective on what mission is. It is, in the first instance, an activity of God, one that we are graciously invited to participate in. This means that mission should be understood on His terms and carried out in His ways! At the heart of this understanding is the promise of the gospel, a message based on the Father sending his Son into our world, and commissioning and empowering His people, through His Spirit, to be witnesses to the world.
When it comes to ‘bearing witness,’ we are reminded that it primarily involves testifying to the truth and power of Jesus Christ. This insight can act as a powerful corrective to views of mission that tend to reduce it to social action or humanitarian efforts. While mission may include such things, it should never be divorced from the core ‘witness-bearing’ mandate. DeVries does not merely state this principle and leave it at that. He wrestles seriously with the challenges of defining the relationship between proclamation and social action, maintaining a clear gospel witness in an age of religious pluralism, what it means to be God’s church in settings where believers are marginalised, etc. What I find particularly helpful is that he traces a clear line, from biblical theology, through historical perspectives, to 21st century application with many of the issues that he addresses. In each case, DeVries shows us how love for God and responding to His command to bear witness can be brought together in an understanding of mission that truly honours Him and serves people.
“You Will Be My Witnesses” is a great book for those preparing to serve in missions, for church leaders seeking to better articulate the outward calling of the church, and indeed for all Christians seeking to wrestle with how the Great Commission applies to them.