MISSIO DEI AS EMBODIMENT OF PASSIO DEI. The Role of God-images in the Mission-outreach and Pastoral Caregiving of the Church a Hermeneutical Approach

Abstract

It is argued that the paradigmatic notion of imperialistic expansion and its unfortunate association with the traditional understanding of the missio Dei in the discipline of missiology, should be transformed. Rather than the pantokrator-framework and power categories stemming from the Roman emperor cult and Egyptian mythology, sending actions in mission should be based on, supplemented and inspired by the passio Dei. In a mission-outreach to displaced refugees, the theological concepts of ?esed and oiktirmos can help the sending-ministry of the church to overcome skewed perception regarding traditional missiologyand its association with the colonial paradigm. Instead of a post-colonial approach, a pastoral approach is proposed. The theological argument is based on the following presupposition: the passio dei defines practice and mission in practical theology as compassionate hospitality, as a mode of being-with, and an ecclesiology of home (xenodochia).