Articles: Book Review

 Title: The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission

Author: Lesslie Newbigin

Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Genre: Nonfiction

Year: 1995

ISBN: 978-0-8028-0829-5

PAGINATION:189

 

Introduction:

Lesslie Newbigin, in his book, The Open Secret, calls for a rethinking of missiology in the face of the changing global missional landscape. In this new way of thinking about missions, Newbigin insists that the triune God is already at work in the world and invites the church to participate. He insists that the mission is not a human enterprise. The church participates in God’s mission of redeeming the cosmos. It is not proselytizing but bearing witness to what God is doing in the world through Christ and the Holy Spirit. He calls for a renewed understanding that is deeply theological, and framed around the doctrine of the Trinity, election, and a humble engagement with the multicultural realities of the world. In this review, I will explore Newbigin’s key arguments concerning missions, the role of the church, the doctrine of election, and the interaction between faith and culture, and offer my critical evaluation of the ideas contained and how they have affected my understanding of mission and ministry.

Key Ideas

Newbigin first explores the faulty foundations upon which the 19th-century missionary endeavours were based. He denounces the colonial embellishment and cultural superiority that marked the missionary activities of that era, describing them as unbiblical and unwholesome. He proposes that the gospel must draw from its authority and not from another. He introduces the Trinitarian framework to the understanding of missions, arguing that missions must be understood in light of a sending God. God the Father sends the Son to establish His Kingdom with the witness of God the Holy Spirit. The church, therefore, has no mission in the world but the mission of God. This understanding corrects two common misconceptions: first, that mission is primarily a human effort to spread religious knowledge; and second, that mission can be reduced to social activism when it is divorced from its theological foundations.

The doctrine of election is another central theme. He illustrates this with God’s choice of Israel for the rest of the world. Newbigin traces how God chose Abraham as the seed of the new nation, then Isaac, and then Jacob. He contends that a proper understanding of this doctrine will dispel notions of elitism in the church. Understanding missions requires a realization that the church is not chosen for itself and it is not "the privileged club". It is chosen out of the world for the world. The key to the relation between the universal and the particular is God's way of election. The one (or the few) is chosen for the sake of the many; the particular is chosen for the sake of the universal" (p68). 

 This approach calls for humility on the part of the church. The church witnesses to the world from a position of weakness, not strength. The church is a broken, frail, and sinful gathering of men acting on God’s behalf to redeem the cosmos. Newbigin introduces the idea of the Kingdom of God, insisting that this Kingdom is beyond the church. This reign of God is wrapped in a mystery of contradictions. It is entrusted to those chosen by God (the church) to proclaim to all nations of the world. They act out this reign by proclamation and endurance, knowing that the reign of God has conquered the powers of evil (p.39).

Newbigin takes on Western secularism and how it has impacted the Christian mission. In his analysis, modern Western culture has privatized religion, relegating it to the realm of personal belief rather than public truth. This has led to a crisis in mission, where the gospel is seen as just one among many competing worldviews rather than the true revelation of God. He challenges the church to reclaim its public witness, preach the gospel of the Kingdom, and engage critically with cultural assumptions rather than passively accommodating them.

The place of dialogue in missions is another big idea in The Open Secret. Newbigin argues that although the church is the ground and pillar of truth, as the scripture puts it, there is a need for the church to come down and meet others at the foot of the cross. He denounces the exclusivist approaches that dismiss other religions and the pluralist approaches that reduce all religions to mere expressions of the same truth. He instead calls for humble confidence, in which Christians bear witness to Christ while remaining open to learning from others.

Critical Engagement

Newbigin’s approach to underpinning missions with the doctrine of the Trinity is more profound than I have seen any other theologian do. It is a compelling presentation. I realize that the church has been running on the wrong theology.  The implication is that we are doing missions and God is supporting us by providing the resources and empowerment. This situation has put ministers under stress, trying to do the work. The church has been reduced to a program mill while trying to invent ways of doing “her missions” instead of discerning what God is doing and how he may want us to participate in it. It restores my peace to realize that this is God’s mission and I am only privileged to participate in it.  This restores a sense of awe and dependence on God’s initiative rather than human ingenuity. This theological grounding ensures that the mission is always centered on God rather than on the church’s institutional goals.

His discussion of the election is also thought-provoking. By reframing the election as a call to service rather than a mark of exclusive privilege, Newbigin challenges triumphalist understandings of Christian identity. This resonates with biblical themes, particularly in the teachings of Jesus and Paul, who emphasize that being chosen by God entails a vocation to serve and bless others. just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt.20:28). Having said that, I must now point out that by not devoting time to the discussion on the relationship between divine election and human agency, he leaves room for dangerous speculations He does not highlight how human responsibility interacts with God’s sovereign initiative which I think would have further strengthened his position and cleared possible confusion.

Newbigin proposes an open and confident engagement with cultures across the world. With the African context in mind, where the religious elements of culture are so overwhelming, how that can be achieved without syncretism is very challenging. Can the church bear witness without being perceived as intolerant? How can it engage without compromising its distinctiveness? These are questions that require further reflection and application.

There are a few issues of discomfort for me. In Chapter 1, Newbigin talks about how colonial affinity with the gospel has set missions on the wrong footing. I expected him to use this platform to speak on reparation since social justice is part of the church’s missional agenda. He simply scratches it and moves on. Again, in Chapter 7, he talks about “…China, India and Africa, who at the same moment are living, praying, suffering, and dying, outside of the realm of salvation until they are ‘discovered,’ many centuries too late…” (p.72). And I ask, “Discovered by whom?” I find those comments to be very unwholesome and inappropriate for the kind of conversation he is engaged in. By using those, he has violated the very ethos of humility he seeks to project.

Personal Assessment

Newbigin, through this masterpiece, has revolutionized my understanding of missions. With reference to the notion of the Kingdom of God and how it relates to the church, a whole new vista has opened for me. My prior understanding of the Kingdom had been limited to the distant abode of God or the church. My focus has now shifted from winning souls to fit them for heaven to renewing the whole cosmos for God’s redemption.

His views on the election have reshaped how I view the church’s role in society. In a world where Christianity is often associated with power and influence, Newbigin’s emphasis on servanthood challenges me to reframe mission as sacrificial witness rather than institutional expansion. This perspective is particularly relevant in post-Christendom contexts, where the church must learn to live as a faithful minority rather than a dominant cultural force.

Conclusion

The Open Secret is a vital contribution to contemporary missiology. His Trinitarian framework, his redefinition of election, his critique of secularism, and his vision for interfaith engagement all offer important insights for the church.  While some aspects of his arguments could be further developed, particularly in relation to practical applications of engaging culture and dialogue, his overall thesis remains deeply compelling. This book has challenged me to think more theologically about mission, to engage culture with greater confidence, and to approach ministry with a renewed sense of dependence on God, discerning what he is doing and how I may be a part of it. I strongly recommend The Open Secret to all Christians who want to see the Kingdom of God established.