Discussion and Proposals for Contemporary World Mission (Within the Context of Modern Mission History and Facing Today’s Challenges)

  Joseph Kwon

Editorial Board Member

1. Introduction

The Great Commission of Jesus Christ has continually been challenged throughout human history, and the community of faith has ceaselessly endeavored to accomplish God’s will in response. This article aims to examine how the Great Commission was applied in various eras through modern mission history and to explore directions for fulfilling this command in today’s rapidly changing world. Modern mission must not simply follow past customs but preserve the essence of the gospel while adapting to diverse cultures and contemporary demands. By revisiting Scripture-based approaches that address current challenges effectively, we hope to consider the future direction of mission. Facing the world’s changes and numerous difficulties, we must proceed step by step, building on the legacy of faithful predecessors. Therefore, this paper will investigate the direction and process of world mission and ultimately propose concrete measures to complete the Great Commission.

2.Historical Context of Modern Mission

A brief look at modern mission history shows how strategies and directions for completing the Great Commission have gradually expanded and become more concrete. Here are some key examples:

(1) The Start of Early Protestant Missions (William Carey)

William Carey, known as the “Father of Modern Missions,” played a pioneering role in Protestant mission history. Carey emphasized the believer’s obligation to actively engage in mission work with a sense of duty and willingness—this was a groundbreaking concept at the time. Although it seems obvious today, Carey’s 1792 publication, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens, used Scripture to explain that every Christian should participate in missions.

Surprisingly, even now, many Christians remain indifferent to their duty and right to mission. Carey’s message still resonates: Christians must deny themselves and pursue God’s will with strong resolve and obedience.

Carey also recognized the importance of establishing mission societies to achieve the Great Commission. In 1792, he founded the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS), which sparked a missionary awakening in Britain and worldwide. While some still view missions as a task for individual churches or individuals, the past 200 years of Protestant mission history show that founding mission organizations is essential for fulfilling the Great Commission.

(2) Direction of Overseas Missions and Incarnational Mission, Strengthening Professionalism (Hudson Taylor)

If William Carey opened the door to Protestant missions, Hudson Taylor guided world missions further into a Word-centered focus. At a time when most missionaries operated near coastal areas—where diplomatic posts and military garrisons existed—Taylor advocated “inland missions,” urging missionaries to risk their safety and lives to bring the gospel to the frontiers where it was needed most. He introduced the concept of incarnational missions, where missionaries immerse themselves in local culture, entering the situation and perspective of the people, just as Jesus came among us. Taylor founded the China Inland Mission (CIM) in 1865 to implement these principles rigorously, providing inspiration and challenge for other mission agencies. By applying Jesus’ teaching—to take up our cross and follow Him—Taylor laid the foundation for global mission revival.

(3) Globalization of World Mission Efforts (Ralph Winter, Luis Bush)

Entering the 20th century, explosive changes occurred globally, surpassing changes in previous millennia. Ralph Winter and Luis Bush offered strategies and directions to accomplish the Great Commission amid these global shifts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Their proposals heavily influenced today’s mission directions and trends.

Ralph Winter systematized and popularized the concept of Unreached People Groups (UPGs), shifting mission strategy from merely increasing evangelization rates to ensuring the gospel reaches all peoples. For over 200 years, the global percentage of Christians has remained roughly stable (about one-third of the world’s population). While the ratio stayed around 30-33%, the speed of reaching unreached groups accelerated. Winter also suggested that completing the Great Commission requires mission mobilization, education/training (like the Perspectives course), mission research and information sharing (USCWM, now Frontier Ventures), and networks of missionary cooperation (like the Lausanne Movement).

Luis Bush introduced the 10/40 Window strategy in 1990, focusing mission efforts on the least evangelized regions. If Winter proposed the UPG concept, Bush developed it into a mission strategy. He also highlighted the importance of mobilizing young generations and focused on children’s missions. Such strategies guided many mission agencies and churches to adopt more targeted and effective approaches.

(4) The Lausanne Conference’s Significance for World Missions

The First Lausanne Conference (1974) in Switzerland sparked global evangelization efforts. This gathering brought evangelical believers together to tackle world evangelization. The Lausanne Covenant, adopted at the conference, played a key role in establishing evangelical mission theology, balancing social action with the reaffirmation of the importance of evangelization. It also emphasized focusing on unreached peoples and helped set crucial directions for world missions.

Lausanne provided a platform for denominations, mission agencies, and churches to unite, resulting in practical international missionary networks. Over time, we see that God has guided world mission directions toward Scripture-based principles through faithful individuals who hungered for and obeyed the Word. Today, we must similarly study Scripture, pray, debate, and commit ourselves, just as our predecessors did, moving forward step by step in a changing, dynamic era.

3. Today’s Transformations and Challenges

(1) Strengthened Non-Western Mission Leadership, Civilizational Clashes, and the Rise of Identity

Although Christians have constituted about one-third of the world’s population for 200 years, regional distributions have changed significantly. In 1910, 66% of Christians lived in Europe; by 2010, that figure was only 25.6%. Africa’s Christian population rose from 2% in 1910 to 22% by 2010. The center of Christianity has shifted from the Northern Hemisphere (Europe and North America) to the Global South (Africa, Asia, Latin America).

As Christian demographics and mission leadership have shifted southward, Asian, African, and Latin American missionaries have dramatically increased. Korea, for example, has become the world’s second-largest missionary-sending nation after the U.S.

After WWII and the Yalta Conference shaped the Cold War order, the world was divided by ideologies. Following the Cold War’s end in 1989 (Malta Summit), the global order diversified by civilizations, identities, and multiple smaller discourses and ideologies emerged. Identity—national, communal—became crucial, as people need a unique identity for stability. With various religions, languages, and cultural traits emphasized, some communities turned inward, while others embraced openness.

(2) Post-9/11 World

The 9/11 attacks triggered a global confrontation between Islam and the non-Islamic world, highlighting Islamic fundamentalism. This movement sought to restore identity within Islam amid global confusion. The resulting tension, especially in unreached areas, associated Western missionaries with Western Christianity, constraining Western missions. Yet, since Christianity’s growth shifted to the Global South, non-Western missionaries gained opportunities in unreached areas, helping dispel the notion of Christianity as a Western religion and bringing the gospel closer to its essence.

Islamic fundamentalism’s challenge informs world missions. Typically, monotheistic religions show stronger external influence compared to polytheistic ones. Islam, as a monotheistic faith, expands aggressively and often pairs with political movements and even armed struggle. With strict penalties for apostasy, Islam’s global population grows rapidly.

In 2010, Muslims made up 23% of the global population (1.6 billion). By 2050, this may rise to 30% (2.8 billion, a 73% increase), potentially reaching parity with Christianity (31%). Hence, if missions must focus on one major religious frontier, it would be the Islamic world.

(3) Information Revolution, the Internet, and Smartphones

The information revolution began with PCs and the internet, but for unreached peoples, its impact matured around the mid-late 2010s with smartphone proliferation. Within a decade, these communities, once closed off, now face a flood of information without borders.

While abundant information can broaden perspectives, it can also reduce deep thinking. People gravitate toward instant, entertaining information rather than rigorous analysis or truth-seeking. Amid AI’s rise, labor and information processing are changing, intensifying uncertainty and fear about the future. For missions, internet evangelism is crucial: many unreached people privately seek truth online, wary of persecution if their interest is discovered.

(4) Urbanization, Migrant Flows, and Dynamic Change in Unreached Regions

As economies shift from primary to secondary and tertiary industries, urbanization accelerates. Young people migrate en masse to cities, transforming traditional cultures and spreading urban values rapidly via social media. Additionally, global refugee issues and migrations have introduced unprecedented demographic fluidity. Predicting the impact is difficult, but one thing is clear: The missionary frontier is dynamic and ever-changing.

4. Ongoing Discussion and Proposals to Complete the Great Commission

Our approach must remain rooted in Scripture and informed by mission history. We must consider how mission directions shifted over time and how to fulfill the Great Commission amid today’s challenges. Ultimately, the fundamental direction set by William Carey, Hudson Taylor, Ralph Winter, and Luis Bush—Scripture-centered, focusing on unreached peoples—should remain our anchor. This should be seen as an independent variable, not influenced by changing times.

We must distinguish between evangelizing already reached areas and focusing on entirely unreached frontiers. Both are essential, but the Great Commission calls for intentional efforts to reach those without any gospel exposure. Yet, only 3.3% of approximately 400,000 global missionaries currently serve among unreached peoples. This imbalance suggests that, like Hudson Taylor’s call for inland mission 170 years ago, we still need that strong resolve: “Go where the gospel is needed most, at any cost.”

Continuous mobilization, education, and training are crucial. As Carey insisted on every Christian’s obligation for missions, so we must mobilize believers with a strong sense of duty. Mission agencies remain vital as they have been since Carey’s time. Cooperation between mission agencies and local churches is essential to complete the Great Commission.

Historically, both the 18th–19th century evangelical awakenings and the rise of Protestant missions were tied to a revival of the gospel’s purity and power. Mission organizations led by faithful, spiritually dedicated servants inspired entire churches and missions communities to improve ministry quality. In our era of globalization—where mobility, travel opportunities, and diverse mission forms have multiplied—such dedicated communities are still necessary.

We face explosive growth in various mission participant types: long-term, short-term missionaries, students, expatriates, refugees, and migrants. Among them, we need leadership groups who, like Hudson Taylor’s CIM, remain pure and wholly committed to God’s righteousness. They serve as yeast, inspiring and guiding broader Christian communities towards fruitful cooperation and positive outcomes.

We must also adapt to contemporary challenges without abandoning our core principles. Consider civilization-based or cultural-linguistic blocs, not just individual people groups. With rapid urbanization, new communities form in cities, where patterns, ideas, and cultures overshadow traditional ethnic identities. Gateway city missions are increasingly important. Churches must adapt with new planting models suited to urban youth and open-minded environments, perhaps resembling early church communities of lay believers sharing roles and responsibilities.

Finally, the Great Commission for all nations and generations is not just for special groups but for Christ’s entire bride who yearns for His return. In a globalized world, amidst confusion over identity, youth worldwide struggle with uncertainty, seeking truth. The Church is the only answer. Particularly in these dynamic times, we need models of international church communities—like the early church—overcoming differences in race, culture, gender, and economy, unified in the joy of salvation and passion for souls.

In facing a dynamic era, we are challenged to unite all peoples under the Lord’s Word and vision. Through communities that meet this challenge with the gospel’s power, God’s work will advance step by step. We trust the Lord will guide us as we respond faithfully to these global shifts and struggles, fulfilling His Great Commission.