What do you see as you look at the world? 20/20 mission is to look around you and look in a new way where you have never seen before. Look where no one has seen before so that you will understand that the gospel is not exclusively for you but also includes others.

I. 20/20 Mission is not to view others monoculturally. Look in a very new way because it is by any means very natural to look at oneself only and, more often than not, we often define others in terms of ourselves.

What can we learn from the witness of the Early Church? First we ask, who were the people that Peter and John and the apostles witnessed to in Acts 2-7? Where did the apostles go when preaching the kerygma—Jesus is the Christ? As we read Acts 2, we can readily see that the Jerusalem church after Pentecost is already culturally diverse. Historical records show that pre-70 AD Jerusalem was already filled with different inhabitants other than just Jews. Though it might be expected that the people there maybe predominantly Jews, yet it is inaccurate to say that they are the only inhabitants of Jerusalem. In Acts 2, we have Palestinian and Diaspora Jews coming from different places, such as Asia Minor, Rome, Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, Crete and Arabia, as well as proselytes who were non-Jews but sympathizers of Judaism.

From Acts 2 to 5, the witness of Early Church, with Peter as its key leader, was mainly to the Jews. Indeed they had accomplished their goal of becoming witnesses in Jerusalem. They often preached at the Temple and also witnessed to the highest echelon of their Jewish community, the Sanhedrin (Acts 3-5). The Early Christians in Jerusalem were culturally diverse living in a city with non-Jewish inhabitants but Peter and the other Jewish apostles witnessed to the Jews only. This is our first batch of M1 or E1 evangelists in mission history. Hurray to our first batch of missionaries! That Peter and the apostles witnessed mainly to Jewish people and often preached at the Jewish Temple is in line with the Lukan and Pauline mission strategy of “to the Jews first.” However, this should not last too long because the gospel is not exclusively for the Jews but also include the others. Look very closely and look in a new way and look as you have never seen before. 20/20 Missions does not stop with oneself only.

Luke tells us that when persecution broke out, Christians were scattered except for the apostles. The disciples and early Christians preached and shared the gospel in Judea and Samaria. Acts 8 records the spread of the gospel in Samaria. Who were the Samaritans? They were generally perceived by the Jews to be “neither Jew nor Gentile” but half-breeds, or maybe heretics at times. Although they were racially half-Jews, Samaritans were normally considered as non-Jew by the Jews due to their unpleasant historical encounters. Just a slight difference already made someone an outsider rather than an insider.

Philip, Peter, and John were somewhat better than the normal Jews who considered the Samaritans neither Jew nor Greek. They were willing to become witnesses in Samaria without too much tension or hesitation. At least, Samaritans were half-Jews. There was still some kind of affinity with the Jews. By Acts 8, the witness of the Early Church had indeed extended to Samaria, to the half-Jews! Hurray to our second batch of M1 or M1.5 missionaries! It appears that Acts 2-8 painted a picture of witnessing to Jews and half-Jews only, almost all within the bounds of Judaism or some kind of affinity with the Jews. What kind of mission vision did Peter and the apostles have?

Is it possible that Peter and the other apostles had a monocultural perspective of themselves and hence of others? What was the cultural mapping of Jersualem in the minds of Peter and the other apostles?

Anthropologists tell us that as people of all cultures classify and order their world and experiences, first they define who they are and then define who the others are. Humans start with self-definition first and then define the others. Who is non-I are the Others. In Acts 2-8, it seems that the Jews had their own self-definition and also a definition of the others.

Israel is a chosen nation and the Jews are people of the Covenant who are proud to announce that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are their forefathers. Circumcision is the religious badge of the Jews, a ritual sign marking the Jews as the people of the Covenant different from their pagan neighbors. The Torah is another key item in Judaism; both are held deeply in the psyche of the Jews. Ritual laws on purity comprise another key feature of Judaism during NT times. Many of the debates and conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees centered on the issue of purity.

Perhaps, Peter and the apostles were short-sighted and could only see the Jews around them but could not see the others in Jerusalem. They unfortunately looked at themselves almost always in Acts 2-7, and partially saw themselves in Samaria in Acts 8. Who were the proselytes? Proselytes were sometimes called sympathizers of Judaism. These were the non-Jews who conformed to Jewish laws—circumcision, baptism for ritual purification and offering of sacrifices. They were religiously incorporated to the Jewish community and worshiped in the Court of the Gentiles. There was some kind of ethnic, religious or geographical affinity between these three groups of people: Jews, the Samaritans (half-Jews) and the proselytes (sympathizers of Judaism). To a certain extent, all the others were defined in terms of the Jewish perspective.

How do we define the other peoples around us who are not Chinese? How we define ourselves and others show our self-understanding and perception of others. By defining ourselves and the others, we have a good view of who the insiders are and who the outsiders are. As we have seen how the Jews defined themselves and the proselytes, we humans, more often than not, desire and bend “the others” to fit our self-definitions.

It is always a human issue: Who are we and who are “the others,” or more bluntly, who are the “insiders” and who are the “outsiders”? Who are the Jews and the other peoples? [What must they do in order for them to become Jews, or accepted by Jews?] Who are the Chinese? And Who are the Others in the eyes of the Chinese? It is by any means unnatural for anyone to meet others where they are. Instead, we humans, (including Peter, the other apostles during the earliest stage and the circumcised believers of the Jerusalem church), tend to define “others” monoculturally and in terms of ourselves. And yet the gospel is not only for the Jews but also for others! For our Lord Jesus Christ said: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8b).

As we live in a “global village” in the 21^st century, we need to look at the world in a new way so that we may learn to view others as they view themselves, accept each other and understand that all people are potential recipients of the gospel. How do we view the world of other people interculturally so as to gain 20/20 mission?

The Jerusalem church was a witness to the Jews only as though living in the first century New Testament world was culturally diverse comprising of many groups representing pre-70 A.D. Judaism. It was composed of Hebraic Jews, Diaspora Jews, Samaritans, Greeks, Romans, and a host of other groups all living around the Mediterranean world under the Roman rule and influence of Hellenism. Are these diverse groups stark opposites and incompatible or do we focus on their broad heritage? Do we want to emphasize differences or attempt to find commonalities among them? The peoples then lived in a somewhat contracting but also expanding world. If this is true, an intercultural perspective of “I” and the “Others” are beneficial to the “missions to the ends of the Earth” (Acts 1:8) or mission to the Gentiles.

Similarly, we also live in a world which seems to be getting bigger but also at the same time getting smaller. The figures provided by the World Village Project allow us to catch a glimpse of an expanding world where diversity describes our social, religious, political, economic world and a host of issues confronting the 21^st century. On the other hand, the Information Age ushering in the “digitized” world and the Internet has compressed time and distance in our modern world. The world appears to be in everyone’s household at the click of the mouse. As it both expands and contracts in various ways, let us gain an intercultural perspective of others and try to have an exchange between peoples and cultures, where learning, acceptance and tolerance of each other takes place even as we continue to affirm our own identity.

When Christians interact and live together with other peoples of other cultures and religions, and desire to do mission to a group of people belonging to the “Others.” It is best not to go to them with our view of the “Others” but rather seek to gain “the insider’s view” as outsiders listening and trying to understand them. Imagine yourself saying: “I never get these people to talk about philosophical matters. You know, they have no concept of the universe and no concept of time. The stars are not grouped into constellations. More than that, they believe in spirits lurking at the back of their door. How superstitious!” Or would you rather say: “I observe that these people see the universe as quadrilateral attaching importance to their own house, field, village and sky. As the people see it, I think they conceive of a human-moral world that reflects their conception of the supernatural/non-human world.” The latter attempts to understand who the people are, to learn their views and self-understanding about life and the world.

The circumcised Christian Jewish believers in Acts 11:3 criticized Peter saying “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” These Jewish Christians regarded circumcision as vital in the gospel of Jesus Christ and hence exacted a non-essential in salvation. Circumcision is central in Jewish ethnicity. However, the circumcised Christian believers must accept and tolerate the uncircumcised Christian believers because circumcision is non-essential to salvation and only essential to one’s Jewish culture. Similarly, neither the Hebrew tongue nor Greek idioms is any better than chopsticks or fork and knife. It is unwise to regard our own way of life as solely correct and consider others as “less than correct.”

Mission to the Gentiles, or becoming “witnesses to the ends of the world” did not begin without tension and confusion. Some of the Jews in Acts did indeed have that superiority attitude over the “Others” when Peter confessed and said: “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him” (10:28a). Even Peter the Apostle, the pillar of the Jerusalem Church, was not exempt from such an attitude of superiority! He saw the vision from heaven three times before he completely understood and was persuaded that “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” God is impartial to all and salvation is also granted to the Gentiles (10:28; 11:18). Peter was “converted” and subsequently, the Jerusalem church was persuaded to do mission to the Gentiles. The lesson on God’s impartiality is requisite on the mission to “Others” or to the “Ends of the World.” Different ethnic identities and cultural distinctions are transcended by the spiritual principle—that the Holy Spirit lives in all, whether Jews, proselytes, Samaritans and the so-called pagans or Gentiles (see Acts 10:44-46).

Where do we, the Philippine-Chinese churches, see ourselves in this Jerusalem-Judea & Samaria-Ends of the World mission strategy of our Lord? How far have we gone in the plan of God? How much have we understood of the plan of God as outlined in the Jerusalem-Samaria-Ends of the Earth scenario? Do we have the 20/20 missions perspective? Can we unlearn our monocultural view of the “Others” and instead adopt an intercultural perspective of all people? ¨