Interview with Jacques Matthey

 

Why do we celebrate the centenary?
“We want to use this opportunity to thank God for what God has done in the last hundred years and how churches have developed in many parts of the world.

 

We also need to stop, look back and ask God for forgiveness for all that went wrong in mission in the last century.

 

We want to reflect together, Christians from different spiritualities, on priorities for Christian witness and commit ourselves to do mission together in the coming years.”

 

How has mission changed?
“Christianity’s center of gravity has moved to the South. In 1910, the centers of mission were in Europe and North America, and other continents considered “mission fields”. Now, churches grow faster in the global South than in the North, and Western Europe may have become the most difficult region for witness. New “missionaries” come to the North in the flow of migrations.

 

Mission is not the responsibility of mission societies, but it is God’s own engagement and priority. Christians and churches are privileged to be called by God to co-operate  in God’s mission of healing, reconciliation and salvation for persons, humanity and creation.

 

Faithful mission includes sharing of the gospel, but just as important, building up healing communities, denouncing injustices, accompanying those who suffer, living a wise life-style, singing God’s glory, interceding for others and serving people in need.”

 

How do you view the relation between mission and unity?
“Christ died for humans to be able to live together in community. On the cross he destroyed the wall of separation. Unity is a core part of the gospel and must be concretely experienced in table fellowship, mutual sharing, cooperation and accountability.

 

Unity is not just a spiritual well-being or well-feeling, but must be made flesh in existing communities, where people of various origins and denominations learn to recognize and appreciate each other as God’s children, enriched by their diversity.

 

The pretension that the gospel can change people and communities is jeopardized when Christians prove unable to overcome their divisions. What reconciliation and peace can they then proclaim to a divided humanity?

 

Unity however is not an aim in itself. Christ prayed that his disciples may be one, so that the world may believe that Jesus is united with God and not just a fascinating human being. Unity between churches refers to the unity between Father and Son.”