Dr Ralph D Winter, founder of the US Center for World Mission, says the biggest trend in world mission is the polarisation occurring among mission agencies that either focus exclusively on personal salvation or, in contrast, physical needs when they should be doing both.
Christians have the responsibility to not only share the Gospel and help get people into heaven, the renowned missiologist said, but also "getting God into this world" and glorifying God on Earth.
"Evangelism is the highest priority, but it becomes weak and lacks credibility if it does not generate committed believers who will tackle the world's problems," Winter maintained in his presentation at the Korea World Mission Conference 2008.
"What is the use of evangelism if it produces Christians who don't act, who don't do, who don't follow God's will? All they do is sing in church," he passionately declared. "It is what happens in the world that is at least as important as what happens in church."
He added, "We are getting fancier and fancier at church worship. We know how to do church, [but] we don't know how to be the church."
Drawing from history, Winter laid out how confusion in the reformation, in mission today, and among Christians in the 20th century led to the loss of glory for God and disrespect for evangelicals.
Following the Reformation, Christians became confused with the role of faith versus works in relation to salvation, Winter explained. The reformation fought against the idea that works alone can get someone into heaven, but then many people began to only focus on faith and ignored the Bible's teaching of faith-inspired action.
Winter pointed to the Scripture passage James 2:20 where it "plainly" states, "Faith without works is dead."
In addition to the confusion between faith and works, the Reformation is also often misunderstood as a division based on theological differences when it is more a cultural breakaway movement, Winter argues.
The Reformation saw German-speaking churches breaking away from a Mediterranean/Roman Catholic culture. Winter likened this to present-day mission field breakaways as "[attempts] to resist a foreign missionary culture" with national believers wanting to start their own churches.
