On the Shoulders of Giants: A Tribute to David Hesselgrave
Isaac Newton is credited with having said, in 1675, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” This metaphor expresses the idea of discovering truth by building on previous discoveries, or of innovating or applying technologies or methodologies in ways that could only happen due to the hard, intelligent, insightful, groundbreaking work of others who have gone before us. In the case of evangelical missions, one of those giants was Dr. David Hesselgrave, who went to be with the Lord two weeks ago at the age of 94.
I had the privilege of studying under Dr. David Hesselgrave during my master’s degree. His class on cross-cultural communication was one of best classes I took. I had the additional privilege of spending hours with him outside the classroom. He was not only a brilliant missionary and missiologist; he was also a humble and godly servant of the Lord. Many seminary students and missionaries have utilized some of Dr. Hesselgrave’s ground-breaking materials over the years, such as 1978 book called Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally or his 1980 book called Planting Churches Cross-Culturally. Or maybe one of his other books such as Contextualization: Meanings, Methods and Models, or Counseling Cross-Culturally or, more recently, his edited volume with Dr. Ed Stetzer called MissionShift: Global Mission Issues in the Third Millenium. By the titles of his books, you can see why and how many evangelical mission agencies have stood on the shoulders of this giant, who served for 12 years as a missionary in Japan, helped turn the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School into the missions powerhouse that it is today, and co-founded (with Donald McGavran) the Evangelical Missiological Society. It is no wonder that Dr. Hesselgrave was considered by many to be one of the most important missiologists of the 20th century.
Another reason I and many other missions leaders hold Dr. Hesselgrave in such high respect is that he stood on the inerrancy of Scripture and the primacy of the Great Commission. He never wavered in his commitment to Scripture and to biblically-based innovative missiology, even when it brought him pushback — which it often did. And when it did, he defended his positions with humility, integrity and intelligence. Prioritism was one of those positions. As it increasingly became popular — and even expected — among many evangelicals to elevate social transformation (“holism”) and place it on par with the verbal communication of the Gospel in such a way that people could conscientiously respond to the message of salvation in Jesus Christ (“prioritism”), Dr. Hesselgrave held his ground and gave wind to the sails of evangelical “prioritists”.
I am deeply grateful for David Hesselgrave, his life, his ministry, his legacy. It is not an understatement to say that his broad missiological shoulders lifted my mind and heart to see God's mission more clearly and understand it more profoundly and fulfill it more fruitfully.
(If you’d like to know more about David Hesselgrave, check out this short video: https://vimeo.com/46990737.)
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About the Author
João (but you can call him John) is a “Great Commission Entrepreneur”, passionate about starting and leading anything — mission agencies, churches, businesses — that helps fulfill the Great Commission. He loves to speak, teach, preach and write about God’s glory in all areas of life and among all peoples of the world. His work has appeared in numerous books and in Christianity Today and The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, among others. He holds degrees in sociology and practical theology, specializations in systematic theology and entrepreneurship, and doctorates in intercultural studies (D.Int.St.) and religious studies (Ph.D.). You can connect with him at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Podcasts, as well as joao.mordomo@gmail.com.
