












































Global South Theological Journal 3, no. 2 (2024):  2 

THE WHOLENESS OF LIFE AS CHRISTIAN MISSION: 
READING THE EPISTLE OF JAMES IN CONTEMPORARY ETHIOPIA 

 
Youdit Tariku Feyessa, PhD Candidate 

(Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) 
 
 
 

Abstract: This article explores the concept of "wholeness of life" in the Epistle of James, arguing 
that it is a foundational principle for Christian mission, encompassing terms like "completeness," 
"perfection," "integration," and "maturity."  It draws parallels between James's teachings and the 
holistic mission advocated by Qes Gudina Tumsa, a prominent Ethiopian church leader.  Tumsa 
emphasized a holistic ministry that addresses socio-political, cultural, and economic issues, urging 
the church to engage proactively in its mission.  The article examines the significance of 
wholeness in James, Tumsa's holistic theology, and the relevance of these concepts for 
contemporary Ethiopia, which faces numerous challenges such as poverty, conflict, and religious 
extremism.  It concludes that understanding and applying the notion of wholeness in Christian 
mission is crucial for addressing the complex issues in Ethiopian society today. 

 
 
 

INTRODUCTION  
 

This article argues that the wholeness of life in James is not merely a central, “overarching theme,” 1 but a 
foundational principle directly linked to Christian mission—both individual and cosmic. This theme is 
expressed through terms like "completeness," "perfection," "integration," and "maturity." 2 By employing 
such terminology, James aims to nurture Christians toward their mission, fostering wholeness of life in 
theology, approach, and praxis. 

Mission as wholeness of life is well attributed in the late Qes3 (Reverend) Gudina Tumsa’s 
calling of the church towards “holistic mission.” Tumsa (1929–1979), General Secretary of the Ethiopian 
Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, urged the church toward proactive engagement in its calling, 
emphasizing holistic ministry in theology, approach, and praxis. 4 "Wholeness of life," for Tumsa, 
involved ministering amid socio-political, cultural, and economic chaos. This article aims to demonstrate 
the affinity between this calling and James's emphasis on perfection, maturity, and completeness in the 
Christian community. 5 

My aim, following Richard Bauckham, is to read James not sequentially or linearly, but as a 
"compendium of James's wisdom"6 structured "to provide a resource for acquiring the wisdom that is 
expressed in obedience to God in everyday life." 7  Mission as "wholeness of life" and "compendium of 
wisdom" is significant for contemporary Ethiopia, facing identity-based conflicts, poverty, displacement, 
persecution, economic disparity, prosperity gospel teachings, and more. This article first examines the 
meaning, purpose, and significance of wholeness in James vis-à-vis Christian mission. Then, it elaborates 

 
1 Richard Bauckham, James: New Testament Reading (London; New York: Routledge, 1999), 177.  
2 Bauckham, James, 177. 
3 Qes, Amharic (the working language in Ethiopia), means Reverend. In this paper, I prefer to call Gudina Tumsa Qes 

rather than Reverend. Though the meaning is the same, the place Qes has in Ethiopian tradition is immense, and Gudina is 
known by the prefix Qes in Ethiopia.  

4The time Qes Gudina ministered was a time of persecution. The church was underground, and the government was 
atheist with hatred of religion and its discourse 

5Gudina Tumsa, Witness and Discipleship, Ed.The Gudina Tumsa Foundation (Hamburg: WDL-Publishing, 2007), 
165.  

6 Bauckham, James, 177. 
7Bauckham, James, 108–09.  



Feyessa, “Wholeness of Life as Christian Mission” 
 

 

Global South Theological Journal 3, no. 2 (2024):  3 

on Qes Gudina Tumsa's notion of holistic mission and its affinity with James's call to wholeness of life as 
Christian mission. Finally, it presents the importance of reading James in contemporary Ethiopia. 

 
THE THEME OF WHOLENESS IN JAMES  
 
The notion of wholeness is the central theme in the epistle of James, as most scholars argue. John H. 
Elliott asserts that wholeness in James is the central message of the epistle; it addresses the reader’s 
relationship with their community and God.8 Richard Bauckham further affirms that the theme of 
wholeness is not only important in James. Instead, it is “the overarching theme” of the entire letter that 
subsumes other themes in the letter.9 Seongjae Yeo further substantiates this claim by saying that 
wholeness in the epistle of James shows the “perspective of the author.”10 Agreeing with such a notion, 
wholeness as the central overarching theme of the epistle of James, this section elaborates on the meaning 
and usage of the term vis-à-vis Christian mission. 

Wholeness in James has a range of interrelated meanings (1:4, 1:17, 25; 2:8, 22; 3:2), such as 
“perfection,” completeness,” and “maturity.”11 Patrick J. Hartin elaborates on James 1:4, which says, 
"And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”12 
Here, Hartin argues that the meaning of “teleios is that of fullness (‘the perfect work’) or totality, which 
indicates maturity or completeness) (‘so that you may be perfect’).”13 Again, James 3:2 reads, "For all we 
stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to 
bridle his whole body.” Here, the notion of “perfect” is equivalent to complete or whole, meaning “total 
in all that one does—one’s actions produce a “total (perfect) work” that is not blemished or lacking in any 
way.” Hartin further argues that wholeness in these texts presents “the person who performs the perfect 
work is a total dedication to carrying out God's will. Faced with trials and testing, such a person is not 
deflected from total allegiance to God."14 The meaning of teleios in the rest of the scriptural passages is 
the same as describing completeness, perfection, maturity, and purpose.  

In the same vein, Seongjae Yeo avers that the notion of wholeness in James uses the Greek word 
teleios, which refers to an end, goal, purpose, or aim. It means being complete, mature, fully developed, 
finished, or perfect.15 In such usage of the term, Yoe argues that teleios signifies consummate soundness, 
including “the idea of being whole.”16Moreover, the semantic range of the term wholeness, teleios, in the 
epistle of James is immense. As the Old Testament uses teleios in reference to temple sacrifice to mean 
perfect without blemish, Hartin conceptualizes the meaning, usage, and significance of teleios, 
incorporating three dimensions. According to him,  

The conceptual meaning of teleios gives expression to three essential dimensions. First, it 
expresses the idea of wholeness or completeness, of a being remaining true to its original 
constitution. Second, it refers to giving oneself wholeheartedly and unconditionally to 
God in the context of God’s people. When persons were grounded in this relationship, 
they would be whole, perfect. Third, such a wholehearted dedication to the Lord is 
expressed through obedience to God’s will…. This threefold understanding of teleios 
explains James’ meaning.17 

 
8John H. Elliott, “The Epistle of James in Rhetorical and Social Scientific Perspective Holiness-Wholeness and Patterns 

of Replication,” Biblical Theology Bulletin 23 (1993): 71.  
9Bauckham, James, 177.  
10Seongjae Yeo, “Telios in the Epistle of James,” Pharos Journal of Theology 103 (2022): 1.  
11Bauckham, James, 165.  
12 Unless otherwise indicated, all Bible verses are from ESV. 
13 Patrick J. Hartin, “Faith in Action: An Ethic of Perfection,” Center for Christian Ethics (2012): 22.  
14 Patrick J. Hartin, “Call to Be Perfect through Suffering (James 1, 2–4). The Concept of Perfection in the Epistle of 

James and the Sermon on the Mount,” Biblica, 77 No. 4 (1996): 484.  
15Yeo, “Teleios in the Epistle of James,” 10.  
16Yeo, “Teleios in the Epistle of James,” 1.  
17Hartin, “Faith-in-Action,” 22. 



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Global South Theological Journal 3, no. 2 (2024):  4 

Thus, the notion of wholeness, teleios, according to Hartin, is not limited to individual perfection, 
completeness, and maturity, but it also incorporates communal wholeness reflected as “divine 
attributes.”18 This understanding of teleios accords with James 1:17, which says, "Every good gift and 
every perfect gift is from above, coming down from Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or 
shadow due to change." Furthermore, the completeness for which James is calling is not only individual 
but also applies to the entire community and the people of God.19 

The theme of wholeness is central to James' message, and the meaning, usage, and significance of 
wholeness encompasses an individual's consistency of purpose. In other words, a whole person is a 
“person who has achieved maturity, an undivided totality of personality and behavior.”20 Being whole and 
mature denotes devotion to God and a "state of integrity before God" that demands "purity of the heart," 
reflected in action. It comes from the "perfect wisdom of God.” James is calling his readers to attain this 
maturity.21 Thus, wholeness demands consistency, integrity, and wholehearted devotion to God, and such 
dimensions of wholeness originate from God.  

 Elliott contends that holiness in James consistently correlates with wholeness or completeness. 
He posits that even the structure of James's letter centers on this theme, juxtaposing wholeness and 
holiness against their implied opposites: division and fragmentation. Thus, Elliott asserts a direct 
correlation between wholeness/completeness and holiness in James, while simultaneously highlighting 
their respective antitheses. Furthermore, he argues that the central message of James revolves around the 
theme of wholeness. Elliott substantiates this assertion by referencing the letter's opening, which 
introduces the theme: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet various trials, for you know that the 
testing of your faith produces steadfastness. Let steadfastness have its full effect, so that you may be 
complete and whole lacking in nothing” (Jas 1:2–12). Therefore, according to Elliott, the theme of 
wholeness and incompleteness constitutes the driving and principal argument of the letter, with each 
notion recurring throughout. 22 In James, this correlation recurs at “personal, social, and cosmic level”, 
informing a form of ethical principle for the Christian community.23 

Elliott substantiates the interconnectedness of holiness and wholeness by contrasting wholeness 
and division across three interrelated levels:  

1. The personal, the social, and the cosmological, examining the issue of division and its 
antithesis, wholeness;  

2. The portrayal of community and individual integrity/wholeness as an essential feature of 
holiness; and   

3. The moral and social implications of this holiness. 24 
For Elliott, the three categories of holiness and division, existing at various interconnected levels, 

are integral to both individual and community holiness, carrying significant moral and social implications. 
Succinctly, the core of Elliott's argument concerning the Epistle of James can be stated as follows: 

Ethnic, economic, and social differences had led to social division; and divisions, to 
personal doubt, dissimulation, despair, and defection. Factiousness and fission within the 
community were accompanied by a split in the attitudes and actions of individuals 
themselves. The community and its members were undergoing an erosion of integrity and 
cohesion at both the personal and the social levels of life.25 

Elliott's tripartite framework suggests that the pursuit of wholeness and purity, as antitheses to 
incompleteness and pollution, are integral to human flourishing across individual, communal, and 
existential levels. These opposing forces shape human experience and inform the ethical considerations 

 
18 Yeo, “Teleios in the Epistle of James,” 2.  
19 Martha L. Moore-Kish, James:  A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville: John Knox, 2019), 29.  
20 Moore-Keish, James, 29. 
21 Elsa Támez quoted in Moore-Keish, James, 28–29.  
22Elliott, “The Epistle of James,” 71. 
23Elliott, “The Epistle of James,” 71. 
24Elliott, “The Epistle of James,” 75. 
25Elliott, “The Epistle of James,” 75. 



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Global South Theological Journal 3, no. 2 (2024):  5 

presented in the epistle. James elucidates three interconnected dimensions of human existence—
"personal, social, and cosmological spheres"—where the dichotomy of incompleteness and wholeness, 
pollution and purity, manifests. 26 

Richard Bauckham further asserts a strong association between wholehearted devotion to God 
and counter-culturalism within society for the responsible Christian community. He argues that James, in 
his epistle, constructs a “counter-cultural community” practicing the already manifested assets of the 
kingdom of God. This community, characterized by "wholeness and integrity," encompasses five aspects: 
integration, exclusion, completion, consistency, and divine perfection. 27 

Bauckham describes "wholeness and integrity" in five aspects. First, integration, or inclusion, 
involves not only communal and personal relationships but also complete personal devotion. The whole 
person in James, according to Bauckham, consists of “the heart (thoughts, feeling, will), the tongue and 
mouth (words) and the hands or the whole body (deeds).” 28 Wholeness as integration in James solicits 
communal allegiance to God and others, reflected in individuals' acquisition of characters like being 
“peaceable, gentle, considerate, caring and forgiving (2:13; 3:13, 17; 4:11–13; 5:16).” 29 Bauckham 
further argues that “wholeness in a community is characterized by loving one’s neighbor as oneself 
without distinction (2:8–9; 3:17).” Finally, wholeness as integration entails the eschatological goal of 
renewal not only for the individual and Christian community but also for the entire creation (1:18). 30 

Bauckham's second aspect of wholeness in James is exclusion, entailing “excluding what is 
incompatible” with the whole. This is explained in James as a dualism between the world's value system 
and God's, juxtaposing the two as either/or and requiring remaining unstained by the world. 31  This is 
illustrated by the contrast between earthly and divine wisdom (1:17). As Bauckham avers, “the dualism 
entailed by wholeness as exclusion thus requires a counter-cultural community, one whose values and 
therefore also lifestyle are at odds with the dominant society.” 32  Such a lifestyle is achieved through 
purity and holiness, “removing and keeping oneself untainted.” “Wholeness as exclusion also means 
resisting the evil inclination (1:14) and removing all wickedness from the heart (1:21),” 33 encompassing 
truth/untruth, blessing/curse (3:9–11), and total inclination toward good, thereby excluding all evils (2:13; 
5:1–6, 9, 12). Thus, wholeness as integration, for Bauckham, also includes the exclusion of elements that 
negate wholeness. 

Bauckham's third aspect of wholeness as integration is "completion," involving both addition and 
removal for purity. James 1:22–25 emphasizes hearing and doing; 4:17 affirms knowing and doing; and 
2:14–26 acclaims believing and doing, especially verse 22, which speaks of “faith completed by work.” 
This relates to the completion of wholeness as the eschatological goal (1:3–4). 34  James also emphasizes 
"consistency," where integration and wholeness require coherence in what is included, devotion of life, 
and exclusion of inconsistencies. Bauckham asserts that “wholeness is about the consistent devotion of 
the whole person, the whole life, the whole community, and ultimately the whole cosmos to God.” 35 

The final aspect of wholeness as integration is "divine perfection." Bauckham argues that “human 
wholeness is imitation of God’s completeness,” evident in various dimensions of life. “Wholeness occurs 
when the whole human life is focused and integrated in God. It receives from God the complete law and 
complete wisdom adequate to encompass the whole of life. It responds to God in wholehearted faith (1:5–
8), in wholehearted love (1:12; 2:5) and in fulfilling the complete law (1:22–25; 2:8–11).” 36 

 
26Elliott, “The Epistle of James,” 75. 
27Bauckham, James, 173.  
28Bauckham, James, 178.  
29Bauckham, James, 178. 
30Bauckham, James, 179, emphasis mine. 
31Bauckham, James, 179–80. 
32Bauckham, James, 180.  
33Bauckham, James, 180. 
34Bauckham, James, 181. 
35Bauckham, James, 181.  
36Bauckham, James, 182. 



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Global South Theological Journal 3, no. 2 (2024):  6 

According to Bauckham’s definition,  
wholeness is a goal towards which one can move only in relation to the center which is 
already whole and from which one can gain wholeness. … it means rejecting values and 
behaviors which are inconsistent with goals. It means refusing all the idolatries which 
dominate and diminish human life in favor of the one love which can truly liberate and 
include all that is good.37  

Human life is to be lived in favor of the one love that truly liberates and includes all that is good. As John 
Painter and David A. deSilva argue, God is the “source of generosity and every perfect gift.” Thus, teleios 
in James describes a wholeness of life replete with the multifaceted aspects of integration, exclusion, 
completion, consistency, and divine perfection. 

 
THE WHOLENESS OF LIFE AS CHRISTIAN MISSION IN THE THEOLOGY OF GUDINA TUMSA 
 
Gudina Tumsa,38 the late General Secretary of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus 
(EECMY), is known for introducing the notion of holistic ministry/theology in the church.39 Gudina’s 
notion of holistic ministry is derived out of his strong emphasis concerning “the role of Christians in a 
given society.”40 For Gudina, “a Christian is placed by God to live and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus 
Christ to the people that are in need and in difficulty so that they can turn to God to get their needs met 
and their problems solved.”41 Qes Gudina Tumsa’s holistic theology is brought forth in the most unlikely 
era in Ethiopia, the socialist military government which overthrown the previous Imperial regime via 
force. 

Gudina was born in 1929 in a small village called Bodji in Western Wollega, educated as Nurse 
Assistant42 and served for four years in different hospitals and places. Though he was a medical person, 
he was also well known for his preaching the gospel as part of his medical service. In this regard, Yonas 
Derresa said that the latter teaching of “serving the whole human person” emerged out of such practical 
experiences and engagement.43 He has served in rural area of Ethiopia of Nekemte, Bakko, Arjo, 
Kembata and Hadiya as a health professional and church preacher. Later, as a leader, he has organized 
many congregations in the area to synods, for which he was highly appreciated by the EECMY officials 
and the general secretary.44 Later on he went abroad for further theological education in USA. After his 
return, he has served as the General Secretary of the EECMY from 1966-1979.  

Gudina Tumsa was known for his strong spirituality, preaching and boldness in almost every 
situation he encountered. Emmanuel Abraham described him as “our Billy Graham” and “a man of strong 
character, physically, mentally, and spiritually.”45 According to Tibeb Eshete, the renowned Ethiopian 
evangelical historian, “Gudina was the most prominent leader, who was capable of reading the times, 
interpreting trends, and providing theological articulations to the church.”46 To add more, Abeneazer G. 

 
37Bauckham, James, 183. 
38 Since, in Ethiopian we use first name to address a person unlike Western names, which is Family name. Thus, I am 

going to use the first name for all Ethiopian names based on our usage ... in naming names.  
39 The Gudina Tumsa Foundation, Witness and Discipleship: Leaders of the Church in Multi-Ethnic Ethiopia in a time 

of Revolution, The Essential Writings of Gudina Tumsa (Hamburg: WDL, 2008), i–iii.  
40 The Gudina Tumsa Foundation, Witness and Discipleship, 1.  
41The Gudina Tumsa Foundation, Witness and Discipleship, 1–2. 
42 Nurse assistant used to be called dressers during that time, 1952.  
43Yonas Derresa, “The Rev. Gudina Tumsa – Early Life and Ministry,” in the Life and Ministry of Gudina 

Tumsa: Lectures and Discussions MISSIOLOGICAL Seminar 2001 2nd ed. ed. the Gudina Tumsa Foundation 
(Hamburg: WDL, 2007), 7. See also Samuel Deressa, “St. Gudina Tumsa,” Lutheran Forum (Spring 2012), 36-39. 

 
44 The GudinaTumsa Foundation, The Life and Ministry of Gudina Tumsa: Lectures and Discussions, Missiological 

Seminar 2001 2nd edition (Hamburg: WDL, 2007), 4–9. 
45Emmauel Abraham quoted in The GudinaTumsa Foundation, The Life and Ministry of GudinaTumsa, 10, 11.  
46Tibebe Eshete, The Evangelical Movement in Ethiopia: Resistance and Resilience (Waco: Baylor University Press, 

2009), 229–30. 



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Global South Theological Journal 3, no. 2 (2024):  7 

Urga refers to Gudina as "the African Bonhoeffer,"47 not merely for his magnanimous contribution for the 
church of Ethiopia at the cost of his life, but also for the life he lived with integrity as a living witness to 
the Gospel.48 It is for such commitment that Gudina has been imprisoned thrice, and finally murdered by 
the socialist government on July 28, 1979 after his preaching service at Urael MekaneYesus Church (one 
of the congregations of EECMY in Addis Ababa).49 Gudina is known for his unwavering faith and 
commitment in his ministry and leadership until his death.   

The contribution and legacy of Gudina Tumsa is boldly written in EECMY50 history. Gudina is 
not only acclaimed for his prolific preaching and church leadership. But more importantly, his holistic 
theology has been the foundation of the church policy and practice since then.  

Wholistic theology is an effort in rediscovering total human life. Apolitical life is not 
worthy of existence. Uninvolvement is a denial of the goodness of creation and of the 
reality of incarnation … In our continent what is prevalent is the basis to define economic 
policy, agricultural development, foreign relations—politics decides who should die and 
who should live. African theology should develop a political theology relevant to the 
African context.51 

Thus, Gudina’s holistic theology is a spiritual commitment and witness of faith which calls for the 
witness of the church to be contextually relevant to the society they are living in. In being relevant, the 
witness of the church which Gudina aspires and directs will be sensitive to the socio-political and cultural 
context. Moreover, it is also a call towards the public-ness of theology. Context specificity is a key 
contribution of Gudina’s holistic theology.  

Furthermore, Øyvind M. Eide explains that Gudina Tumsa’s holistic theology is founded on his 
theological understanding of creation and incarnation.52 Thus, as Eide notes, Gudina Tumsa’s wholistic 
theology bases can be explained in praxis-theoria-praxis framework. According to Gudina Tumsa, as 
mentioned in his Memorandum of 1975, asserts that, 

theology must grow out of the daily experiences from our dealing with ordinary affairs of 
life as we experience them in our situations, in our cultural settings, in our economic life, 
in our political experience and in our social practice … . An indigenous theology in the 
Ethiopia context may be defined as a translation of the biblical sources … to the pattern 
of our people that they may feel at home with the gospel of love.5354 

Eide’s summary of Gudina Tumsa’ theology as “Praxis–theory–praxis model,” which takes the daily 
practice and experience of the people in to consideration, is a way of doing mission. This resonates with 
Gudina’s claims about the impossibility of mission to be divorced from personal and societal aspect. In 
his words,  

an integral human development, where spiritual and material needs are seen together, is 
the question in our society… The division between witness and service or between 
proclamation and development… is … harmful to the church and will ultimately result in 

 
47Abeneazer G. Urga, “The Bonhoeffer of Africa: Rev. Gudina Tumsa’s Life, Theological Emphases and Contribution 

to the Ethiopian Church” Paper presented at the southeast regional Evangelical Missiological Society meeting at Columbia 
International University, March 18, 2017. 

48Gerd Decke, “Gudina Tumsa and Dietrich Bonhoeffer,” in Emerging Theological Praxis, Journal of Gudina Tumsa 
Foundation (Minneapolis: Lutheran University Press, 2012), 2:30. 

49 The Gudina Tumsa Foundation, The Life and Ministry of Gudina Tumsa, 11. 
50The EECMY, the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is the one of the biggest and ancient evangelical 

church in the country with about 10 million members.  
51Gudina Tumsa quoted in The Gudina Tumsa Foundation, The Life and Ministry of Gudina Tumsa, 63.  
52GudinaTumsa quoted in Øyvind M. Eide, “Integral Human Development: Rev. Gudina Tumsa’s Theology, with 

Special Reference to His critique of Dominant Trends in Missiology and the Question of Human Rights,” in The Life and 
Ministry of Gudina Tumsa, Gudina Tumsa Foundation (Hamburg: WDL, 2008), 63. 

53 Gudina Tumsa quoted in Eide, “Integral Human Development,”45.  
54Tumsa quoted in Paul E. Hoffman, “Gudina Tumsa’s Legacy,” 45. And The Memorandum (1975), published in Eide 

2000: 277. 



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Global South Theological Journal 3, no. 2 (2024):  8 

a distorted Christianity… the development of the inner person is a prerequisite for a 
healthy and lasting development of society.55 
Gudina further elaborates his holistic theology as a mechanism of bringing integral development 

that interlaces witness, service, mission and development as a separate whole rather than different 
activities. He gives huge emphasis for “integral human development” which incorporates the two 
dimensions together, “the spiritual and material,” “witness and service” that is subsumed in his notion of 
“serving the whole man.”56 For him, the "development of the inner person is a prerequisite for a healthy 
and lasting development of a society."57 

Furthermore, Gudina was also critical of the understanding and practice of mission of that time. 
More specifically, he blamed the notion of the contemporaneous mission for its narrow definition of 
mission. This understanding limited the gospel as “good news for the whole man, and salvation was given 
a narrow individual interpretation which was foreign to our understanding of the God-man 
relationship.”58 Accordingly, mission is beyond individual salvation in that it is serving the whole man, 
society, and creation as a whole. Thus, Gudina has a comprehensive understanding of the mission of God. 

Gudina further argues about salvation which is related with healing and restoration. For him, to 
heal means not only being healed from disease and so on, but it “has to do with the restoration of man to 
full liberty and wholeness.”59 This goes with James’s notion of salvation as wholeness and integrity. Iteffa 
Gobena comments that such a holistic understanding of mission led a way to do the theology of the 
church that considers the Ethiopian context and situation in to the heart of its service and ministry.60 Iteffa 
attests that Gudina is also known for “leading the church in times of trouble” by demonstrating a life of 
“commitment and suffering.” Gudina lived with a motto which states that “A Christian lives in a given 
society where he/she carries out the mandate given to him/her by the Lord of the church. We have not 
been given a choice as to where we should be born. We believe that God has placed us where we are to do 
his will.”61 Iteffa remarks that “for a person like Gudina, commitment is conviction of faith.”62 

Furthermore, according to his former seminary friend Darrel Jodock’s attestation, Gudina’s 
theology is “self-engaging and self-involving from beginning to end.”63 Therefore, Gudina’s notion of 
holistic mission is about serving the whole person, which is always possible in engaging wholeness of life 
as Christian mission. In this regard, Christian mission for Gudina surpasses evangelism and even social 
action. But it endeavours toward transformation of the individual and the society as a whole. For Gudina, 
the question is, "what is a responsible ministry of the Christian church in today's world and in a given 
cultural, social, and political situation?"64 Such a holistic transformative engagement of mission is explicit 
in his theology as he states in this manner: 

We are not interested in creating medieval monasteries, in setting up ghettoes (modern 
monasteries), but in being involved in the complex social life of our people as we find it 
daily, with full knowledge of our Christian responsibility.65 

Thus, for Gudina, mission is understood as the effort to attain the wholeness of life by addressing the 
individual, community/society and also the cosmic in an integrated manner.66 

 
55Gudina Tumsa quoted in Paul E. Hoffman, “Gudina Tumsa’s Legacy: His Spirituality and Leadership,” in The Life 

and Ministry of GudinaTumsa: Lectures and discussions, Missiological Seminar second edition, (Addis Ababa: Gudina Tumsa 
Foundation, 2008), 36. 

56Tumsa quoted in Eide, “Integral Human Development,”47.  
57Tumsa quoted in Eide 2000: 265. Gudina quoted in “Integral Human Development,”46.  
58 Tumsa quoted in Eide, “Integral Human Development,” 55. 
59Iteffa Gobena, “Leading a Church in Times of Trouble: the EECMY in the Ethiopian Marxist Revolution (1974–

1979),” in the Gudina Tumsa Foundation, Church and Society: Lecture Responses Second Missiological Seminar 2003 on the 
Life and Ministry of Gudina Tumsa (Hamburg: WDL, 2010), 211. 

60Gobena, “Leading a Church in Times of Trouble,” 212. 
61Gobena, “Leading a Church in Times of Trouble,” 222. 
62Gobena, “Leading a Church in Times of Trouble,” 222–23.  
63 Darrel Jadock, “Gudina Tumsa’s Contribution to Theology,” Global South Theological Journal 1.1 (2022):5.  
64Eide quoted in Tumsa in The Gudina Tumsa Foundation, 47.  
65Gudina, Witness and Discipleship, 70. 
66 Jadock, “Gudina Tumsa’s Contribution to Theology,” 5. 



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READING JAMES IN CONTEMPORARY ETHIOPIA 
 
Characterizing the contemporary Ethiopian situation is challenging at times. But it is yet more confusing 
due to the overwhelming socio-political and religious chaos of unresolved historical hangovers. In the 
past five years, various things happened in the country. On the one hand, the country is a victim of 
extreme poverty, hunger, drought, sickness, communicable disease, high maternal and child death, 
worsened living condition and inflation. Also, the nation is continually suffering from never ceasing 
conflicts, war, ethnocentrism, ethnic based killings, atrocities, hatred of the “other,” partiality, moral and 
ethical decay, corruption, religious extremism, displacement, gender-based violence, and many more. On 
the other hand, we witness the politico-religious rhetoric of “prosperity,” “time for Ethiopia,” “the rise of 
Ethiopia,” “God’s time of work in relation to the rise of an evangelical leader,” the rhetoric of unity 
(Medemer67 both in politics and church), fancy tourism projects, the numerical increase in economy, and 
the list goes on. Girma Bekele best characterized such a phenomenon in such a way, “at the moment the 
socio-political and religious life in Ethiopia is characterized by fine lines and by various polarities.”68 

In the same vein, characterizing the contemporary Ethiopian church is also similarly confusing 
and challenging. The church is wrestling with multi-dimensional crisis of identity, doctrinal heterodoxy, 
ethico-moral, social, cultural, economic problems ethnic-based conflicts, divisions, atrocities, hatred and 
other problems. Yet, the church is proclaiming and echoing “prosperity,” “the rise of Ethiopia,” and 
proposing unity despite major doctrinal differences. Moreover, the church has lost its critical distance and 
identity as "an alternative community."69 and engaged in an undesirable relationship with the government 
which deprived her of mission. As a result, the church became part of the problem more than part of the 
solution. Considering the numerical figure of the evangelical population which constitutes about 25% of 
the total, Girma Bekele was correct when he said “if we cure our problems [problem among the 
evangelical churches] almost one fourth of the country’s problem will get an answer or a cure.”70 In order 
to get the cure, the church needs to turn to her identity and mandate, the wholeness of life—serving the 
whole person.  

Thus, mission as wholeness of life in James has huge significance for the contemporary readers in 
Ethiopia who are struggling in a turbulent situation of identity crisis. Richard Bauckham rightly affirms 
that the notion of “wholeness provides a broad framework for relating James’ teaching to the cultural 
context in which contemporary western Christians live.”71 In this, though many lessons can be drawn 
from James to the contemporary Ethiopian situations, I selected three main frameworks in light of 
wholeness and integrity in the epistle of James which are explained at the individual, social and cosmic 
level.   

The first framework is solidarity with the poor. This involves conceptualizing the relationship 
between poverty and wealth. As we read According to Bauckham, solidarity with the poor in James (2:5, 
8–9) is not a mere individual’s spiritual attitude alone. Rather, it is tangled with the praxis in the society. 
Solidarity with the poor is expressed in the social and economic relationship of the community. “For the 
community whose life is characterized not by competitive ambition, status-seeking and greed, but by 
peaceable-ness and selfless considerations of others (3:13–17), attitude to the poor expressed in concrete 
economic and social relationship are the litmus test.”72 In addition, the relationship between wealth and 
poverty in James (2:2–3, 15–16; 5:1–6)73 is another lesson that can be taken in the Ethiopian context. 

 
67Medemer is the political rhetoric of Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed, who has written a book with this title which 

means synergy or the state of being added together. 
68Girma Bekele, The In-Between People: Reading David Bosch through the Lens of Mission History and Contemporary 

Challenge in Ethiopia (Waco: Wipf & Stock, 2011), 381. 
69 The church as an “alternative community” is borrowed from Girma Bekele, The In-Between People. 
70Girma Bekele, a sermon at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, semester opening program, February 12, 

2024.   
71Bauckham, James, 183 (emphasis added).  
72Bauckham, James, 195.  
73Bauckham, James, 197.  



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Hence, the prosperity gospel is flourishing, while solidarity with the poor is almost vanishing. Thus, 
James directs us to a sense of practice of avoiding not wealth; rather, he is calling us towards a way of life 
that challenges “selfish hoarding of money 5:2–3, senseless luxury 5:5, defrauding the workers 5:4, and 
persecuting the righteous 5:4.”74As Gudina affirms, Christians are called to live and serve the whole 
person, where mission is understood as attainment of wholeness. 

The second framework that can be drawn from James for the contemporary Ethiopian situation is 
the notion of wholeness as integrity vis-à-vis division or fraction. In the epistle of James, Elliott perfectly 
elaborates the notion of “wholeness and holiness,” taking its “implied opposite, division and 
fragmentation.”75 Thus, wholeness of life tackles division and fragmentation in many aspects of the life of 
the individual, community, and society. In the same vein, Elliott also argues that 

Ethnic, economic, and social differences had led to social division; and divisions, to 
personal doubt, dissimulation, despair, and defection. Factiousness and fission within the 
community were accompanied by a split in the attitudes and actions of individuals 
themselves. The community and its members were undergoing an erosion of integrity and 
cohesion at both the personal and the social levels of life.76 

Thus, James’s message of wholeness of life as integrity is very relevant for the Ethiopian church which is 
in the midst of many divisions, including ethnic based fractions and fragmentations. Thereby, “wholeness 
and integrity”77 leads people to integration. Similarly, exclusion of un-holiness, division, and fraction 
fosters “completion, consistency and divine perfection.”78 This synchronizes with what Gudina has 
fiercely argued in his attestation that Christians should practice their faith in all sphere of life. 

In the third framework, James teaches about resisting the value-system which he calls “the world” 
(1:17; 4:4); and he calls to the value of God which is always “embodied in public praxis.”79 Bauckham 
strongly argues that James is constructing a “counter-cultural community” that practices the assets of the 
kingdom of God in its “already” manifestation.80 This counter-cultural Christian community is 
characterized by James 1:18 as the “first fruit of the new creation and the vanguard of the coming rule of 
God (2:5).”81 In the same vein, Gudina asserts that the mission of the church (missio ecclesia) and the 
mission of God (missio Dei) is about the wholeness of life which is practiced not only at personal level 
but also at social and cosmic level. For Gudina, as the worker of the kingdom of God, “the church could 
not afford to be ignorant of some of the basic issues the revolution [the Dergue] has raised, such as 
equality, freedom, dismantling of oppressive structures.”82 Tibebe Eshete testifies that Gudina’s theology 
was filled with “heightened social concern.”83 He further elaborates that  

Gudina helped many Christian leaders create awareness of the new philosophy that the 
state has endorsed in its doctrine. He called on the church leaders to take the path of 
critical engagement: Christian leaders should keep their critical distance in order to be 
able to criticise those in power.84 

In such a way, the contemporary church, as an alternative counter-cultural community, can resist 
mingling and advocating for the this worldly value system. Thus, James in his epistle aims at nurturing 
Christians towards their mission, the wholeness of life in their theology, approach, and praxis. 

 
CONCLUSION 
 

 
74 Douglas J. Moo, James: The Tyndale New Testament Commentary (Downers Grove: IVP, 1985), 54–55.  
75Elliott, “The Epistle of James,” 75. 
76Elliott, “The Epistle of James,” 75. 
77Bauckham, James, 178–82.  
78Bauckham, James, 173.  
79Bauckham, James, 198.  
80Bauckham, James, 173. 
81 Bauckham, James, 173. 
82Tibebe, The Evangelical Movement in Ethiopia, 225. 
83Tibebe, The Evangelical Movement in Ethiopia, 226.  
84Tibebe, The Evangelical Movement in Ethiopia, 227. 



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Global South Theological Journal 3, no. 2 (2024):  11 

The notion of the wholeness of life in the epistle of James, which is explained as teleios, has a dense 
meaning of completeness, perfection, integrity, maturity. Thus, wholeness is a key word to mission in the 
epistle. By using such concepts, James aims at nurturing Christians towards their mission. This wholeness 
of life should be demonstrated in their theology, approach, and praxis not only in their personal lives, but 
it should also be exhibited also within communal and societal life as well. The wholeness of life as 
Christian mission is also well attributed in Qes Gudina Tumsa’s calling of the church towards “Wholistic 
mission.”  

Gudina urged the church to be more proactive to her calling, which is “wholistic ministry.” The 
holistic nature of mission is reflected not only in her theology but also in the approach and praxis towards 
the goal of perfection, maturity, and completeness. The “wholeness of life” for Gudina Tumsa is the core 
essence of Christian mission. Therefore, understanding James’s notion of wholeness of life in Christian 
mission has immense significance for the contemporary Ethiopian readers who are challenged by many 
problems. The urgency of Gudina is directed towards drawing the church to her calling and ministry, 
ministering the wholeness of life in the midst of the socio-political, cultural, and economical chaos 
through integrating the wholeness of life at the individual, communal, societal, and cosmic level.  

 
BIBLIOGRAPHY  
 
Abeneazer Gezehagn Urga. “The Bonhoeffer of Africa: Rev. Gudina Tumsa’s Life, Theological 

Emphases and Contribution to the Ethiopian Church.” Paper presented at the southeast regional 
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Bauckham, Richard. James: New Testament Reading. London; New York: Routledge, 1999. 
Decke, Gerd. “Gudina Tumsa and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.” In Emerging Theological Praxis. Edited by The 

Gudina Tumsa Foundation., 115-125. Minneapolis: Lutheran University Press, 2012. 
Eide, M. Øyvind. “Integral Human Development: Rev. Gudina Tumsa’s Theology, with Special 

Reference to His critique of Dominant Trends in Missiology and the Question of Human Rights.” 
In The Life and Ministry of Gudina Tumsa. Edited by Gudina Tumsa Foundation, 37-77. 
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Elliott, John H. “The Epistle of James in Rhetorical and Social Scientific Perspective Holiness-Wholeness 
and Patterns of Replication.” Biblical Theology Bulletin 23/2 (1993): 71–81.  

Bekele, Girma. The In-Between People: Reading David Bosch through the Lens of Mission History and 
Contemporary Challenge in Ethiopia. Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2011. 

Bekele, Girma. A sermon at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology semester opening program. 
February 12, 2024. 

Tumsa, Gudina. Witness and Discipleship. Edited by The Gudina Tumsa Foundation. Hamburg: WDL-
Publishing, 2007. 

Hartin, Patrick J. “Call to Be Perfect through Suffering (James 1,2–4). The Concept of Perfection in the 
Epistle of James and the Sermon on the Mount.” Biblica 77, No. 4 (1996): 477–92. 

Hartin, Patrick J. , “Faith in Action: an Ethic of Perfection.” Center for Christian Ethics (2012): 20-28. 
Hoffman, Paul E. “Gudina Tumsa’s Legacy: His Spirituality and Leadership.” In The Life and Ministry of 

Gudina Tumsa: Lectures and discussions, 13-37. Missiological Seminar. Second edition. Addis 
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Iteffa Gobena. “Leading a Church in Times of Trouble: the EECMY in the Ethiopian Marxist Revolution 
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Jadock, Darrel. “Gudina Tumsa’s Contribution to Theology.” Global South Theological Journal 1.1 
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Moo, Douglas J. James. The Tyndale New Testament Commentary. Downers Grove: IVP, 1985. 
Painter, John and deSilva, David. James and Jude. Paideia. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2012. 
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Tibebe Eshete. The Evangelical Movement in Ethiopia: Resistance and Resilience. Waco: Baylor 
University Press, 2009. 

The GudinaTuma Foundation. Witness and Discipleship: Leaders of the Church in Multi-Ethnic Ethiopia 
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Yeo, Seongjae. “Telios in the Epistle of James.” Pharos Journal of Theology. 103 (2022): 1–12.  
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	Introduction
	The Theme of Wholeness in James
	The Wholeness of Life as Christian Mission in the Theology of Gudina Tumsa
	Reading James in Contemporary Ethiopia
	Conclusion
	Bibliography

