My father was a wandering Aramean: Toward a missiological understanding of hybridity in the Abrahamic narrative
The person of Abraham embodies the tension of living in-between. In studying the life of Abraham, the focus is often on the theological importance of the patriarch’s missional role as a vehicle of blessing to the nations as expressed in Genesis 12:1–3. In recent years, however, the missiological significance of who Abraham was has begun to emerge. Imbedded in the very identity of Abraham is this sense of hybridity; of multiple belonging; cultural identities wedded together; of the fusion that takes place when you are in-between people groups, languages, and lands. In the case of Abraham, this hybrid identity is magnified as the patriarch leaves his Mesopotamian birthplace and travels to a new land that never fully becomes his own. Throughout the rest of his life, Abraham remains a “wandering Aramean” and a foreigner until his death. As God’s missional blessing through Abraham is fulfilled in Scripture, Abraham’s hybrid identity also embodies God’s missional heart to the nations. In this article, I highlight how the hybridity embedded in Abraham’s person provides insight into contemporary mission theory and praxis.