MISSÃO E ALTERIDADE

Em busca de um paradigma encarnacional na prática missionária intercultural

Abstract

This article proposes a critical reflection on the missionary praxis of the Western Church, contrasting the colonialist and ecclesiocentric paradigm with the biblical-incarnational model of the Missio Dei. From the intersection of Missiology and Anthropology, culture is analyzed as an integrated system of beliefs and values, emphasizing the worldview as the fundamental core that requires radical transformation and a confrontation of loyalties in the process of genuine conversion. The study explores the concepts of alterity, identification, and incarnation, utilizing the self emptying of Christ (kenosis) as an ethical framework to overcome imperialist, ethnocentric, and paternalistic stances that have historically silenced the "other". Finally, it discusses the urgency of contextualization and dynamic equivalence in ecclesiology, advocating for the autonomy and freedom of local communities against the exportation of foreign monocultural models. The research concludes that an integral and decolonial mission requires a relational and sacrificial posture that recognizes the other as a bearer of the Imago Dei and an active subject in the Kingdom of God.