For many reasons I am inclined to think that today the theology of the Gospel mission is the central issue where the major controversies among Christians converge. My feeling is that many of the concepts and theses and arguments dividing factions within the church just do not get to the root of the matter. There is no progress because the adversaries do not make explicit the basic conceptions that underlie their points of agreement. They do not make explicit the suppositions that lie behind their line of argument. And if we explore what lies implicit in their explicit remarks, if we try to pinpoint the theology that underlies their pastoral options, we soon discover that they have different interpretations of the Gospel mission.