Skip to main content

Why didn't they ask Evans?




A classic Agatha Christie title or, of more relevance to this post, why didn't we listen to Newbigin??

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though it can also be quite a frustrating thing, depending on what you are trying to do. For example, for the Church in the UK who are now seeking/needing to reach out into an increasingly multicultural society we find, on the whole, that we are not equipped to do so by and large.

However, consider the following extract concerning Bishop James Edward Lesslie Newbigin (8 December 1909 – 30 January 1998) who was a British theologian,missiologist, missionary and author.

He returned to England in the early 1970's from his long missionary service and travel in India. He tried to communicate the serious need for the church to once again take the Gospel to post-Christian Western culture, which he viewed not as a secular society without gods but as a pagan society with false gods.

Now imagine this. Everyone listened, every Church geared itself up and prepared itself to communicate the gospel through compassionate words and actions and equipped itself to learn from, and communicate with, peoples of other cultures eg 'cross-culturally'...

I wish people had. We would be in a much better place to model how to:

Reconcile differences in our increasingly fragmented multi-cultural society.
Help minimise suspicion of those who are different
Know how to learn and understand people in order to function better in the globalised world we live in
In addition as a Church we would be better placed to:

Communicate relevantly the transforming message of the gospel to those who are now coming into our communities
Offer meaningful hospitality to the strangers in our midst
Be open to explore new patterns of church in order to disciple effectively those who find a new hope and faith in Christ
This raises two questions in my mind, which we would all do well to ponder:

Why don't we listen?
Who, and what, are we not listening to today?
My prayer is for humility, discernment and an open heart into which the Spirit can speak, lead and guide. I pray that for the whole Church as well.
Press on!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Comments

Post a Comment

Feel free to add comments or ask questions:

Popular posts from this blog

Labels

Who are you? I have never been a great fan of labels when it comes to describing members of the body of Christ. eg. he is anglican, she is Baptist, they are Charismatic, etc. etc. I remember once causing a man to become increasingly hot under the collar when he asked me who I was? To which I replied I was a disciple (follower) of Jesus. He was meaning which Church did I attend (presumably so he could classify me and decide whether I was bona fide or not) and my answer did not bring him peace, but I refused to go any further.  Why? Because, as I said, I am not a great fan of labels, but also because for me there is a very important distinction between primarily identifying myself with Jesus and identifying myself with Church. Of course, I recognise that by becoming a follower of Jesus I become part of the body of Christ, but that can be very distinct from being a member of a Church. To me this is the crucial difference between vibrant faith and dusty religion.  I want t
1 comment
Read more

Homes I have lived in #3

This year I am celebrating my silver wedding anniversary ... Just for something to do I have begun to sketch all the houses we have lived in during that time. So here is house number #3 On our return to the UK we were faced with the question that faces all people in transition, what next? For us, we were encouraged by our friends to investigate further training and opted to spend a year with Kerygma ministries. We joined with a group of some 20 other people from various different cultures and backgrounds to join the ministry led by Dr Bob Gordon, based at Drayton Hall near Norwich. We spent one year here, between September 1993 and July 1994.   Significant events that took place here included: Suffered reverse culture shock, as I grappled with the transition from life in a mudhut in Africa to life in the UK in a Manor House! (Struggled with the amount of money being spent on a sign that was being placed outside when
Post a Comment
Read more

Happy Christmas!

It is the middle of the last afternoon before going away for a few days to celebrate Christmas with family in the south west ... I hope the snow will permit the travel! I just wanted to write to say 'Happy Christmas' to all of you who work, pray and support the work of WEC International here in the UK. (And, of course, any who have stumbled across this website - get in touch if you have any questions about what you are reading.) As I come to the end of the year I am reaching the end of my 'read the Bible in a year' programme - which has been tremendously inspiring and ultimately very satisfying. I already have my plan for what to do next year and am starting with a 30 day study of John 15 'The True Vine' - Andrew Murray... can't wait. As with most Bible reading programmes the book of Revelation comes last - much of which is difficult to understand to say the least ... however some aspects ring through loudly and clearly, and are an encouragement to us all
Post a Comment
Read more